Degradation of Public Office

Today our society has no real respect for anyone in public office. Reports of corruption and wrongdoing no longer ring the bells of surprise, rather such news only finds in response a flippant “what did you expect?” Some say that the longer Toronto's Mayor Rob Ford is permitted to prance over the front pages of the daily newspapers the greater the insult is to not only the City of Toronto but to all of Canada, yet it continues.

At one time a slogan pilfered through the airwaves that you 'CAN' in Canada. That is true for where else “can” an elected member of government admit to drugs, be photographed drunk and with reports of association with the ladies of the night without consequence. If this had happened in the US there is no doubt what the result would be. Yet such disrespect, such contempt for the law is not a disease of a big city alone. It is a disease of the very law itself in Canada which protects those elected into office and ensures that no action is ever taken against them.

Toronto has its Mayor Rob Ford, here in the quiet town of St. Catharines Ontario we have our own. There is no issue of drugs, no photographs of public inebriation and no sexy gals are to be heard of. Rather the drug in St. Catharines is a more universal one and one that the law cannot restrict. It is the lust for power and the ability to slip through anything as easy as a Teflon coated pan slips off a fried egg.

St. Catharines Mayor Brian McMullan has been able to breach the Criminal Code, have a local newspaper lie to cover for him, abuse the court system and walk away unscathed. Mayor McMullan does not like Mayorgate because here the truth does find an opportunity to be aired. He had tried to bully and threaten me as publisher with a letter from a lawyer Christopher Bittle. In that letter Mayor Brian McMullan threatened to shut Mayorgate down. I published his threat and more evidence against him. McMullan shut his mouth and packed up his threats.

Now there is something new brewing in Brian McMullan's mind. On May 11^th 2014 Mayor Brian McMullan appeared at my place of work. At first he came in front of me with his expected phoney approach. Then some 15 minutes later he came up behind me. Mayor McMullan came close this time and said “you took some time on your day off to visit the Conservation Authority in Welland.” My response was simple, that I had not. McMullan then said, “we now have a statutory declaration.” After he left with his smugness in tow, I was left to wonder what was this all about. What affidavit and from whom? Who was the “we” that McMullan alluded to? Why or what is the Conservation Authority to do with my day off?

Before saying anything else Mayor Brian McMullan should be aware that I carry a small digital recorder on my person at all times. Also above my station is a security camera and that day a video had been requested to be copied and kept. McMullan should remember that I do not run from threat or intimidation. But there in itself lies the problem of how a coward threatens another individual only to run and not carry his or her threat through, to have time and energy wasted to prepare the fly swatter.

This wild act by Mayor McMullan left only questions and bemusement in the air. Though another incident prior to McMullan's personal appearance may shed some light on the matter. A private message came to me via Facebook by Mayor Brian McMullan's wife Ruth McMullan. Both the message and who it came from was quite a surprise. I have had no dealings with Ruth McMullan in any way, and as far as Facebook's terminology of 'friend' stands it is a laugh and a farce. Oops, watch some 'friends' get offended by this.

Looking at the Facebook page, the name is listed as Ruth French McMullan. Family photographs pepper the page as so many have with a son in police uniform and an adult daughter. What little could be checked proved to be a genuine Ruth McMullan even comparing to a newspaper photo in the Standard of Mayor McMullan and wife from 2010.

The message bordered on slander and sounded more like a rant of a disturbed person, or was it something else. Now that is purely my suspicious nature being activated as I had never had any contact with a Ruth McMullan in any way. She went on about things being said and how they are hurting her children and her at work. No explanation of what things though. Ruth McMullan asks me to stop them or if not me if I know who is saying this, to tell that invisible person to stop. I am not Brian McMullan and this is not a Tim Lewis affair. My response was swift and hard.

I made it clear that I would not accept such lunacy again and I had said that I wanted no further contact with whoever this was. Thirty odd minutes later another response came. Now the lunacy was more wild, sounding more like a drunk wrote it with spelling errors. This time Ruth McMullan uses words that raise even greater suspicion and a close correlation to the legal threat by Mayor Brian McMullan which he did not carry though.

Now 'Ruth' carries on that I had “misunderstood” her lunatic accusation. She also says not to continue “just for something against Brian.” I have only ever published the truth with supporting hard evidence, it had never been done on a personal level. Mayorgate does not look for something against anyone and the facts regarding Brian McMullan are undeniable.

These two incidents lead me to suspect that both are somehow associated to each other. Ruth McMullan is accusing a stranger of circulating “information...about a private matter.” Brian McMullan's cowardly threat must have something to do with this “private matter” though the so called statutory declaration is somewhat bewildering. Here the “private matter” is the divorce filed by Ruth McMullan, and it is far less private that she claims it to be.

First and foremost Mayor Brian McMullan is far from a private person. Mayor McMullan uses the front page of his public relations newspaper whenever he chooses to butcher anyone. He as the mayor is a public figure, elected by the public and answerable to the public even though he doesn't think so. Ruth McMullan can pretend to be shy and not liking the spotlight of public attention, she may make lunatic accusations if she wishes, yet it is she who filed the divorce papers. If Brian and Ruth McMullan were some nondescript couple living on a nondescript street in St. Catharines no one would care. They are not and for either of them to demand that this is a private matter then Brian McMullan should have controlled his desire for power and influence.

