The notices were found posted on light poles in London’s Blackfriars neighbourhood, alerting residents in the area of an upcoming city-sanctioned “special called meeting” at Blackfriars Park.
Complete with City of London letterhead, the notices advised “residence” along Cummings Avenue and Napier Street that the meeting would be held early Thursday evening to resolve unspecified “numerous complaints” made in the area, adding a “City complaints board member” and a police officer would be on hand to take any questions.
The problem? There is no city-sanctioned meeting planned for Thursday evening at Blackfriars Park.
READ MORE: City council gives green light for South London seniors home
“There will be no one in attendance, we have no further information as to what’s behind the notice, but we would not be in attendance and it is not a city event,” said city clerk Cathy Saunders on Tuesday.
Asked about the notices, the city’s chief municipal law enforcement officer was equally as blunt.
“There’s no city complaints board. We don’t call our meetings ‘special called meetings.’ It’s just a shoddy attempt at creating some issues in the neighbourhood,” said Orest Katolyk.
Saunders said the city became aware of the fake notices after Ward 13 Councillor Tanya Park forwarded it to the city clerk’s office and posted it to her Twitter account.
“We took a look at it to see what it said and indicated that it clearly wasn’t a City of London-sanctioned meeting,” Saunders said.
“We have not been able to find out any further information about this, so we have no idea who put it out or what the meeting was about if there is a meeting.”
It’s not clear yet who created and posted the notices and why, but Saunders said genuine notices for City of London meetings generally have more information about the event in question. (And have fewer typographical errors.)
“We would certainly put a contact information of the staff person to receive further information, and we would not hold a public meeting in a park,” Saunders said.
“We may have a special event or some celebration in a park, but we certainly wouldn’t hold a public meeting to receive input from the public in a park.”
READ MORE: London man wants police, bylaw officers to be able to rescue animals locked in hot cars
“If you aren’t hearing or seeing the information first-hand, or if something doesn’t appear valid… don’t be afraid to question it and/or report it to the appropriate people,” said London police Const. Sandasha Bough in an e-mail.
Saunders said members of the public with concerns about the notices, or anyone who had more information, could contact the city clerks office.
“If they see something like that, they should always give us a call in the clerks office and we can confirm whether there actually is a meeting — but certainly, our notices would have a lot more detail and a contact person on it.”
Comments