Haldimand Mayor Shelley Ann Bentley will face four Municipal Election Act charges that could force an abrupt end to her debut term in office.
The charges follow a probe by the election compliance audit committee that determined Bentley broke spending rules and accepted thousands in ineligible cash donations during her successful 2022 campaign.
Charges sworn March 12 allege Bentley filed an incorrect financial statement that failed to record all contributions and misstated her campaign contributions.
Another charge alleges Bentley committed an offence by accepting cash contributions to her campaign in an amount exceeding $25, contrary to the Municipal Election Act.
The third charge asserts Bentley failed to ensure that all campaign contributions were deposited into her official campaign bank account.
The final count alleges Bentley failed to ensure that all campaign expenses were paid out of her official campaign bank account.
The offences are alleged to have taken place between May 1, 2022, and April 30, 2023.
The charges have not been proven in court.
If convicted by a judge, Bentley could be removed from office and banned from running in the next municipal election.
In the meantime, Bentley continues as mayor, unless she is convicted.
A first appearance in the case is slated for April 16 at the Cayuga courthouse.
Bentley declined to address the charges in a brief interview following the March 19 council-in-committee meeting.
“I think I spoke to that before,” she said, citing a previous written statement to the municipal election compliance audit committee. “It’s going to be before the courts, and I can’t really speak any more to that.”
In a response to the committee last fall, Bentley’s lawyer John George Pappas stated his client ran “an entirely grassroots, spendthrift campaign,” but made errors in managing and reporting campaign finances due to her inexperience as a political candidate.
When asked whether she’s feeling confident that she can overcome the charges, Bentley replied, “I’m hopeful. I have a lot of support from my community. I don’t want to elaborate any further.”
An audit was ordered into Bentley’s campaign last year following a complaint by Haldimand resident Lisa Richardson.
Last October, auditor William Molson found Bentley accepted $5,000 in ineligible cash contributions and did not deposit them into her campaign’s bank account, as required by Ontario law.
Neither Molson’s audit nor Pappas’ response says where that $5,000 went. However, Bentley “has already taken steps to return these cash contributions,” Pappas wrote last fall.
Molson calculated the cost of other undeclared expenses and services and found Bentley spent at least $17,816 for her electoral campaign, more than the $10,000-threshold that requires a candidate to file an audited financial statement after the election.
Bentley did not file such a statement and claimed to have spent $9,889 on the election, just below the threshold limit.
—With files from Grant LaFleche, The Hamilton Spectator
To join the conversation set a first and last name in your user profile.
Sign in or register for free to join the Conversation