Hamilton's Integrity Commissioner

[raisethehammer]

my bad...I meant Merulla...confused my east-end councillors.

[markbarbera]

From today's Spec:

Councillor steps down over tapegate

July 04, 2008
Nicole Macintyre
The Hamilton Spectator
(Jul 4, 2008)
Councillor Brad Clark resigned from the city's integrity taskforce yesterday -- a move other councillors say is in order for the mayor.

In a letter to the city clerk, Clark also asked that the integrity commissioner investigate his conduct in the mayor's tape controversy.

Mayor Fred Eisenberger is already facing an investigation after admitting he broke council's code of conduct by giving confidential information to a Spectator columnist. Clark confirmed last week that he circulated the tape that exposed the mayor's violation to media and councillors.

Until the "air is cleared," neither Clark or Eisenberger should serve on the accountability and transparency committee, said member Councillor Terry Whitehead. "We should be above reproach. We should be setting the standard."

Councillor Scott Duvall, who is also on the committee which helped establish the new integrity commissioner, agrees Eisenberger should follow Clark's example.

"(He should resign) so he's distanced from it," Duvall said.

But Eisenberger said any calls for his resignation from the committee are premature until the investigation into his conduct is complete.

"I think it would be reasonable not to prejudge," he said, noting he would only step down if directed by council.

Clark resigned as chair or vice-chair of four subcommittees pending the outcome of the integrity commissioner's investigation. He said he made the decision to be "completely above board" while his conduct is under review.

Clark has stated he was acting as a whistleblower to expose that the mayor was leaking confidential information while chastising councillors for the same offence. Critics questions why he didn't take the material to the city clerk.

The integrity commissioner can investigate Clark's conduct because it occurred in the last month. Eisenberger's conduct cannot be because it happened a year ago before the new office was approved. He will be judged by council.

Police have assigned two detectives to investigate the mayor's compliant that the tape was stolen from his office. The off-the-record conversation was not released by the Spectator.

The taped conversation is from May 2007 when Eisenberger's media person was Ian Dovey. He was let go later that year and is suing the city. Eisenberger said Dovey taped some of his media interviews.

The Spectator has obtained a copy of an e-mail that appears to be from Dovey to Clark. It was dropped off at the newspaper in a household composting bag with the label "leak proof" circled.

Clark declined to comment on the e-mail when read its content, stating the investigation is ongoing. Dovey, believed to be out of the country, did not return e-mails.

In the e-mail, Dovey states he is passing along a written transcript to back up the audio clip. He added he strongly suggests "that the story comes out with other Hamilton media" at the same time Hamilton Community News prints its story.

Clark has admitted he sent the audio clip to the community newspaper and forwarded it to two city councillors. He refused to identify his source, but stated he does not believe the material was stolen. The tape is the property of the person who sent it to him, he said.

Well, it looks like Clark, while trying to damage the mayor so to promote his future mayoral ambitions, may have inadvertently wounded his own political ambitions in the process. Play with fire,...

[realcity]

I agree, Clark is manoevering to a position to run for mayor. I like Clark tho. He stands up to developers/sprawl. He asks tough questions and votes 90% of the time the way I would.

[highwater]

You have to wonder what he's got against Fred. Unless it's strictly a power thing.

[hamiltonguy]

Prolly.

That and they're both conservatives.

Conservatives have a history of fratricide.

[Boomtown_Hamilton]

Originally Posted by thistleclub

This weekend is It's Your Festival. Festival of Friends (Steve Earle! Canned Heat!) is August 8-10. Fireworks at dusk at Bayfront & Pier 4, or if you're perverse you can listen to the radio simulcast (media myopia Exhibit B: tune in on K-Lite, CHAM or Oldies 1150, who will all apparently be all fixated on the event). Free HSR shuttle bus service to the park from King and John, 6-11:45 p.m. Burlington's fireworks (Spencer Smith Park, dusk) are accompanied by the HPO.

BTW, cheap subscriptions (which, like half-price newsstand campaigns, are often timed during circulation audits to provide a bump in readers) seem to get you on a lot of junk mail/telemarket lists. No free lunch, as they say.

