HALDIMAND—Mayor Shelley Ann Bentley will face an audit of her election financial statement following a decision at last Friday’s Joint Municipal Elections Compliance Audit Committee hearing.
The audit request was submitted by resident Lisa Richardson, who was absent from the hearing, on May 18, with the request then forwarded to the compliance committee on May 25.
Bentley was questioned by the committee on various issues related to her financial statement, including undeclared expenses, contributors listed as couples instead of individually, and a failure to file on time.
The primary concern for the audit request related to Bentley’s campaign signs, with Richardson questioning Bentley’s relatively small sign budget compared to other candidates, despite her signs having significant coverage across the county in a variety of designs.
While Bentley’s campaign spent $7.94/100 certified electors, the average of the remaining candidates was $27.61. Bentley’s financial statement lists $1,921 spent under signs, along with $1,323.29 on lumber, screws, and bolts for signs. In comparison, Ken Hewitt reported approximately $9,450 spent on signs, Jake Vandendool $6,072, Dick Passmore $2,050, and Jennifer Gilmour had no sign budget.
Richardson’s letter listed 12 sign variants utilized by Bentley’s campaign, from standard lawn signs to magnetic vehicle signs, to large wood-frame supported signage on a campaign truck, handmade signs, and “fabricated metal trailer hitch mounted signage attached to a campaign vehicle.”
Bentley asserted several of the signs do not classify as campaign signs: “They were not intended as campaign signs, just community awareness,” replied Bentley in reference to signs regarding the Nanticoke MZO request. “People aren’t aware this is happening to this day, even though I campaigned all around the county.”
The ubiquitous bright green ‘Say no to the community of 40,000’ and ‘Say no to the MZO’ signs were seen throughout Haldimand during last fall’s election, with the latter still on Bentley’s front lawn. She argued that it would be a violation of municipal election guidelines if it was an election sign, and she would not be permitted to keep the sign up. She also noted that she continues to receive requests for MZO signs.
Bentley admitted to missing some details in her financial statement, including 50 coroplast signs valued at $600 and 150 bag signs valued at $150. She explained that these signs were acquired by her husband Rick Beaudet, noting that he had “bartered” a drywall job in return for the signs. She additionally mentioned $339 spent on two sets of magnet signs for her vehicle, but did not clarify the origin of these signs.
“He did this barter job, signs appeared, and I just kept going,” Bentley said, noting she didn’t know that was happening at the time and calling the omission from her statement an error. She also noted that Beaudet is a “big collector of scrap,” and they used scrap piles of pipes, wires, and wood in her campaign.
Richardson noted that the MZO signs bore a strong resemblance to Bentley’s campaign signs, using the same colour scheme, fonts, and link to Bentley’s campaign website at shelleyannbentley.com.
The committee questioned Bentley about the campaign link being on the signs; Bentley responded that she initially created the website as an information page related to the Nanticoke MZO, which she started in June 2022, and only later did she revamp it when her election campaign launched July 4. On why she didn’t make a new website, she said, “I couldn’t control two websites.”
The sign currently on the mayor’s lawn does not contain the link to her website.
When asked if the MZO signs, placed in conjunction with her election signs, might have caused confusion, Bentley replied, “Some people only wanted an MZO sign, not an election sign.”
One audience member at the hearing stated they still have a ‘Community Awareness’ sign on their lawn, agreeing with Bentley that it has nothing to do with who the mayor is.
In a follow up request for additional details on the number of campaign vs. MZO signs printed and distributed, Bentley shared that she had 300 signs made for her election and “a number” of community awareness signs were requested by members of the public.

“The community awareness signs were not part of my campaign, as they were allowed to be out prior to campaign signs, and some remain out today,” she added. On the distribution of these signs, she stated, “The ‘Say No to the MZO’ signs were not necessarily deployed by my campaign team; many community members requested and obtained the signs on their own.”
The Press requested clarification on whether or not MZO signs were distributed by members of Bentley’s campaign team, but did not receive a response prior to publication.
On costs of a church rental missing from her report, Bentley said during the hearing that the September 2022 meet and greet at Cayuga’s St. John the Divine Anglican Church was booked by a friend for $50, with another $50 spent on food for attendees. She said failing to record the expenses was an oversight, noting, “It was a whirlwind campaign.”
On the matter of failing to submit her statement ahead of the deadline, Bentley noted that she did submit her form on time, but it was rejected and pushed past the deadline on the grounds that she failed to include her middle name ‘Ann’.
On the matter of listing campaign contributors as couples instead of individually, Bentley stated, “I had a small amount of contributors, mostly families and friends. When I wrote the receipt, they were couples to me. In hindsight, I would have written their names differently.”
Bentley chalked up the website confusion and statement omissions to the grassroots nature of her campaign, and it being her first time running, adding that she didn’t recognize the importance of the form when she filled it out. She called the compliance committee a “necessary part of the democratic process” and stated, “I appreciate the committee’s diligence and acknowledge the importance of Form 4. In hindsight, I should have sought additional guidance from a consultant or professional with expertise in campaign reporting. Compliance audits are nothing new; audits in years past have uncovered missing expenses, errors, and omissions that were able to be rectified. I intend to be fully transparent and cooperative throughout the audit process.”
She said in addition to learning the ropes as mayor, she has seen the “bad side” of politics, claiming that there has been a private investigator parked outside of her house “since February,” and that friends of hers have also been followed for “months.” Following a request for further details, Bentley shared, “It is clearly an intimidation tactic. I have not spoken to the investigator, nor have any of my friends or family. I have reached out to the OPP and police reports have been made in all instances.”
“In trying to do something positive for the community sometimes you get the negative part,” said Bentley. “I did try my best on this form. Yes, I made mistakes. I hope the people of Haldimand County will stand by my side.”
Resident Jan Watson took Bentley to task at the meeting, noting that as a former financial manager herself, Bentley’s statement raised “a lot of concerns.”
“It’s not petty money,” said Watson. “It doesn’t look good, especially when you see more than one issue. I hope you learn from this, and Council puts things in place for any candidate that’s running. To say you didn’t know how to fill out the form, that’s on you…. That’s excuses…. We didn’t know the signs weren’t related to your campaign. That wasn’t made clear.”
After the hearing concluded, the committee went to a closed-door meeting for discussion. After nearly an hour in deliberation they announced the audit would proceed as they saw merit in Richardson’s concerns related to the missing church and signage-related expenses, dismissing the other concerns as an oversight.
Bentley declared $9,889.69 in campaign expenses on her statement, meaning the undeclared expenses disclosed at the committee hearing would have pushed her over the $10,000 threshold for a mandatory compliance audit.
If found to be in breach of the Municipal Elections Act, Bentley may face legal proceedings and could face removal from her position as mayor if convicted. Updates on this situation will be provided in future as available.