Monthly Archives: July 2010

July-8-2010 Globe and Mail – Council gives Kiwanis deadline on Casa Loma

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Service club has until July 31 to remove chair alleged to have directed legal work to himself

Kelly Grant

City Hall Bureau Chief  Globe and Mail Update Published on Wednesday, Jul. 07, 2010 10:01PM EDT Last updated on Thursday, Jul. 08, 2010 1:43AM EDT

The city could move to evict the Kiwanis Club from Casa Loma if the club doesn’t remove by July 31 a board chair who allegedly directed $218,938 in legal work to himself over 18 months.Council set the deadline while voting to give the service organization, which has operated Casa Loma since 1937, another chance to meet the terms of a management deal inked with the city in 2008.

City manager Joe Pennachetti said the Kiwanians have agreed verbally to three of the four conditions council endorsed Wednesday, namely that Casa Loma�s board of trustees meet monthly; that Kiwanis develop a revised financial plan; and that a joint working group be established so the Edwardian mansion can

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July-8-2010 The Star – An ultimatum to Casa Loma

Toronto Star
Author: Paul Moloney
Date:July 8, 2010

The Kiwanis Club of Casa Loma has until July 31 to recommend a new chair for the city-owned tourist landmark.

Toronto Council decided Wednesday that if the club doesn’t do so, the city will start looking for a new operator to replace Kiwanis, which has managed the castle for 73 years.

The city is concerned that commitments to upgrade the facility have not been met and wants the board to suggest possibilities to replace lawyer Richard Wozenilek, with the decision to be made by Mayor David Miller, said city manager Joe Pennachetti.

Wozenilek, who has held the post since 1991, couldn’t be reached for comment.
“They haven’t come close to completing the projects that were anticipated. They know that,” Pennachetti said.

Miller told council the city has been patient.
“We have given them every opportunity in the world to say, ‘Yes, we’ll address these issues,'” the mayor said. “Again and again and … Read the rest

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July-7-2010 Globe and Mail – Council gives Kiwanis deadline on Casa Loma

Kelly Grant Wednesday, Jul. 07, 2010
GM_pic_july7_2010.jpg
Service club has until July 31 to remove chair alleged to have directed legal work to himselfCity Hall Bureau Chief Globe and Mail

The city could move to evict the Kiwanis Club from Casa Loma if the club doesnï’t remove by July 31 a board chair who allegedly directed $218,938 in legal work to himself over 18 months.

Council set the deadline while voting to give the service organization, which has operated Casa Loma since 1937, another chance to meet the terms of a management deal inked with the city in 2008.

City manager Joe Pennachetti said the Kiwanians have agreed verbally to three of the four conditions council endorsed Wednesday, namely that Casa Loma�s board of trustees meet monthly; that Kiwanis develop a revised financial plan; and that a joint working group be established so the Edwardian mansion can begin to meet its goals.

But the club has so far refused to

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July-2-2010 Globe and Mail – Feud brews over

Kelly Grant City hall bureau chief —
From Saturday’s Globe and Mail Published on Friday, Jul. 02, 2010 6:38PM

Casa Loma is the perfect setting for palace intrigue, and that’s exactly what’s unfolded beneath its Norman and Scottish towers in the last two years.

Now the intrigue is moving from castle to council.

Toronto’s elected officials will decide this week whether the Kiwanis Club, the charitable organization that has managed city-owned Casa Loma since 1937, deserves a third chance to drag the tourist trap into the 21st century or whether the city should begin severing a partnership that’s been a royal pain for both sides.

Internal e-mails and other confidential documents obtained by The Globe and Mail show conflict has plagued a new City-Kiwanis management agreement practically since the deal took effect in the summer of 2008. The mayor now admits he was wrong to support the Kiwanians in 2006 and 2007, when a public review of Casa Loma’s future

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