Article by Frank Parlato Jr. Published in the ... - OPSEU Local 217

LAWSUIT SHEDS LIGHT ON SECRETIVE NIAGARA PARKSCOMMISSION: Glynn lease may be stymied by Ontario Superior CourtAnalysis By Frank Parlato Jr. March 3, 2009A lawsuit filed in Ontario Superior Court last week seeks to nullify the 25­year leaseagreement between the Niagara Parks Commission (NPC) and the Maid of the MistSteamboat Company Ltd., a move that could cost the tour boat operator as much as$400 million over the life of the contract. The Maid of the Mist is a private corporationowned entirely by the family of James Glynn of Lewiston.At the heart of the suit is the claim that the NPC by awarding the lease violated its ownprocurement policy, which requires competitive bidding for services in excess of$100,000. A three­member panel of judges will hear the case filed by William M.Windsor, a businessman and spokesperson for Alcatraz Media, one of the largestsellers of boat tours and related tourist services in the world.Windsor said Alcatraz Media was excluded from bidding and has subsequently offeredto pay the park at least $3 million more per year than the Maid of the Mist, whichcurrently pays the NPC around $4 million annually.Last year, the Maid of the Mist provided 2.5 million boat rides, about 1.8 million of whichwere on the Canadian side, according to published figures. The company pays the NPC20 percent of gross revenues without minimum guarantees or a requirement to providesufficient boats to reduce long waiting lines.Estimates from tourism industry experts indicate the park could get $3 million to $6million more in rent annually than Glynn is paying, and thus could realize $75 million to$150 million more in revenue during the unusually long term of the lease the NPCapproved for the Maid of the Mist.At least two companies, Alcatraz Media and Ripley Entertainment, were excluded frombidding on the lease by furtive methods employed by NPC Chairman Jim Williams andVice Chairman Archie Katzman. Most commissioners were not told of the competingcompanies' interest.The original complaint ­­ which made public the secretive process by which the NPCrenewed the lease more than a year and a half before it expired ­­ came because onecommissioner, Bob Gale, felt the process was slanted to help Glynn.Gale is bound by confidentiality agreements he signed before becoming acommissioner, but said these may be voided if he is called to testify."If the judge gives me permission to talk about the Niagara Parks meetings," Gale said,"it will become clear that the commission was dirty in the handling of this process."Since the Niagara Falls Reporter began its series on the Maid of the Mist leases, anumber of questionable practices have come to light that may explain why the NPC isstaving off bankruptcy while simultaneously granting no­bid leases to Glynn and othervendors in the park.Among leases that have gone out without competitive bidding are the lucrative currencyexchange concession, digital photographs, cell phone contracts and the dock leasepresently held by the Maid of the Mist.

