As Ontario’s ombudsman opens the books on another probe into a private gathering of several London city councillors, he’d do well to start with the mayor’s own account.

In dismissing the restaurant sit-down between himself and six councillors as a non-issue, Joe Fontana appears to have admitted he assembled a voting majority of council’s economic-prosperity committee to meet and discuss — yep — ­economic prosperity.

In other words: Uh-oh.

“I decided I was going to have lunch. I invited Steve (Orser),” Fontana told reporters as ­questions arose about the Saturday gathering at London eatery Billy T’s.

“And then I invited Dale (Henderson) and Joe (Swan), who wanted to talk to me about ­economic-development matters.”

Therein lies the problem: All four create a majority of council’s six-member investment and economic prosperity committee — and their chit-chat together constitutes the kind of off-site meeting forbidden under Ontario’s rules ­requiring open municipal governance.

Ombudsman Andre Marin’s duties include policing Municipal Act restrictions against secret meetings of full council and its standing committees.

As of Tuesday, his office had fielded at least eight citizen complaints about the lunch in a backroom at Billy T’s.

With the sit-down’s details still coming into focus, one politician expects the talk between those four to become a focus for the provincial watchdog.

“If you have a majority of a committee, then that’s an illegal meeting if you’re talking about issues relating to that committee,” Coun. Nancy Branscombe said.

“There’s these continual, constant problems that (council has) here in the public that are really distracting.”

Marin must determine whether there’s enough ­evidence to proceed with a full-blown ­investigation, from which he’d release a final report on the lunch, at which Fontana, ­Henderson, Orser and Swan were joined by council colleagues Sandy White, Bud Polhill and Paul Van Meerbergen.

It seems unlikely he won’t launch a full probe.

Last year, a smaller gathering of politicians in a more open setting drew Marin’s ire: Fontana and five councillors ate at downtown’s Harmony Grand Buffet hours before the final budget vote, a gathering Marin ultimately found didn’t break any rules.

But, he added in his final report, the get-together was “ill-advised” and created “unsavoury” optics.

“Indeed, in this case community eyebrows were raised by the appearance that council might have used the backdrop of a buffet lunch to do more than exchange pleasantries, practise their chopstick skills, read each other their fortune cookie messages or indulge in an all-you-can-eat feast,” Marin wrote.

That 2012 probe drew scorn from politicians, including Orser, who repeated this week his comment from a year ago — that he can have “din-din” with anyone he chooses.

What’s an illegal meeting?

Ontario’s Municipal Act mandates city councils hold open public meetings except in specific situations. A sit-down that breaks those rules requires two components, as Coun. Joni Baechler explains: “You have to have a quorum of a council or a committee and you have to be talking about the agenda of that council or committee,” she said. “I could have a quorum of council at a party at my house (but without discussing council business) that’s not a closed meeting.” There were seven politicians at Billy T’s last Saturday — not enough for a quorum of council, but four of six members of council’s investment and economic prosperity committee were there, talking “economic development,” Fontana says. The four members constitute a quorum of the committee.

What’s quorum?

It’s defined as “the number of members of a group or organization required to be present to transact business legally, usually a majority.” For London’s 15-person city council, eight are needed for a quorum: In other words, if a council meeting is to start at 5 p.m. and only seven politicians are present, they must wait for one more colleague to arrive before starting proceedings.

Who was/wasn’t at Billy T’s?

According to Fontana, he was joined in the backroom of the Highbury Ave. eatery last Saturday by Stephen Orser, Joe Swan, Paul Van Meerbergen, Bud Polhill, Sandy White and Dale Henderson. Denise Brown was the lone member of the “Fontana 8” voting bloc not in attendance. Harold Usher — rarely if ever associated with the Fontana 8 — was not there, contrary to the impression left by Tuesday’s print editions of The Free Press.

You did what where?

Dale Henderson says he ran into the mayor by coincidence at Billy T’s, though Fontana says he invited him. Fontana says they didn’t “discuss city matters formally,” but notes several talked about “economic development.” He also says restaurant staff put him and his colleagues in a private space, but Billy T’s management said the mayor booked the backroom. Tuesday, Bud Polhill indicated he was there to discuss plans for a family celebration, and help he needed organizing it. He didn’t offer details.

Finger-pointing flares up

Polhill accused other council cliques of meeting in secret regularly. He wouldn’t name names, but was adamant: “Fingers are pointing at me and other people right now, but maybe they should just turn it around on themselves.” Two council rivals, Nancy Branscombe and Baechler, dispute that. “I don’t buy that crap. I know where the line is,” Branscombe said. Added Baechler: “Tell me where and when — I’ll put the request into the ombudsman myself to . . . investigate . . . because it doesn’t happen.”

Nattering nabobs

Local media coverage of council drew Polhill’s scorn Tuesday. “I think the problem is this council works pretty well and all the disruptions we have are caused by the media,” said the frustrated city hall veteran. “They’re the ones who bring this up, they’re the ones who raise issues that aren’t really issues.” Branscombe disagrees: “Your job is to report. You’re not babysitters,” she said.

Deja vu all over again

Almost exactly one year ago, on Feb. 21, 2012, Fontana was joined at the Harmony Grand Buffet for lunch by five council allies — Denise Brown, Orser, Henderson, Polhill and Van Meerbergen. That sparked a probe by Ontario’s ombudsman, who ruled the gathering didn’t break Municipal Act rules, but was “ill-conceived” and created “unsavoury” optics. The Harmony-gate lunch was held mere hours before council’s final budget vote. Saturday’s Burger-gate lunch was held just days before council is slated to give final approval to the 2013 budget.

Will Marin investigate?

In short, probably. A formal citizen complaint is needed for Ombudsman Andre Marin to look into the matter and decide whether to launch an investigation. As of Tuesday, at least eight citizens had complained, setting the process in motion. Marin’s watching closely — he sent out a link to Tuesday’s Free Press story on Twitter — and he’s not exactly happy when politicians say things like “I’ll have dinner with whoever I want.” Even if he determines wrongdoing, Marin can’t issue fines or punishments, but can order council to make his final report public.

Do Londoners really care?

It looks like they do — and the reaction of several councillors present at Billy T’s suggest they realize this isn’t going away. The whole thing smacks of “the old boys’ kind of club, the old style of politics they can’t stand,” Baechler said. “That’s what really infuriates people.” One citizen who filed a complaint is Laurie Dunbar, who contacted The Free Press Tuesday. “The optics of dining in a backroom just prior to a budget consideration, what are they thinking?” she said. “It is backroom dealings, literally.” Dunbar says she’s never complained to city councillors before this term, but now does so with some regularity. “There’s something about the way they conduct business that’s not acceptable, I think.”

patrick.maloney@sunmedia.ca

twitter.com/patatLFPress

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OUT TO LUNCH

When seven city councillors crossed paths Saturday in the backroom of a London eatery, it was almost a year after Mayor Joe Fontana, left, and five councillors dined together hours before council’s final budget vote. The 2012 chit-chat sparked a probe by Ontario ombudsman Andre Marin, right, who seems poised to investigate public complaints about Saturday’s meet. Patrick Maloney reports.