Well I guess that explains why they didn't advertise The Festival of Friends at the front page of the Hamilton Spectator that weekend.

$100.00 for every complaint eh? Seeing how we have a bunch of complainers in this town they should be able to generate MILLION$ with this gimmick.

[SteelTown]

Mayor Faces Defamation Lawsuit
Ken Mann
7/28/2008

An update on the latest legal challenge out of Hamilton City Hall.

The former communications manager for Mayor Fred Eisenberger has amended his wrongful dismissal lawsuit, to include a claim for defamation.

Ian Dovey's lawyer notes that the Mayor has "insinuated" that his client stole an audiotape from the mayor's office, after he was fired in May of 2007.

David Skuy insists that Dovey took nothing from the mayor's offices that was not his "personal property". Skuy adds that the allegation has had a devastating effect on Dovey and his family.

Mayor Eisenberger says Dovey's allegations will be defended "very aggressively".

[markbarbera]

As reported this morning on thespec.com:

September 11, 2008
The Hamilton Spectator
(Sep 11, 2008)
A cloud has been lifted from Mayor Fred Eisenberger.

In June he admitted that he broke council's code of conduct by having an off- the-record discussion with a Spectator columnist about a personnel matter.

But council has accepted an investigator's conclusion that Eisenberger was trying to clear up misinformation and unauthorized leaks and that doing so was consistent with his responsibilities as mayor.

[ryan_mcgreal]

http://raisethehammer.org/blog/1098

Council Votes Not to Censure Mayor for Tapegate

Last night Council voted 8-4 not to censure Mayor Fred Eisenberger related to his "off the record" interview with Spectator columnist Andrew Dreschel, which was later leaked to the press.

The conversation concerned Council's decision to terminate Lee Anne Coveyduck, the former general manager of planning and economic development, and controversy swirled around leaks of confidential information from Council to the local newsmedia.

Dreschel interviewed Eisenberger about the matter around the same time that the Mayor sent out a blistering email to Council decrying the "blatant lack of integrity" that the leaks entailed.

This past June, the Mayor abruptly called a press conference in which he stated that he believed he had "contravened the Council's Code of Conduct" after a recording of the interview by Ian Dovey, Eisenberger's former media advisor, was leaked to the newsmedia.

Excerpts from the recording were published in the Hamilton Community News. It later materialized that Councillor Brad Clark had leaked the tape after a copy was sent to him by Dovey, who was let go in 2007.

Dovey is now suing the city for wrongful dismissal.

Motives 'Wholly Proper'

Council made its decision based on a recommendation by George H. Rust-D'Eye, an independent lawyer hired to investigate the incident. That recommendation has been made public (PDF link), though it is heavily redacted to protect confidential information.

Rust-D'Eye argued in his recommendation that the content of the mayor's interview with Dreschel was largely already in the public domain when the conversation took place.

[A]t least most of the information communicated by the mayor to Mr. Dreschel in their telephone conversation, represented by that time a decision of the Council already made at the public meeting held on May 16, 2007, and was thus a matter of public record and municipal policy, at the time that the discussion took place.

He concluded:

Both the documentation which I have been provided, and my several interviews with each of the Mayor and Mr. Dreschel, lead me to the conclusion that the Mayor has acted consistently throughout in his attempts to protect the interests of the City of Hamilton, to prevent unauthorized leaks of confidential City information to the public, to provide context and background in response to the publication of what he sees to be inaccuration information, and to [rest of sentence redacted].

Rust-D'Eye noted the issue of "the divulging of the oral legal opinion provided to the City by its solicitor", an opinion that was provided confidentially in an in camera Council meeting.

He concluded that this did constitute "a contravention of the Code of Conduct" but that it was undertaken in a manner consistent with the Mayor's duties under Section 226.1 of the Municipal Act, 2001.

He recommended that the City not impose any sanction on the Mayor, because:

I believe that the motives and objectives of Mayor Eisenberger in attempting to deal with unauthorized leaks of information and to correct misinformation, were wholly proper, consistent with the duties of his office, and done in the public interest.

