Philip Alves

The tally so far: nearly three-quarters of a million a dollars. That’s how much the city has paid, as of March 31, for audits of the 2006 campaign books of four Vaughan political heavyweights and related legal fees.

Vaughan’s city councillors are looking for outside legal advice on what to do with a damaging audit into the 2006 campaign books of one of their own. Councillor Bernie DiVona, who resigned his post as budget committee chair last month after the audit was released, may find himself in the same boat as Mayor Linda Jackson.

Mayor Linda Jackson faces potential expulsion from office and her husband, Mario Campese, may be hit with thousands of dollars in fines. The pair has been served with dozens of charges stemming from a court-ordered audit of Jackson’s 2006 campaign books.

Councillor Bernie DiVona resigned his post as Vaughan’s budget chief prior to a Monday evening committee meeting. The move comes on the heels of a damaging audit report delving into his 2006 campaign finances, released last week. DiVona may have used thousands of dollars from his 2006 election funds to pay for repairs to the roof of his home, the audit uncovered.

Vaughan’s budget chief quit the post prior to an evening council meeting April 27. The announcement of Councillor Bernie DiVona’s resignation, made by deputy city clerk Sybil Fernandes, comes on the heels of a damaging audit report delving into his 2006 campaign finances, released last week.

Councillors have finally settled on a new political map of the city, one that sticks with five wards. After a lengthy and at times heated debate at city hall Monday, a last-minute addition to the list of ward configurations being considered won council’s favour.

Councillors decided Tuesday to hold off making a decision on redrawing the city’s ward boundaries to give residents another chance to make their opinions known.

Mayor Linda Jackson is staying mum on whether a sweep for bugs in her office last year uncovered anything illicit, citing the security of the City of Vaughan as reason for her silence.

Faced with uneven population growth in its five wards, the City of Vaughan is poised to redraw the political map ahead of the 2010 municipal election.

Council has given the go ahead to special prosecutor Timothy Wilkin to pursue charges against Mario Campese, Mayor Linda Jackson’s husband and 2006 campaign manager.

Vaughan’s new integrity commissioner says her job isn’t the cleanup of city hall. It’s to create rules and make sure they’re being followed. Suzanne Craig, who will be leaving her post as Toronto’s director of corporate access and privacy to take up her new position on April 6, says she’s heard the cleanup suggestion and it’s presumptuous.

Vaughan city councillors are pleased with a recent court decision that cleared them of wrongdoing and bias against Mayor Linda Jackson. Ontario Superior Court Justice Peter Lauwers’ ruling, released last week, dismissed Jackson’s claims that council’s unanimous call in June to pursue charges after a court-ordered audit of her campaign finances hinged on a series of illegal actions.