Brampton Mayor Susan Fennell has expensed taxpayers over the past three years for items such as $2,160 on personalized barbecue aprons, $3,191 for a seat upgrade on a trip to India, $1,326 for Mandarin lessons and $1,500 for an orchestra performance.

The recently disclosed expenses from December 2010 to September 2013 total more than $186,000. Some residents are expressing outrage about the expenses after the figures were released last week, in response to a freedom of information request by the Brampton Guardian.

“She’s already the highest paid mayor in Canada,” said resident Satinder Singh Goindi. “She travels around the world at our expense. Now we find out she expensed $186,000 on top of that. A lot of people in Brampton are really getting fed up.”

Fennell did not respond to the Star’s requests for comment.

Fennell’s expenses over this time period are far higher than those claimed by Toronto Mayor Rob Ford and Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion, who both preside over larger cities.

In 2012, Fennell expensed $57,920, while Ford spent $19,253 (almost all for office-related costs and mileage), and McCallion $38,555.

McCallion’s expense figure, though lower to begin with, includes about $9,500 for her car costs, as well as travel expenses, such as $2,140 spent on a trade mission to China.

In contrast, Fennell’s $57,920 was over and above her car costs (a $23,524 car allowance and $45,726 for a driver) and travel costs, including China travels in 2012 and other trips.

Details of the expenses come at a time when Brampton residents are facing the possibility of reduced transit services and other cuts, or a 6.5 per cent increase in the city’s portion of property taxes.

“The biggest problem is she has no (spending) limit,” said Councillor Bob Callahan. Councillors, by contrast, have a $60,000 discretionary budget to use over their four-year term.

Callahan said the practice of letting Fennell bill her expenses to any department without limit has to stop. That practice makes it difficult to even get a handle on Fennell’s spending, he said.

Not all councillors are so perturbed; Councillor Paul Palleschi described Fennell’s expenses as “reasonable,” saying that “most of the money she gives goes to community groups.” He suggested, however, that, instead of the mayor dispensing taxpayer money to groups and events directly, “you could have a department under Economic Development managing it.”

Councillor John Sprovieri said the $130,000 listed in Fennell’s expenses for community involvement is unacceptable.

“We all understand a few thousand dollars to help groups, but $130,000? All these events with her name on it, it’s self-promotion.”

Fennell expensed $2,000 to place holiday greetings ads in local South Asian newspapers; more than $2,600 in ads for Indian holidays, and a $400 ad to mark a Sikh religious holiday.

Sprovieri accused Fennell of “campaigning by giving to groups using their own tax dollars.”

Councillor Elaine Moore pointed out that Fennell had expensed $14,500 for her own annual Mayor’s Luncheon, accusing her of using “every departmental budget as if they are her own personal bank accounts.”

Moore also recalled that $43,000 was paid out of various departmental budgets in 2012 to buy tickets for Fennell’s annual private gala and golf tournament. Councillors had been asking staff since 2010 if taxpayer dollars were going to the mayor’s gala, but were never told about the ticket purchases. John Corbett, appointed Brampton’s chief administrative officer in late 2012, put a stop to that practice.

Councillors, crediting Corbett for a more transparent approach, told the Star they are now working with him and many new senior staff to collect all of the mayor’s expense details ahead of upcoming budget discussions. Corbett confirmed to the Star that his staff is doing the work needed to get a fuller picture.

“We’ve got to put a control on her if she’s not going to do it herself. I didn’t know she went on these trips (listed on the expense sheet),” Callahan said. One was to Alberta for a meeting of the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties; one to Nova Scotia for an Atlantic Mayors’ Congress meeting. Airfare for Fennell and spokesperson Michael Genova, who went along, was not included in the expense disclosure — only the hotel costs.

None of the councillors the Star spoke with was aware Fennell had taken the two trips earlier this year.

Moore, who has begun voluntarily posting her expense details on the City of Brampton website, said she would like to see stricter limits on expenses and permitted uses. Posting monthly summaries is a start.

“They do it in Toronto and Mississauga and other municipalities,” she said. “It’s the taxpayers’ money. Shouldn’t we let them know how we’re spending it? All of it.”

For Brampton citizen activist George Startup, Fennell’s expense list is “embarrassing.”

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“All the events, handing out barbecue aprons with her name on it — it’s all self-promotion,” he said. Startup says he has been trying to get details of Fennell’s trips and expenses for years, with little luck.

“Brampton's a hard-working town. She carries on like she’s a queen living in a castle — one that’s paid for by hardworking taxpayers.”

Sample expenses

Personalized barbecue aprons: $2,162

Ten tickets to Rose Orchestra: $1,500

Holiday greetings ads in 2 South Asian newspapers: $2,035

Two ads for holidays celebrated in India: $2,645

Ad for Sikh religious holiday: $407

Sponsorship for her own luncheon: $14,502

Mandarin language classes: $1,326

Stay at downtown Toronto hotel while taking Mandarin classes: $531

VIP gala tickets for Brampton Multicultural Community: $1,000

Mayor’s Youth Concert: $5,596

Photography for Mayor’s Levee: $2,544

Seat upgrade for trip to India: $3,191

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