You may have seen the graphic below floating around on social media. As we were investigating the claims, the Port Moody resident who created it reached out to us, so we worked with them to verify the information, and found the troubling findings to be true.
When they took control of council, the Milani-Madsen-Vagramov-Lubik bloc dissolved all civic committees. Family members, campaign donors/aides, and members of activist groups aligned with the bloc all featured prominently when new appointments were made to the committees.
Given that two of these appointments included Mayoral Candidate Steve Milani’s son, along with Hunter Madsen’s husband, we chose to explore their qualifications for these roles.
In summary: we believe the appointment of Nash Milani to the Economic Development Committee to be an abject example of cronyism, as his qualifications do not remotely relate to the role of that committee. The appointment of Marcus Madsen to the City’s Transportation Committee, while it may raise questions, appears to have been appropriate given the Terms of Reference for that group.
Nash Milani was appointed as a 20-year-old to the Economic Development Committee. The purpose of the EDC is to provide Council with advice and recommendations on strategic economic development direction. Its membership is to be comprised of 12 members with a usefully diverse range of knowledge and experience relevant to the Committee’s responsibility and work plan. A list of examples is included, which is: property owners, small and mid-sized business owners, members of the professional business consulting community, seasoned local businesspeople with notable experience or academic training in entrepreneurship, and professionals with experience in important economic areas such as real estate, retail, medicine, light industry, high tech and sustainable industries, tourism, entertainment and the arts.
From his LinkedIn profile, the economic development credentials of Nash Milani consist of a Diploma in Office Administration from BCIT, and having served as a clerk at the (lovely) Village Toy Shop in Newport. With zero disrespect intended to the Jr. Milani and retail employees, it is difficult to see how a 20-year-old clerk would be qualified to provide strategic economic development advice to council. He may have been more qualified to serve the City as a member of the Youth Focus Committee or the Arts and Culture Committee, for example.
Marcus Madsen was appointed to both the Transportation Committee and the Port Moody Police Board. The Police Board appointment saw controversy in 2019 which resulted in Marcus resigning before serving. In a statement, the spokesperson for the Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General noted that Ministry Staff will be “reviewing its screening process to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
Based on Marcus’ LinkedIn profile, he is employed by Air Canada as a Customer Services Agent along with being a background artist for Film production Companies. Madsen has also been employed by Golds Gym, Home Depot, Lufthansa and has worked as a Realtor in the past. The terms of reference of the Transportation Committee exist to provide council with advice and recommendations on traffic and transportation issues such as traffic safety, accessibility, sustainable transportation, parking needs, traffic calming, and other measures. The Committee is to be made of Port Moody residents in addition to a member from ICBC, the Seniors’ Focus Committee, the Climate Action Committee, HUB Cycling, and two staff members.
Port Moody Fact Check 