Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Clear as ... Exclusive Austrian Crystal...

-------- Your tax dollars at work -------


You've got great taste!

The House of Dior and Swarovski Crystal are leading creators of fine gift, personal and household items in Europe ... For more than a decade they have worked together to introduce special lines of unique products for an upscale global market... and now you are the proud owners of one of those crystal products!

On June 13, 2005 taxpayers in the communities in Shelburne and Yarmouth Counties and the Municipality of Clare contributed to Swarovski's cash flow, with the purchase of an unidentified item from Swarovski Crystal at the Duty Free Shop at the International Airport in Vienna. It is included in the expense claim receipts of SWSDA's CEO without an explanation as to who authorized the purchase, what was purchased, why it was purchased or what was done with the item or items purchased.

Who knows..... at a cost of €227 (+/- $350.00 Cdn.) this purchase from a leading crystal manufacturer in Austria may be justified as a legitimate travel expense for Southwest Nova's economic development agency SWSDA. Wouldn't that be a proverbial "kick in the pants." If it was, taxpayers likely would be interested in knowing how this purchase furthered economic development in one or more of our nine communities.

Unfortunately, since none of Mr. Anderson's travel expense claims identify the purpose of the expenditure, the public may never know. Board members responsible for supervising the activities of SWSDA staff might consider asking for an explanation and making that explanation public.

Want to see where your economic development tax dollars are going? Visit SWAROVSKI CRYSTAL'S web site for more information about their products and a description of their exclusive product lines at www.swarovski.com/ .... If you want more information ask your Warden, Mayor, Councillor or whoever sits on the SWSDA Board from your community about the use of your development tax dollars in this fashion.

BTW... this is just the tip of the iceberg! More coming.....

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I recently spoke to Mr. Embree concerning what appears to be duplicity in the workings of our RDA under Frank Anderson's guidance...

As of today I have neither heard nor read of any attempt by Mr. Embree to speak out against the current MO of secrecy.

We should not sit back and allow Mr. Hurlburt and his pawn, Mr. Frank Anderson, to continue their deceitful practices. Only a change in the current government will straighten this mess out. I have heard nothing from Belliveau on this topic. The Mayor of Lockeport, our Lib candidate, has not come completely clean about the whole situation, and politics has played a role in this whole sordid affair.

Any SWSDA voting member of the board who does not speak up, is as guilty as Frank Anderson and will not get my sympathy when the truth about this agency is revealed - which it eventually will...

Anonymous said...

If Mrs. Anderson has this piece of crystal in her home, I can imagine it is hidden deep in a closet by now. She won't have to worry about dusting it now anyway. LOL. Thanks for letting us see where the money for SWSDA is going. Who would have imagined this could have gone on for so long without anyone on the board speaking out. What retribution would they suffer? It would be nothing in relation to their names being dragged through the mud when the s--t hits the fan. Bye boys and girls. A change will be coming soon, I hope.