Council

Who decides, and how you can hold them to account

Stirling-Rawdon is run by an elected council of 5 people. They set the budget, approve big purchases and hire the senior staff who run the town day to day.

Current council

• MayorBob Mullinmayor@stirling-rawdon.com
• Deputy MayorJeremy Solmesjsolmes@stirling-rawdon.com
• CouncillorCaroline Smithcsmith@stirling-rawdon.com
• CouncillorDon Stewartdstewart@stirling-rawdon.com
• CouncillorGrant HagermanGHagerman@Stirling-rawdon.com

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

Top number: pay. Second number: benefits and expenses together, such as health cover, mileage, conferences and training. Exactly what goes in it differs a little from town to town; the note below says what this town’s statement includes. Some members take the town’s health plan and some do not, so a higher second number is not a problem by itself. The statements give only totals; the receipts behind them can be requested from the clerk.

Each year links to the town's statement. Pay is the yearly council indemnity (“Remuneration”). Other is everything else on the statement: group insurance, mileage and conferences, phone and tablet charges, supplies and expenses paid to third parties. The town’s website lists the statements for 2022 and 2023 only. The 2025 statement is in the March 17, 2026 council package. We did not find a 2024 statement. Committee and board members who are not on council are left out. In 2022 the three members first elected that November were paid for a few weeks. Dean Graff’s seat was declared vacant on December 16, 2025. Council chose Grant Hagerman to fill it on January 13, 2026 and passed the appointing by-law on February 3, 2026.

• Yes
  Budgets posted online

  The budget page has the 2026 budget booklet and its February 17, 2026 update, the 2025 overview and draft, 2024, 2023 and the 2022 public-meeting overview. The 2026 booklet shows 2024 and 2025 actuals next to each budget line, with the town’s notes, which makes comparisons easy. Source

• Yes
  Meeting agendas and minutes

  Council agenda packages, complete with staff reports and the previous meeting’s minutes, are on the CivicWeb portal. The regular council list goes back to December 2020. Council meets twice a month; as of October 7, 2025 the separate standing committee meetings were replaced by regular council meetings. Source

• Partly
  Council members and contact details

  The council page on the town’s website showed only a photo and blank paragraphs when we looked. Names and official email addresses are on the meeting portal and the contact page. Source

• Unknown
  Meeting videos kept online

  The CAO’s May 2026 report says council meetings are now recorded with public access on YouTube, and the town links a YouTube channel. We could not read the channel, so we do not know how many meetings are posted or how long they stay up. Source

• Partly
  Council pay and expenses

  The town’s budget page lists the statements for 2022 and 2023. The 2025 statement is in the March 17, 2026 council package. We did not find 2024 or 2021 and earlier. Source

• Partly
  Audited financial statements

  The budget page lists 2021, 2022 and 2023. The 2024 statements (auditor’s report March 19, 2026, revised version approved July 7, 2026) are in a council package but not on that page. Each auditor’s report is clean, but they were signed 10½ to 22 months after year-end. Source

• Unknown
  Budget-versus-actual reports during the year

  We searched the 2024 to September 2026 council packages for budget variance or year-to-date finance reports and did not find any. Council gets a monthly CAO report, which we did not read in full. The 2026 budget booklet does show 2025 actuals. Source

• Unknown
  Conflicts of interest

  Every agenda has an item for declarations of interest, and the minutes we checked almost always say there were none. We did not read every set of minutes line by line. We saw one declaration, by a citizen member of the Planning Advisory Committee on March 17, 2026. We did not find a conflicts registry on the website or portal. Source

• Partly
  Closed meetings reported in public

  The minutes give the time and the legal reason each time, such as personal matters, labour relations, land or negotiations, and then record that staff were directed. What was discussed is private, as the law allows. We counted at least 10 closed sessions at council meetings from January 13 to August 4, 2026, many on staffing and union matters. Source

• Yes
  Open tenders posted

  Open bids are posted on the town’s bids and tenders site, which has filters for closed, awarded and archived bids. We could not read its list, because the page loads it by script. Source

• Partly
  List of contracts awarded

  Awards over the approval limit appear in council minutes with the winner and amount, for example the June 16, 2026 engineering contract for $378,333.91. We did not find one list of all contracts. Source

• Yes
  Integrity Commissioner reports

  ADR Chambers has been the Integrity Commissioner since April 22, 2025. Its annual report, dated July 27, 2026 and covering April 22, 2025 to April 21, 2026, is in the August 4, 2026 council package. It says no complaints or requests for advice were received and billings were $2,293.90. We did not find who the town’s closed-meeting investigator is. Source

• Unknown
  Candidates’ campaign finances

  The elections page posts the 2026 certified candidate list and says nominations closed August 21, 2026. We did not find the 2022 candidates’ financial statements on the page. Source

• Partly
  Yearly financial report to the Province (FIR)

  Filed for 2019 to 2024. The 2025 report is not in the Province’s latest release. The 2024 report shows a last-updated date of July 24, 2026. Source

• Meeting agendas and minutes

  Every council and board agenda package with its staff reports, and the approved minutes.

