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Posted Jan 28, 2009, 6:37 PM
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Awesome!
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Orleans, ON
Posts: 1,971
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More city hall mess
More controversy at City Hall. One of O'Brien's workers during his campaign did some consultant work related to the strike.
The criminal trial cannot come soon enough
Quote:
City team includes possible O'Brien witness
Consultant may be called in mayor's criminal trial
By Jake Rupert, with files from Gary Dimmock and Patrick Dare, The Ottawa CitizenJanuary 28, 2009
A private communications consultant, who may be called as a witness in Mayor Larry O'Brien's upcoming criminal trial, has been attending strategy sessions where senior city officials decide how to handle the seven-week-old transit strike, angering some city councillors.
Dimitri Pantazopoulos, president of Praxicus Public Strategies, has been one of three consultants working on the file for the city, said city manager Kent Kirkpatrick. He said Mr. Pantazopoulos was recommended to him by Mr. O'Brien.
College Councillor Rick Chiarelli said he and a number of other councillors want to know what labour-relations expertise Mr. Pantazopoulos has, and why, when it took hours of debate a few weeks ago to get four city councillors added to the strategy team, a private citizen "was allowed in without our approval. We don't know any of this because none of it has been represented to us."
At the beginning of the strike, the team included the mayor, Mr. Kirkpatrick, OC Transpo head Alain Mercier and city solicitor Rick O'Connor Bay Councillor Alex Cullen, who chairs the transit committee, said hiring Mr. Pantazopoulos was "unwise" and pointed out this is the second time the city has hired somebody closely connected to the mayor for city work. The first was the mayor's former campaign manager, Gordon J. Hunter (not to be confused with Knoxdale-Merivale Councillor Gord Hunter), who Mr. O'Brien hired at a cost of about $80,000 to advise him on transforming the way the city does business. Mr. Hunter was rehired recently by Mr. Kirkpatrick to review the city's procurement process.
Mr. Pantazopoulos may be called as a witness in Mr. O'Brien's upcoming criminal trial on charges of attempted bribery and purported influence peddling. Mr. O'Brien is alleged to have tried to induce Terry Kilrea to drop out of the 2006 mayoral race. He was charged with two Criminal Code offences following an Ontario Provincial Police investigation, and his case is scheduled for trial in April. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Mr. Pantazopoulos has flatly denied claims made in a sworn affidavit by Mr. Kilrea.
In the affidavit, Mr. Kilrea states that Mr. Pantazopoulos, a pollster, set up a meeting with him in the summer of 2006, when Mr. Kilrea and Mr. O'Brien were both running for mayor. Mr. Kilrea swears that, during the meeting, he
told Mr. Pantazopoulos that Mr. O'Brien had offered to reimburse Mr. Kilrea's campaign expenses and had also offered an appointment to the National Parole Board.
"Pantazopoulos indicated that he was aware of the offer but cautioned that the appointment to the National Parole Board would have to wait until after the election because it was 'too hot to handle' at this stage," the affidavit says.
When contacted while the case was under investigation, Mr. Pantazopoulos said: "The allegations are false, and I have nothing more to say on the matter," he said.
Yesterday, Mr. Pantazopoulos said he had no comment on being hired to help with the bus strike.
Mr. O'Brien said he recommended Mr. Pantazopoulos to Mr. Kirkpatrick because he was impressed with his ability. The mayor recommended several people to the city manager, he said, and it was up to Mr. Kirkpatrick to do the interviewing and hiring. The mayor said Mr. Pantazopoulos had a positive effect on communications early in the transit labour impasse.
"This guy is quite extraordinary in his talents," said Mr. O'Brien. "He was really a valuable asset."
However, at least one councillor says Mr. Pantazopoulos should not have been hired.
"This is a person involved in a major case against the mayor," Mr. Cullen said. "There are thousands of communications experts in Ottawa. This was an unwise hire, especially when there are thousands of other choices."
Mr. Chiarelli was similarly concerned. "He is a potential material witness, and I seriously doubt that if council knew they were contemplating hiring him and the background, that we would have approved of it," he said.
Mr. Kirkpatrick said Mr. O'Brien and he 'did not discuss" Mr. Pantazopoulos's alleged connection to the mayor's case. Mr. Kirkpatrick said after the mayor made the suggestion of Mr. Pantazopoulos, he remembered the name as being connected to the case from media reports, but he didn't recall how.
"I talked to him and came to the conclusion he would be helpful, and he has been," Mr. Kirkpatrick said. "He's been very good."
Mr. Kirkpatrick said if he had been aware of the nature of the connection, his decision would have been the same. "If I knew, I would have been concerned about the perception issue, but I still would have hired him because my decision was based on his ability to help us with the things we needed done to manage the strike."
He added that the contract was for less than $15,000. Mr. Kirkpatrick said Mr. Pantazopoulos helped the city develop communications products, such as key messages and radio and print advertisements.
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen
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