Council

Who decides, and how you can hold them to account

Essex is run by an elected council of 8 people. They set the budget, approve big purchases and hire the senior staff who run the town day to day.

Current council

• MayorSherry Bondysbondy@essex.ca
• Deputy MayorRob Shepleyrshepley@essex.ca
• Councillor, Ward 1Joe Garonjgaron@essex.ca
• Councillor, Ward 1Katie McGuire-Blaiskblais@essex.ca
• Councillor, Ward 2Kim Verbeekkverbeek@essex.ca
• Councillor, Ward 3Brad Allardballard@essex.ca
• Councillor, Ward 3Jason Matyijmatyi@essex.ca
• Councillor, Ward 4Rodney Hammondrhammond@essex.ca

Names and official email addresses from the town's council page. None of the members lists a public social media account there.

• Yes
  Budgets posted online

  Budgets for 2020 to 2026 are posted on one page, with the 2026 walkthrough and deliberation slides. The text inside the 2026 adopted budget book cannot be read by a computer (the fonts are scrambled), so we used the Town's walkthrough slides for 2026 figures. Source

• Yes
  Audited financial statements

  Statements for 2018 to 2025 are posted. The 2025 statements carry a clean opinion ("present fairly") from KPMG LLP dated July 20, 2026, and the 2024 statements one dated October 9, 2025. Source

• Unknown
  Council pay and expenses (s. 284)

  We did not find the yearly statement of council pay and expenses on the pages we read, so the pack has no council pay table. It may be in a council agenda, which we could not open (see next item). Source

• Unknown
  Meeting agendas and minutes

  The Town says agendas, minutes and reports are on its meeting calendar, and that minutes appear in the next meeting's agenda. That site (calendar.essex.ca) answered a scripted request with a security block page, so we did not go further and read no minutes. We read the Town's own plain-language summaries of council meetings instead. Source

• Yes
  Integrity Commissioner reports

  Annual reports for 2016 to 2025 are posted (some years are missing from the list). Source

• Yes
  2022 election candidate financial statements

  The Town posts each 2022 candidate's filed statement as a scanned PDF. We did not read them: they are scans, and the Town says staff have not checked them. Source

• Town of Essex on YouTube

  The Town says council meetings are recorded and that videos are generally posted by the Thursday after each meeting. We did not check the channel.

1. Send the request in writing to the town clerk (the freedom of information coordinator), on the town’s form or in a letter, with the $5 application fee.
2. Describe the records, not the answer you want. Dates, departments and the kind of record (a list, invoices, emails) make a request quicker and cheaper.
3. The town has 45 business days to answer (the law changed in 2026; older guides say 30 days). It can charge for search time and copies, but must send an estimate first if the fees will be over $25.
4. Some parts can be held back, such as legal advice or personal information about other people. The town must say which part of the law it relied on.
5. If you are refused, or the fees seem too high, you can appeal to the Information and Privacy Commissioner within 30 business days of the town’s decision.

The town's request form (on its Forms page) · The law · Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario

• Closing statement for the sale of E.L.K. Energy Inc.

  The statements show $22,791,716 received and $22,125,888 in the reserve. The statement of adjustments shows where the difference went. Related question: How did the $22,791,716 sale price for E.L.K. Energy turn into the money the Town now holds, and where is it going?.

  Show the request wordingHide the wording

  Under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, I request the closing statement or statement of adjustments for the sale of the shares of E.L.K. Energy Inc. and E.L.K. Solutions Inc. that closed on November 28, 2025, showing the purchase price, debt repaid, legal fees and other transaction costs, and the net amount received by the Town.

  Copy the wording

• Cost estimates behind two 2026 capital tenders

  Two 2026 contracts needed more than $750,000 each above the approved capital budget. The estimates and design stage show why. Related question: Why are several 2026 capital contracts coming in above the budgets Council approved?.

  Show the request wordingHide the wording

  Under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, I request the engineer's cost estimates and the staff reports for the Maidstone-Talbot Intersection Improvement (RFT-ID-26-006) and the Inspiration Industrial Park Servicing tender, including the original budget estimates and any estimate updates before each tender closed.

  Copy the wording

The wording is a starting point, not legal advice. Narrow the dates if the town says a request is too broad or too costly.

1. Integrity Commissioner

   The Town has an appointed Integrity Commissioner and posts annual reports for 2016 to 2025 on one page. The 2024 report says one complaint was filed that year and it was discontinued before resolution. The 2025 report covers only December 1 to 31, 2025 (a new Commissioner started on December 1, 2025) and says no complaints were received.

2. Registry of declarations of interest

   The Town posts its registry of Municipal Conflict of Interest Act declarations as a PDF (the copy we read is dated June 5, 2026) and says the original forms are open to inspection at Town Hall. We did not build any finding on it.

3. Mayoral decisions under strong-mayor powers

   The Town lists every written decision the Mayor has made under the strong-mayor powers the Province gave Essex on May 1, 2025, as separate PDFs. The ones we opened are scans, so we could not read them.