Wait for it. You are NOT going to believe this. So I was just doing a casual stroll of a TCHC property where a fellow anti-poverty advocate lives on the Saturday of Easter weekend. This BMW really stood out. This is top of the line wheels. (Blue Book value of at least $25,000)
Immediately my thoughts started racing. This is a long weekend. Friday was a holiday. I couldn't see TCHC staff leaving wheels like this in one of our parking lots over night. That would be begging for trouble. Speaking of trouble, whenever I see a high end car in a TCHC parking lot over night I automatically think that the owner has a criminal record and undeclared income of some type. (Honestly, if they have THAT much money shouldn't they be in a market rent unit somewhere?) The only other wheels near that spot was a bike (with a milk crate for a trunk and plastic bag to keep the drivers seat dry) chained to a tree. Then I notice the vanity plate. "5CARLO" No way! This can't be. That's not possible. He's not that arrogant. I asked my friend if this car belonged to our not so esteemed off again/on again tenant representative on the Board of Directors of TCHC Robert Carlo. She answered in the affirmative. WOW ... I was speechless. (Trust me that doesn't happen very often) I was thinking about all the community money or resources that I know my tenant rep has never been held accountable for. No matter who I reached out to for an audit it never happened. All my tenant rep is driving around in is a beat up minivan that she shares with her live-in boyfriend. (Is he on the lease yet? After thirty years one can only hope.) Having an on again/off again status on the Board of Directors at TCHC is an exponentially higher rank than a lowly tenant rep. Would that not automatically mean that with rank comes privilege? How many perks has he received? (Are the rumours really true? Has he only allowed agencies or programming into his building if there was an upfront incentive for him to do so?) Thankfully, March 31rst, 2018 was officially the end to all TCHC tenant reps terms . That is until Toronto Community Housing Corporation rolls out the new tenant engagement system. My concern is what if some of these old school fraudsters already have plans in place to dominate whatever associations may be created in it's place? Will there by rolling community audits? Will there be an effort to enforce the TCHC employees Code of Conduct or the Board of Directors Conflict of Interest Policy? Previously Tenant Reps were only obligated to hold monthly community update meetings with TCHC staff. Maybe now it is time to include equal accountability to the communities within which they live. No more of this one or twice a year general meeting crap. Maybe now they will ensure that those representing our communities have minimal financial accounting training so that they can include accurate assessments of accounts for all groups, clubs or associations that they are currently operating. How long ago was it that I initially asked for that training.? Oh yeah. When I made the decision that I didn't want to be cleaning up after the previous tenant rep. (Money in torn envelopes that had ineligible hand writing on them in plastic baggies stashed in a filing cabinet in the tenant reps apartment that was supposedly the previous years Garden Club money.) Back to that BMW sitting in a TCHC parking lot ... You can't fault me if I honestly believe it is the result of a lot of ill-gotten gains. Maybe when they roll out the new tenant engagement system they will have measures in place to prevent tenant reps from exploiting their own communities. Maybe ...
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