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Orangeville wards off local political interference in municipal penalty system

August 21, 2025   ·   0 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS, LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER

Orangeville council has taken steps to ensure the integrity and transparency of the municipal penalty system.

The municipality has a policy framework to prevent political interference in the application of its Administrative Penalty System (APS). This policy is integral to maintaining transparency and fairness as it explicitly prohibits any form of influence by individuals attempting to interfere with administrative functions related to penalty notices.

The policy outlines strict guidelines to ensure that all personnel, from screening officers to town employees, perform their duties impartially, free from external pressures.

It emphasizes accountability by requiring any attempts at interference to be reported immediately. There is a clear mandate to uphold the integrity of the APS.

Deputy Mayor Todd Taylor said residents often contact him about various municipal matters. Some of those are bylaw-related issues. And Taylor said he’ll reach out to James Bramley, the town’s licensing and bylaw enforcement supervisor, for feedback.

“We all live in a relatively small town,” he said. “We all know a fair, large portion of the population. I guarantee at a cocktail party I am going to be approached about something that has happened that something is not happy about.”

Bramley said the intent of a policy to prevent political interference is not to have residents solicit councillors or municipal staff to intervene on that resident’s behalf.

“This is to reflect the same judicial situation that we have that we’re already dealing with in court,” Bramley said. “If we are having a matter taking place in the court system, a member of council, a member of influence can’t go up to a justice of the peace … to provide input that would influence a decision.”

The point of having an in-house screening officer who is not a provincial offences officer is that they weren’t part of any investigation. They won’t have that bias, he said.

The reason for having a hearing officer who is not an employee or staff member is also to remove any level of bias.

“They are an independent individual that is a part of the legal community,” Bramley said.

Orangeville’s municipal bylaw enforcement staff is a progressive lot. That is, enforcement begins with education first.

“It is only once we can’t gain compliance through working with the municipality, working with the residents, we get to these next steps of enforcement where we get into the AMPs system,” he said.

The full process still has to be followed after the penalty notices have been issued.

“We still have to provide that full process,” Bramley said. “We can’t just void them on the recommendation of, say, the mayor or, say, the deputy mayor or members of council. And that’s the purpose of this policy.”

“I think it’s important that council has the ability to advocate on behalf of our residents to bylaw,” Taylor said. “But I wouldn’t phone the hearing officer and I’m aligned with that.”

He said departmental managers and the town’s CAO should be able to take a call from a councillor regarding a resident’s issue and what he thinks would be right for the municipality.

“Your summary of that would be correct,” Bramley said. “There’s no change on the relationship between yourself and myself in discussing matters that members of the public bring to your attention that want to be addressed.”

Rather, the political interference policy relates to the APS. Once a resident has received a ticket or penalty notice, the screening officer or hearing officer can’t be directly contacted about an opinion or to influence the decision.

Taylor said his relationship with bylaw enforcement is similar in his mind to his relationship with the local OPP detachment. He can phone Bramley just as he can phone the inspector who commands the OPP detachment.

Taylor is the chairperson of the Orangeville OPP Detachment Board.

“At no time can I tell them what to do,” he said. “However I can request that something be investigated or that a speed patrol be considered for a certain area.”

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