Northern Life n Thursday, August 14, 2014 3

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Municipal election Audits ‘on pause’ until after Oct. 27 vote

Vasu Balakrishnan, who was hired Senior auditor moved in early 2014 – has been assigned other work. to finance department “He’s working for the city,” Caldarelli said. “He’s doing other DARREN work for us in the finance depart- MACDONALD ment (since) audit functions are on City hall reporter pause.” When asked if this means the internal auditing department With formally fil- has effectively been eliminated, ing his nomination papers Monday, Caldarelli said “no, it’s nothing like work at the city’s internal audit that.” department is officially on hold, However, with Bigger in the says the chair of the audit commit- race and no new audits near com- tee. pletion, she said the audit commit- Speaking after Monday’s plan- tee decided to mothball the depart- ning committee meeting, Ward 10 ment until after Oct. 27. Coun. Fran Caldarelli said practi- Bigger filed his forms Monday cally speaking, not much can be morning, and is now officially the done in the AG’s office until after eighth person running to succeed the election. as mayor. He “His department is on pause,” joins Ward 5 Coun. Ron Dupuis, for- Caldarelli said. “(Bigger) sent all mer mayor and busi- councillors an email about a month nessman Dan Melanson as the high- DARREN MACDONALD ago saying he wouldn’t be bringing est-profile candidates in the race. Mayoral candidate Brian Bigger – who has been the city’s auditor general since 2009 – files his nomina- anything forward until after the While he has yet to unveil his tion papers Monday, formalizing his bid to become mayor. election.” platform, Bigger said last month And with him in the mayor’s that he’s passionate about his Sudbury,” he said. “I was born in And my family’s here. I believe I to the mayor’s office.” race, the only other person in Big- hometown. Sudbury, was educated in Sudbury, can bring the knowledge and expe- ger’s department – Senior Auditor “I really love the city of and I played sports in Sudbury. rience that people have recognized @darrenmacd

Power Back to school GSU uses meters linked to fires Student bus info now on When they were being installed, consortium’s website Indications are meters technicians also inspected the sock- ets to ensure they were in good NORTHERNLIFE.CA STAFF are required to contact the consor- weren’t at fault, shape and could handle the new tium as soon as possible. Aug. 22 meters. Summer might not be over yet, and 23, the Sudbury Student Ser- utility says “As most utilities in but the Sudbury Student Services vices Consortium is again offering did,” he said. Consortium has released informa- the First Time Bus Rider Program DARREN MACDONALD And most of the meters installed tion about school bus routes and to junior kindergarten children. City hall reporter in Sudbury have what’s called a hot times. To register, visit www.businfo. socket alarm, which monitors the Parents and guardians who ca, email [email protected] or Utilities has temperature of the sockets. moved during the summer, phone 705-521-1234. installed 173 of the Sensus Genera- “It’s a software or sensor changed their child’s school, or tion 3 smart meters that have raised FILE PHOTO that alerts us or the system modified their child’s babysitter @northern_life fire safety concerns in parts of Can- A spokesperson for Greater when a socket was warming up,” ada and the U.S. Sudbury Utilities says they have McMillan said. “We’ve received, The meters have been linked taken several steps to ensure over the years, three hot socket to nine fires in Saskatchewan, its Sensus Generation 3 smart alarms.” although whether they were meters are safe. And in the broader picture, responsible for causing the blazes McMillan said copper or alumi- is still being investigated. meters are plugged into. So you num wiring are a much bigger In Sudbury, Brian McMillan, can’t really solve a problem until hazard, accounting for 22 per the GSU’s vice-president of distri- you’ve defined the problem. And cent of electrical fires, accord- bution electrical systems, said they they haven’t.” ing to Ontario’s Electrical Safety are keeping a close eye on the fire The GSU began installing the Authority. investigation. Generation 3 meters in 2011, and “The risk that meter is going to “Because until we know the there hasn’t been a problem with cause a fire in a home is very, very cause, we don’t really know any- them since, he said. They’ve also low,” he said. thing,” McMillan. “It may be the taken several steps since then to

meters, it may be the sockets the ensure the meters are safe, he said. @darrenmacd FILE PHOTO