Rust-D'Eye also concluded that the recording of the conversation between Eisenberger and Dreschel was not a criminal matter.

[BrianE]

George H. Rust-D'Eye? George Rusty Eye?

I call shenanigans on Council, they didn't hire anybody, they just made up a name and wrote the report themselves.

[ryan_mcgreal]

Nicholas Angel: The swan's escaped, right... and who might you be?
P.I Staker: Mr. Staker, yeah... Mr. Peter Ian Staker.
Nicholas Angel: P.I Staker? Right! "Piss Taker!" Come on!
Nicholas Angel: [cut to Angel talking to Mr. Staker] OK, Mr. Staker...

[thistleclub]

Councillor must declare interest in local organizations
By Kevin Werner, Stoney Creek News
Oct 17, 2008

A councillor doesn't have a conflict if they are a member of an outside board or agency not affiliated with the city, says Hamilton's solicitor.

But Peter Barkwell, said the councillor must reveal the membership of the board or agency to council because the politician has a pecuniary interest on the subject being debated.

The issue was one of a number of specialized items members of the Accountability and Transparency committee discussed last week as they reviewed again their proposed councillors' code of conduct legislation.

Councillors Brian McHattie and Terry Whitehead both felt a councillor who represents an outside agency at the council table should declare a conflict of interest.

"I think there should be a higher standard," said Mr. Whitehead. "It raises concerns if (the councillor) is receiving a salary to sit on the board."

Added Mr. McHattie; "It bothers me that a (councillor's) comments are from the other board. That has always bothered me."

Ancaster councillor Lloyd Ferguson, who is a member of the Hamilton Health Sciences board, recently argued against opposing the HHS's restructuring plan. Mr. Ferguson, along with Mayor Fred Eisenberger, were the only politicians that supported the HHS's restructuring plan that would close the adult emergency centre at McMaster University.

Mr. Ferguson has been a HHS board member prior to becoming a councillor in 2006 and he does not receive compensation for his time.

Meanwhile, councillors will be required to disclose their non-pecuniary interests in an issue. Mr. Barkwell said councillors have an "obligation" to reveal if they are a member of a local organization, or are working on behalf of a community group.

The committee is also recommending restricting politicians to receiving only $300 in gifts or benefits from one source for the year. Under Hamilton's current code of conduct policy, politicians are limited to accepting gifts or benefits amounting to $100.

A councillor will be allowed to receive gifts with no penalty during a function honouring the politician, receiving food and beverages during a function and gifts received during the course of his or her duties.

The committee still has to sort out whether political spouses will be required to file mandatory financial disclosure statements, which would be kept confidential with the clerk. Councillors would be required to file financial disclosure statements. About 10 councillors have already filed their statements to the clerk. The committee discussed the financial issues during an incamera session last week.

The committee is expected to finalized its document at its next meeting.

Meanwhile, city staff will be receiving information about possible judicial applicants for the city's integrity commissioner position by Nov. 14.

[markbarbera]

In Saturday's Spec:

Integrity watchdog raps Clark

Nicole Macintyre
The Hamilton Spectator
(Aug 8, 2009)

The city's integrity commissioner has reprimanded Councillor Brad Clark, saying he was seeking political gain when he circulated a recording of the mayor having an off-the-record conversation.

George Rust-D'Eye dismissed Clark's claim that he was a "whistleblower" in the so-called Tape-gate scandal.

In a 29-page report, the interim watchdog ruled Clark's actions "involved a primarily political motivation with no foreseeable or calculable public interest objective or public benefit."

The city released the report yesterday after "further legal review." It was initially marked as confidential, an apparent contravention of the Municipal Act.

Council will receive the findings next Thursday.

In a public statement, Clark said he accepts the public reprimand as a sanction but does not agree with all the findings.

The Stoney Creek councillor, who is the first politician to be investigated under the city's new watchdog bylaw, disputed the commissioner's "narrow interpretation that there was no public interest in this matter."

He pointed to a recent judge's ruling that allowed a Nova Scotia newspaper to publish tapes of federal minister Lisa Raitt discussing confidential information.