According to sources, the NPC favors contractors and lessees with connections toWilliams and Katzman.Williams and Katzman canceled the NPC's February meeting, rescheduled a meetingfor March 5, and then rescheduled again for March 20. Commissioners have not metsince the Reporter first published its expose in January.Katzman has pushed for NPC deals that benefited his sons. The Reporter learned thatone son got the lucrative cell phone contract.Katzman has been on the commission since 1971 and was reappointed to his twelfthconsecutive three­year term. The next longest tenure is Gary Forest Burroughs,appointed in 1994. The remaining 10 members were appointed since 2000. Thelieutenant governor­in­council officially appoints NPC members. As a practical matter,however, most are appointed because of recommendations of local Parliamentmembers.Katzman is a major fund raiser for conservatives and liberals alike, and has raisedmoney for longtime member of Ontario Parliament Jim Bradley, who represents theriding where Katzman lives. Bradley is extremely influential in provincial politics and wasformerly minister of tourism.Katzman is nicknamed "Mr. St. Catharines" for his local charity fund raising and ismanager of the St. Catharines Club. He had several high­profile failures in the hotel andrestaurant business.NPC members receive a $135 monthly stipend and must follow a conflict­of­interestpolicy that requires a member to recuse himself from voting on issues he may profitfrom. This does not prevent a member from working behind the scenes, since the NPCoperates in secrecy.When Mike Weir Wines recently unveiled plans to open a winery on a 15­acre parcel ofparkland owned by the NPC, adjacent to the Whirlpool Golf Course, many in the wineindustry objected and wondered how one vintner got exclusive rights to valuable publicproperty in a region where there are 67 other wineries.The answer was pretty simple: Katzman's son, Barry, is president of Mike Weir Wines.Meanwhile, as the Alcatraz lawsuit is pending and the Ontario Integrity Commission (IC)is investigating ethics complaints filed by Gale concerning the Maid of the Mist lease,the president of the parks employees union, OPSEU Local 217, Bill Rudd, has nowpublicly said he is concerned about serious financial difficulties facing the NPC."The conditions of the park have deteriorated over the last few years, and employmenthas fallen significantly," he said. "Families who depend on park employment have beendevastated."Park employment has fallen from 750 to under 500 during the last few years, Ruddadded.Not long ago, the NPC enjoyed a large surplus. Now, after unwise schemes, nepotism,non­tendering and other questionable decisions, it is in severe deficit.The Legends Golf Course, sprawled over a thousand acres, was originally estimated tocost $27 million, but wound up costing more than $40 million. Katzman, chairman of thegolf committee of the NPC, uses Niagara Parks courses for fund raising, and formerNPC chairman Brian Merrett, who owned land adjacent to the course and built a housethere, spearheaded the drive to get the Legends course built.

Katzman's longtime business friend, Donald Ward of Charter Builders, got the lucrativecontract to build the lavish clubhouse.Meanwhile, as Katzman and Williams fight to keep Glynn's lease lower than what otherswould pay the park, Legends ­­ which loses millions annually ­­ is not expected to breakeven for operational expenditures any time in the foreseeable future, not to mention payback any of the $40 million used to build it.Another Katzman pet project, the $40 million Table Rock improvement, includes thedismal virtual reality flop "Fury." That contract also went to Katzman's friend Don Ward.Fury did so poorly that projections Katzman used to justify the enormous expenditurewere off by 99 percent. The attraction is an educational ride that barely moves, but it ismarketed with the slogan "Will you survive the Fury?" ­­ scaring off seniors and parentsof small children who might mistakenly think it is a thrill ride.A sad joke current among park employees facing layoffs because of NPC boondogglesis "Will you survive the Niagara Parks Commission?"For more than a century, the NPC has conducted itself in secrecy. When conflicts ofinterest were discovered, they were usually politically assuaged.In the 1950s, 50 acres of parkland was sold to Arthur Schmon, a friend of thenchairmanCharles Daley. Three years later, Schmon sold the land back to Daley, whomade it into a farm and, while using labor from NPC, grew and sold produce to theNPC.After this was exposed, Premier Leslie Frost, Daley's political ally, referred theinvestigation to a Royal Commission headed by another Daley ally, Judge lan M.MacDonnell, who concluded there was no conflict of interest.Current Premier Dalton McGuinty has strong political ties to Katzman ally Jim Bradley.Additionally, the Maid of the Mist Steamboat Co. hired Bob Lopinski, a licensed lobbyistand former McGuinty aide. Lopinski was hired to lobby McGuinty to make sure the docklease is held securely and cheaply for Glynn.Lopinski has several billion­dollar clients, including Merck, the German drug companythat patented the recreational drug now referred to as Ecstasy. He also represented theOntario Lottery Commission in the so­called Lottogate Scandal, an alleged coverup ofan attempt to deprive an 84­year­old man of his lottery winnings.Lopinski and McGuinty were at a Liberal Party meeting in Niagara Falls recently.McGuinty, questioned about the Maid of the Mist lease, told a reporter, "I think thematter is before the Integrity Commissioner. I think that's a good place for it to be."One hopes McGuinty's Integrity Commission will not be too eerily similar to Frost'sRoyal Commission.Niagara Falls Reporter www.niagarafallsreporter.com March 3 2009