• News and notices

  Press releases and notices from the town, including the August 2026 statement on the review of the Business Improvement Area.

• YouTube

  The town’s channel, where council meetings are said to be posted.

• Facebook

  The township’s Facebook page.

• X (Twitter)

  The township’s account.

• Instagram

  The township’s Instagram account.

• LinkedIn

  The township’s LinkedIn page.

• Bids and tenders

  Open and closed bid opportunities.

• Request or complaint form

  The town’s online form for questions and complaints. It says anonymous forms will not be answered.

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

• Every payment the town made

  The yearly reports give totals by service, not who was paid. A list of payments is the most useful single record for spotting repeat suppliers and purchases split into smaller pieces.

  Show the request wordingHide the wording

  I request, under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act: A list of all payments made by the Township of Stirling-Rawdon from January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2025, showing for each payment the date, the name of the payee, the amount, and the description or account it was charged to (for example, the cheque register, EFT register or accounts payable listing). An electronic copy, such as a spreadsheet, is preferred.

  Copy the wording

• The auditor’s findings reports and the 2025 year-end results

  The 2024 audit findings report was attached to a March 2026 staff report but is not in the public package. These records would show what the auditor said about timing and controls. Related question: Why do the town’s audited yearly statements arrive so long after the year ends?.

  Show the request wordingHide the wording

  I request, under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act: The audit findings reports, management letters and post-audit letters prepared by the Township’s external auditor for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024; any draft or final 2025 year-end budget variance report given to council or to the CAO; and any report or schedule showing the expected completion dates for the 2025 audit.

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• How the Belleville Road project will be financed

  The budget shows a $4,000,000 loan, but no rate, term or repayment plan has been published. A financing report is promised. Related question: How will the $4 million loan for the Belleville Road and North Street project be paid back?.

  Show the request wordingHide the wording

  I request, under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act: Any report, memo or analysis prepared for council or the CAO about the financing of the Belleville Road, East Front Street and North Street reconstruction project, including the proposed loan amount, lender, interest rate, term, yearly payment, whether taxes or water and sewer rates would pay it, and the Township’s calculation of its annual repayment limit before and after the loan.

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• Equipment leases and the bank loan

  The audited statements show leases at 6.11% to 7.62% and a bank loan at 6.27%, compared with Infrastructure Ontario loans at 2.05% to 4.83%. The reasons for choosing them are not in the budget papers. Related question: Why does Stirling-Rawdon spend more than most similar towns on long-term debt?.

  Show the request wordingHide the wording

  I request, under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act: Copies of the BMO lease, the Meridian lease, the PNC lease, the Bank of Montreal term loan, and the 2022 and 2024 John Deere grader leases of the Township of Stirling-Rawdon, with any staff report, quotation or comparison of leasing versus buying or borrowing from Infrastructure Ontario, for the period January 1, 2022 to the date of this request.

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• Office staffing and contract help

  The 2026 budget raises general administration by 37% but does not say how many positions or how much contract help is behind it. Related question: Why is the budget for running the town office up 37% for 2026?.

  Show the request wordingHide the wording

  I request, under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act: For 2024, 2025 and 2026 to the date of this request: the number of full-time and part-time positions budgeted and filled in administration, finance and the clerk’s office; the total paid each year to any contract treasurer, temporary staff agency, executive search firm or consultant for finance, clerk or CAO duties; and the staff report or budget working papers that explain the $291,902 increase in general administration for 2026.

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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. Speak to council

   Each regular council agenda has a public input time limited to two minutes per speaker. To make a longer presentation, fill in the town’s deputation request form.

2. Ask for the records

   Anyone can ask the town for its records under freedom-of-information law, for a $5 fee. The wording for useful requests is above.

3. Integrity Commissioner

   For complaints that a council member broke the Code of Conduct or the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act. The town has used ADR Chambers Inc. (Benjamin Drory) since April 22, 2025. Ask the clerk how to file a complaint. The commissioner’s annual report says none were received in its first year.

4. Closed meeting investigator

   Anyone can ask for an investigation of whether a closed meeting was allowed. We did not find a Stirling-Rawdon appointment: By-law 27-25 mentions the investigator power in its preamble but appoints ADR Chambers only as Integrity Commissioner. Under the Municipal Act the Ontario Ombudsman does this job for towns that have not appointed their own investigator.

5. Ontario Ombudsman

   Looks into complaints about how Ontario municipalities treat people and run their affairs, once local options are used up. Free.

6. Police

   If you have evidence that a crime such as fraud or theft has happened, report it to the OPP. Questions and concerns belong with the options above; evidence of a crime belongs with police.