Category Archives: Letters

Oct-30-2013 Executive Committee Meeting

Re: EX35.2  Casa Loma Request for Proposals-Operator for Main House and Grounds

Speaker: Trelawny Howell,

Great-grandniece of Sir Henry Pellatt, builder of Casa Loma

Since 2005, I have being speaking at Executive Council meetings and sending letters to City Councilors and staff, advocating for an open governance process and revitalization of Casa Loma.

In April 2005 I received my first media support after an article I wrote on Casa Loma’s fate was published in a magazine. It was about the City’s unaccountable history of leasing Casa Loma solely to the Kiwanis Club since 1936. I was a member of the Kiwanis Club of Casa Loma for six years and resigned in 2005 before writing my article. I knew firsthand that the city privately subsidized Kiwanis Club Charity operations for 75 years, renewing their leases without ever having an open tender process for competitive bids.

I took my article to the City’s Press Gallery. The Globe and Mail’s City bureau chief,

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Sep-20-2012 Trelawny’s Letter To Mayor’s Executive Committee

Trelawny L. E. Howell
Great grandniece of Sir Henry Pellatt
(builder of Casa Loma)

www.CasaLomaTrust.ca
trelawny@rogers.com
Tel:  416 927-9866

      Re:  EX 22.2 Future Options for Casa Loma

September 10th 2012

Good Afternoon, Mayor Ford and members of Executive Committee:

As you consider the staff proposal for the future of Casa Loma, Please take the necessary steps to ensure that past mistakes (outlined in my attached report) are not repeated. The staff recommendation for RFP’s (request for proposals) process, using an independent consultant to oversee the process is a good start.

Appendix C – Terms to be Included in the Casa Loma RFP
(http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2012/ex/bgrd/backgroundfile-49693.pdf

 

However, the terms of reference for both should be bolstered to ensure the process is truly independent and transparent.

 

In 2007 CLAC the city commissioned Casa Loma Advisory Committee recommendations were to have an open tender RFP process following their 3-year study. Council choose NOT to follow CLAC’s recommendations and they renewed Kiwanis … Read the rest

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Jun-2011 A Century of Mis-Management of Casa Loma Continues (Press Release)

CONTACT: Trelawny Howell, 416-927-9866 (trelawny@rogers.com)www.CasaLomaTrust.ca

 

TORONTO- On June 14, 2011, The City of Toronto City Council approved a proposal which terminates the 75-year long management agreement with the Kiwanis Club of Casa Loma (KCCL).

 

The proposal passed without debate.

Under the terms of the proposal, The City will pay KCCL $1.750 million ($1.45 m for Casa Loma artifacts, plus $300,000 in management fees), and will also waive all lease arrears, in the amount of $3.20 million. (1)

 

Despite taking over responsibility for managing the Castle from KCCL, The City is still granting the charity a new license to KCCL to remain permanently at Casa Loma, but is charging no rent.

 

Mayor Rob Ford told reporters after the June 14 Council meeting, “I think Casa Loma is something we will eventually have to sell. That’s the bottom line.”

 

The June 14 decision is the final step in a series of council decisions to

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