Receipts for a 2018 dinner that has cost former Scarborough councillor Jim Karygiannis his job suggest there was Greek wine flowing, pasta, racks of lamb and cake for some 50 people. That and the rest of the more than $27,000 in expenses spelled out in invoices that Karygiannis’s campaign filed with the city’s elections office are now in the spotlight after the city clerk removed him from office, saying he violated campaign finance rules by overspending by nearly $26,000. Receipts and invoices attached to the dinner filed with the city’s elections office show the campaign paid more than $20,000 on consulting fees, including $11,300 to the company run by pollster Nick Kouvalis for “fundraising event services,” as well as just over $4,000 for the dinner, itself, including wine and a three-course menu, and more than $1,700 on silver-foiled invitations and other printed materials.The purpose of the dinner is a key factor in Karygiannis’s removal from office.In an initial financial filing made in March, Karygiannis listed the dinner as a fundraiser. Karygiannis himself signed a cheque for $4,032 to the Santorini Grill restaurant in Thornhill with the memo line reading: “Fundraising.”In expense filings submitted to the city, none of the money Karygiannis raised for his campaign is specifically connected to the dinner. His removal as councillor was announced Wednesday, just over a week after Karygiannis made additional financial filings that listed both the $27,083.50 dinner event and a $5,000 victory celebration under a different category: for “parties and other expressions of appreciation.” All candidates are allowed to spend money thanking campaign workers. That spending is subject to strict limits.In the case of Ward 22 Scarborough-Agincourt, the limit for such parties and shows of appreciation was $6,120.80 in 2018, the clerk said Wednesday, meaning Karygiannis’s updated filing showed he had overspe ...
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