Thousands of dollars spent on expensive meals, a sightseeing tour and electronic equipment during a Miami trip were for hospitality costs for the Brampton Symphony Orchestra, says Mayor Susan Fennell.

Recently released documents show that $9,427.74 was charged to Fennell’s city-issued credit card while the orchestra was performing in Miami in 2008.

“This amount reflects hospitality expense items for the Brampton Symphony Orchestra’s members, guests and associates, for activities in Miami in 2008. The City of Brampton was fully reimbursed by the (Mayor Susan Fennell) community fund,” the mayor said in a statement emailed Feb. 19 to the Star.

Orchestra CEO Michael Todd says the charges were not approved by the BSO’s board. Expenditures for the Miami trip have been at the heart of an ongoing dispute between Todd and organizers of what was once her private gala. The gala claimed the expenses were part of its “community fund” disbursement to the orchestra and asked Todd to sign off on the amounts during a period when Fennell and the gala were facing public criticism.

“Some musicians did attend one dinner at Hosteria Romana with Fennell and many of her friends,” Todd said. “I was spontaneously invited by a musician, and when I tried to pay my bill at the restaurant the waiter told me Fennell was paying. I assumed she was paying out of her own pocket.”

A copy of the credit card statement shows the charges: $2,866.90 at the Hosteria Romana restaurant; $5,556.07 for sightseeing tours in Miami; $326.90 at electronics store BOSE Miami; $248.91 at restaurant Texas De Brazil; $239.94 at Hosteria Romana; and $189.02 at seafood restaurant CRBHS.

The Star asked Fennell’s office to explain each of the charges but did not receive any explanation, other than they were for hospitality costs.

The Star has been unable to determine exactly what the charges were for, or who and how many people attended the functions.

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In 2008, the orchestra received $50,000 from the mayor’s community fund, which was used for rehearsal space and operating costs in Brampton. Todd said none of that money was used for the Miami trip, and that the orchestra relied instead on sponsorships and musicians paying their own way. About 20 to 25 musicians went to Miami for one concert, he said. The 2008 concert was arranged by the orchestra’s former conductor.

A subsequent BSO concert in 2009 was held to celebrate a sister-city agreement between Miami Beach and Brampton. Fennell owns a condominium in Miami Beach.

Details of the expensed amount, $9,427.74, were made public in February following a freedom of information request by a Brampton resident with links to Todd.

In a 2010 letter to the orchestra from Heather Picken, who was gala chair from late 2010 to 2013, Todd was asked to sign off on a statement showing that $59,427.74 was paid by the gala organization to the BSO in 2008. He refused to sign the statement, insisting the orchestra had only received $50,000.

The statement said the disputed $9,427.74 was for the use of “rehearsal space” at the city’s Rose Theatre. The letter says the gala records were confirmed by an independent auditor.

In an email sent to the Star on Feb. 19, Picken said the board had been “inadvertently advised” that the $9,427.74 was for rehearsal space. She said she clarified with Todd in 2011 that the amount was for “costs associated with the BSO concerts in Miami Beach.”

The gala board sent the 2010 letter while it was working to prepare its financial statements, following questions about how funds were being distributed and while facing pressure to open its books.

Fennell’s various private fundraisers, including the community fund, now operate under the name Stepping Out For Brampton Inc. and provide assistance to local community groups. Past beneficiaries include the Chinguacousy Concert Band, Beaux Arts Brampton, Carabram and the BSO.

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