After seven years of operations filled with challenges and scandals, the Downtown and Soccer/Field House Facilities Inc. (DFFH) corporation — which oversaw Mosaic Place and Yara Centre — will soon cease to exist as an entity.
During its Nov. 23 executive committee meeting, city council voted unanimously to authorize city administration to liquidate and dissolve the DFFH by 2021.
Three city councillors will be appointed to the DFFH board of directors for a term ending Dec. 31 to help shut down the corporation, while city administration will send a statement of intent to dissolve to Information Services Corporation. City hall will also distribute the property of DFFH per the corporation’s bylaws; Mosaic Place will continue to operate as normal.
Council and city administration must also complete several other steps to liquidate and dissolve the DFFH, including repealing the bylaw that authorized the city manager to manage DFFH and repealing a bylaw that created the DFFH.
City administration is expected to bring forward new bylaws to repeal the old bylaws during the Dec. 7 regular council meeting. Some of those bylaws would then take effect immediately after council passes them.
The recommendations that council approved during the executive committee must be approved during the next regular meeting to be official.
Council discussion
Dissolving the DFFH is a necessary and legislative situation, said Coun. Heather Eby, but she regretted that this had to happen since she was at the council table when DFFH was formed.
“We worked very, very hard to set up a board and have it in place,” she continued. “There’s so much history. But for me, it’s a very disappointing result as what began with great promise and great initial success.
“That first board was the strongest board that I have ever sat on in the 11 years I have been in this position,” Eby said. “This hurts my heart to do this. I know all the history; I know what’s happened … . This is a very disappointing end to something that should not have ended this way.”
Eby added that she hoped Spectra Venue Management Services — which now oversees Mosaic Place — could get the building back on track.
DFFH background
Council created a bylaw to create the DFFH on Feb. 11, 2013, and continued using the organization to operate Mosaic Place, a council report explained. Following the DFFH general manager’s departure in 2016, council resolved to amend the bylaw and reduced the board composition to three elected members from council and the non-voting director from the parks and recreation department.
Following an internal investigation after the firing of manager Graham Edge in 2018, the municipality decided to remove the elected members, dissolve the board, and install the city manager to oversee the management and direction of DFFH personnel and operations. This occurred after council passed a bylaw on Aug. 15, 2018.
In 2019, the municipality hired Spectra — a private management company — to oversee Mosaic Place. This includes purchasing, payroll, security, crowd control, repairs, preventative maintenance, janitorial services, promotions, advertising, box office, admission procedures and general user services.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, Dec. 7.
