Sometime in the next few weeks, Chatham-Kent councillors will be reviewing applications for the municipality’s first integrity commissioner.
Chief Legal Officer John Norton said the municipality has received a number of applications that will be reviewed in closed session.
He said council hasn’t set out any timetable but expects the matter will be dealt with sooner rather than later.
Council last month approved a new code of conduct.
Council began considering the dual issues earlier this year in an attempt to be proactive.
Since that time, Sarnia City Council has voted to suspend Mayor Mike Bradley’s pay for 90 days (the maximum allowable penalty) following an investigation by that city’s integrity commissioner.
Robert Swayze found Bradley contributed to a “toxic work environment” which forced senior staff to leave the city.
The mayor has vehemently disagreed, calling the investigation flawed and threatening to take the matter to the Ontario Ombudsman’s office.
In London, Mayor Matt Brown and deputy mayor Maureen Cassidy took leaves of absence after what was termed “an inappropriate relationship” between the two.
Brown has returned to work while Cassidy is considering her options. A call for a probe into whether the two broke council code of conduct guidelines has yet to be acted upon.
Norton said the approval of the code of conduct and the request for an integrity commissioner are rooted in an attempt to provide council with better guidelines, and the municipality with a clear protocol should issues of conduct be raised.
“The idea is that should something arise in terms of a complaint from the community, we have a very clearly defined method as to how to proceed,” he said.
At present, a citizen complaint about inappropriate behaviour from a council member would come to the CAO’s office, human resources, or to Norton’s attention and then likely on to council.
“It would place us in a position of investigating our bosses and that’s not a best practice,” he said. “There is a real conflict of interest.”
Norton said if council appoints a commissioner, the individual would be used on an as-needed basis and paid a per diem rate.
“We certainly don’t need to have a full time person but it’s a situation where when you need someone, there has to be a mechanism in place,” he said.
He envisions the commissioner also being used by council members if they have a question about their conduct.
“If a councillor had a question about say, accepting gifts such as tickets to a sporting event or something of that nature, they could call the commissioner and discuss the circumstances,” he said. “It’s much better to head something off before it becomes an issue than deal with it afterward.”
Norton said the current council code of conduct is at least a decade old and needs to be upgraded.
He said many municipalities are updating their codes of conduct as a result of actions taken during the late Rob Ford’s term as mayor of Toronto.
“Some of the mayor’s actions raised all kinds of questions related to bringing the municipality into disrepute,” he said. “People were outraged but found there might not have been the kind of structure needed because Ford’s actions were so far out of the norm.”
Toronto now has a full-time integrity commissioner.
