 By Scott Bird
Grimsby BIA Watch GRIMSBY, August 13, 2025 — The Grimsby BIA told the public that its new website contract had been awarded to Civiconnect. What the public record did not disclose was that Grimsby BIA Executive Director Amanda MacDonald’s brother worked for the company receiving the contract. The website project had already gone through several iterations. On June 7, 2023, Daniel Vandersteen presented the BIA’s completed website. The official minutes state it was ‘finished and ready to launch,’ and the Board voted unanimously to launch it immediately. After MacDonald became Executive Director, the BIA returned to the market for website development. On June 25, 2025, the Grimsby BIA Board authorized MacDonald to procure a website vendor for up to $5,000. Less than two months later, at the August 13, 2025 Grimsby BIA meeting, Vandersteen reported that Civiconnect had been awarded the project and work was underway. That was the public disclosure. The family connection was not. Amanda MacDonald’s brother worked as a Manager for Civiconnect. The public minutes announcing the successful vendor did not identify that relationship, record a disclosure by MacDonald, or tell Grimsby BIA levy payers that a close family connection existed between the Executive Director overseeing the procurement and the company receiving the work. For a levy funded public board, that is not a minor detail. The Grimsby BIA found room in its minutes to tell members the name of the successful company. It left out the part that mattered most. |