Osoyoos Mayor Sue McKortoff has denied allegations of financial impropriety around the Music in the Park budget levelled at her in an open letter posted on local social media pages and said she intends to remain in her position on council.
The letter was posted on the evening of Nov. 27 by the defeated mayoral candidate in the last election, Dustin Sikora. In the letter, Sikora highlights the “pain, stress and destruction of real estate based wealth” in Osoyoos as a result of the dramatic hike in property taxes next year – up 39 per cent inclusive of user fees.
The letter goes on to state that “documents have been uncovered regarding questionable flows of money” and it cites internal communications, budget applications, etc., which are all publicly available through freedom of information requests.
Dustin Sikora ran against Sue McKortoff for the position of Mayor during the 2022 municipal elections in Osoyoos.
Sikora states that “documents show that you have voted to enrich your friend Janis St. Louis with a 15 per cent commission / administrative fee from the Music in the Park budget that is drawn from the Resort Municipality Initiative Fund.”
Noting St. Louis’ involvement in McKortoff’s election campaign as “Nominator” and “Financial Agent”, Sikora says the roles “require a higher level of care and understanding regarding ethics guidelines and conflicts of interest.”
He continues: “It is alleged, you were required to recuse yourself from these sensitive financial decision-making processes, but you did not.”
Sue McKortoff
In her response given at the Nov. 28 open council meeting, McKortoff stated: “I want the public to know that Council makes the decision on where funding is allocated. A majority vote is what determines where funding is allocated. To be clear, I did vote on funding this event. All information is made available to council including myself.
“The decision was unanimous to fund the Music in the Park application. I want to be clear that I take my job as mayor and my oath of office very seriously. My intention is to continue being the town’s mayor for the remainder of the term. Thank you.”
Sikora’s letter concludes with three yes/no and multiple-choice questions for the mayor of which he says taxpayer confidence will hinge on the mayor’s response time.
As of press time on Wednesday Nov. 29, the Times Chronicle understands that Sikora has issued another open letter regarding town finances.
