City cleans house after fears contractors fleeced taxpayers

The City has cleaned house in the Transportation Department with the removal of four high-ranking employees. Transportation is where the roads get fixed and the move comes just days after the City’s Auditor General raised concerns that Toronto was getting fleeced by paving contractors using inflated bids. Barbara Gray, the City’s new general manager of transportation, sent a letter to her department late this week to announce the shakeup. According to the letter, the four are:

  • Jacqueline White, the director of transportation services for the North York district.
  • Hector Moreno, a manager in the Scarborough district who has been listed as a contact on several paving tenders.
  • Trevor Tenn, a manager in road operations who frequently spoke with the media to get drivers prepared for rough weather.
  • Bruce Shaw, a maintenance contract inspection supervisor.

The letter thanked all four for their “significant contribution” to the City and said that the change was the result of “realigning management.” City spokesperson Wynna Brown declined to say why the managers are no longer working at the city. “We do not discuss personnel matters,” she told the CBC. “I can, however, confirm that there have been some recent management changes in Transportation Services.”  The CBC asked seven Councillors about the situation, but none commented on the change. Coun. Public Works Chair Jaye Robinson’s office said she doesn’t have any information about the change, either.