Sudbury's controversial ward 'slush funds' keeps status quo — for now

There was zero debate Tuesday night, as city council voted to spend money from the controversial funds each councillor gets to spend in their ward.

Ward 12 councillor Joscelyne Landry-Altmann received the green light to give four community groups a total of $7,000.

The last time she wanted to use some of her $50,000 fund, Mayor Brian Bigger convinced the rest of city council to take the money from another city bank account.

Bigger said he believes the funds should be controlled by staff and not councillors. But the funds are in place, for now, so he won't stop them from being spent, he said.

"You can see they're very legitimate requests," Bigger said. "There was no intention to delay the funding to these groups."

Landry-Altmann said she understands that some of her colleagues want the funds scrapped, but for now, the funds exist and she'll be using hers until the rules change.

"Obviously we need to tweak it. We all agree on that. And whenever it comes up, I'm looking forward to a really good discussion on that," she said.

There is no word on when a ward fund reform proposal will come to council for a vote. But Bigger said staff are preparing a report and he has hinted that it may involve a committee of citizens making the funding decisions.