Amongst all the angst of what is a private matter or not comes a far more serious issue to deal with. In her divorce filing Ruth McMullan cites adultery and names the female. Now no part of this is a private matter as the woman Ruth McMullan names is Debbie Zimmerman, Regional Councillor for Grimsby and former Regional Chair.

Rumours are the realm of the National Enquirer and other such tabloids, not a part of, or ever had been a part of Mayorgate. In this case rumours of the affair were brought to me as far back as the time of the 2010 elections. Then I had said that I was not interested regardless if they were true. Now it is not a rumour rather it is a Superior Court of Justice Family Court file #133/14. In file #133/14 the Applicant is Patricia Ruth McMullan and the Respondent one Brian James McMullan, in case anyone wishes to mistake this McMullan the address for service is c/o St. Catharines City Hall.

The Superior Court documents are available for public inspection unless sealed by a judge and to seal divorce files requires certain criteria to be met. A person who has a public position or is known by the general public has no grounds to have such a court order. Court file #133/14 is available for public view to this date.

On page 5 of the filed divorce papers it states the important facts for the claim. One being Adultery naming Debbie Zimmerman of Grimsby, Ontario, the other Cruelty, with an attachment A. There is no doubt that divorces become messy with a great deal of he said and she said. Here between Mayor Brian McMullan and his wife it will be no different. If as said McMullan was a private person there would be no interest at all, just another marriage crushed by the stresses of humanity. Mayor Brian McMullan is not a private person, nor is Regional Councillor Debbie Zimmerman.

Cupid may sling his arrows wherever he wishes, it is the response to the sting that can become bothersome. Both Brian McMullan and Debbie Zimmerman sit on regional council. Both have lied publicly and to all members of regional council although without a doubt there are those on council who have known for a long time. This deceit has also been aimed at the people of Niagara.

The Regional Municipality of Niagara, Code of Conduct For Members of Council on page 2 of 10, with section 1 Principles Upon Which This Code is Based, subsection 1.2(c) states the following:

“Members of Council are expected to perform their duties in office and arrange their

private affairs, in a manner that promotes public confidence and will bear close public

scrutiny.”

Regional Councillor Debbie Zimmerman was at one time Regional Chair, she is fully aware of the impact of her affair with Mayor Brian McMullan and the potential legal mess it opens up. As a starry eyed couple conducting an affair deceit becomes a way of life on a daily basis, otherwise divorce papers are served earlier than planned. Deceit in this case affects, or has the potential to affect the workings of government.

Mayor Brian McMullan has played his games even publicly attacking all who get in his way. He is quoted making his sanctimonious statements in relation to how councillors should act when he attacked fellow councillor Andy Petrowski. Yet he has been part of a deceitful blanket for several years. The City of St. Catharines Code of Conduct for Elected Officials, Local Boards and Advisory Committees on Page 1 under “The key principles that underline the Code of Conduct are as follows,” then states: “members are expected to perform their duties in office and arrange their private affairs in a manner that promotes public confidence and will bear close public scrutiny.” Any similarity to the Region's?

In the end Mayor Brian McMullan and Regional Councillor Debbie Zimmerman have only spat on both of these Codes of Conduct. Their combined decision was to lie and deceive each and every day. Yet they expect trust in return and spout condemnation of others.

There is a reality here which cannot be put aside. Since Cupid did his deed and both Brian and Debbie answered the call of love one should have stepped down from regional council. Neither is capable of relinquishing their seat of power and that has resulted in deceit and lies.

Ruth McMullan cries and without cause makes statements that are slanderous, yet it was she who filed the divorce papers. Brian McMullan attempts some kind of cowardly threat without being specific. At the bottom of this rotten pool sit the people of Niagara. Some will say who cares about the mayor's pillow stacking, others will find the conflicts of interest important to consider. The purveyors of so called news in St. Catharines will only try to wash it away. Doug Draper of Niagara At Large will again aim his empty rhetoric at the “ugly blogs” without the courage to say anything more. Truth is sometimes very ugly and in our Niagara it rarely finds the light of day. Maybe that is why Doug Draper is more willing to insult than to speak of it.

In the final analysis Mayor Brian McMullan and Regional Councillor Debbie Zimmerman have shown contempt for government, and only self interest. Whatever the issues are between Mayor McMullan and his wife are their own affair. Both had decided for whatever reason to drag Mayorgate into it. The people of Niagara simply deserve the truth. I as publisher of Mayorgate will say to Mayor Brian McMullan either carry out your threat or run like you did once before. You have lied to your family and to the people you asked to trust you. You, Mayor McMullan, have answers to provide.

On May 22^nd 2014 a judge will make a decision whether file #133/14 will be sealed. It is going to be interesting to see what grounds are cited to arrange the sealing.

To end for now I'll quote a favourite wise crab from SpongeBob Squarepants, “questions are a danger to you and a burden to others.” Mayorgate will never stop asking the ugly questions.

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