"The courts have found that there is compelling public interest in the scrutiny of government," Clark said.

He declined to comment further.

Mayor Fred Eisenberger said "the report speaks for itself."

"I'm glad we can get this behind us and get back to governing," he said.

Last summer, Clark gave a Hamilton Community News reporter and two councillors a recording of the mayor disclosing confidential information in an off-the-record conversation with Spectator columnist Andrew Dreschel.

The conversation, which was taped by Eisenberger's former communication staffer Ian Dovey, related to legal advice about a city employee.

Rust-D'Eye, a lawyer, previously ruled Eisenberger broke council's code of conduct but found he was acting in the public interest to clarify misinformation. He recommended no sanction.

In contrast, Rust-D'Eye found Clark's objectives appear to have been "more political in nature."

Clark told the commissioner he felt it was important the public know the mayor disclosed confidential information when he had admonished council for past leaks.

When asked why he didn't take the tape to staff or council, Clark said there was no process, such as an integrity commissioner, to deal with such concerns at the time.

The integrity probe was delayed while police investigated if the tape was stolen from the mayor's office. The force concluded in February that there was insufficient grounds to lay charges.

In his report, Rust-D'Eye concluded Dovey did not have legal authority to remove the recording from City Hall. Consequently, he found Clark did not have the right to circulate the material and should have returned it to the city.

Clark disagrees that the conversation was a municipal record.

Dovey's lawyer David Skuy said he wants to read the report before commenting.

The integrity commissioner, who has the authority to dole out punishment, chose not to impose a financial penalty on Clark because the information he leaked had already been reported.

In his statement, Clark suggested changes to the process, saying he found it "troubling" that he was not privy to witness testimony and there was no opportunity for cross-examination.

"The entire proceeding was in essence an ex parte hearing."

It will be interesting to see if Council opts to censure Clark. IMO some sort of censure needs to take place. Too often the game of politics is put ahead of the city's best interests, and a faliure to censure Clark would implicitly condone cheap political stunts and renders the role of integrity commissioner ineffective.

[markbarbera]

A fresh case on the way?

Ex-Whitehead aide alleges harassment

Council may send case to new integrity boss
December 03, 2009
EMMA REILLY
THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR

A city staffer who worked as Councillor Terry Whitehead's assistant has filed a harassment complaint against her one-time boss.

The assistant, who now works in another city department, raised concerns about the Mountain councillor's conduct towards her.

Council will decide at next week's meeting whether Whitehead's behaviour should be examined by the incoming integrity commissioner. City sources characterized the complaint as bully-type behaviour.

Whitehead said news of the allegations came as a "complete shock" and he was unaware of yesterday's committee motion.

"I assure you that I'm fully prepared to co-operate with the process," he said last night.

"I'm sure it's going to be emotionally draining for myself and my family, but we need to allow this process to unfold."

The allegations were presented to the audit and administration committee at a closed-door meeting yesterday. The committee then voted to send the issue to council, which will determine whether Whitehead's conduct will be the new integrity commissioner's first investigation.

"What we heard today was disturbing and serious, and that's why we sent it to council for ultimate discussion," said committee chair Brad Clark yesterday.

If the complaint is investigated by the integrity commissioner, Whitehead could face a reprimand, and up to 90 days without pay.

Whitehead was first elected in 2003. Before sitting on city council, he worked for MP David Christopherson, former mayor Bob Morrow and former deputy prime minister Sheila Copps.

He is the fifth sitting council member to face internal allegations about code of conduct violations.

Clark, Mayor Fred Eisenberger and councillors David Mitchell and Bernie Morelli have faced investigations into their behaviour.

Eisenberger's office says the mayor is taking time off for personal reasons and won't be available to comment until later this week.

[realcity]

creeep

this integrity commish will be the busiest person working in the city.

[markbarbera]

First thing he'll have to do is hire a lot of support staff.

[SteelTown]

Integrity guardian used to making calls

December 30, 2009
Emma Reilly
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/697066

In a few days, he'll become council's watchdog. But for now, all eyes are on him.

Earl Basse will begin his tenure as Hamilton's first integrity commissioner Friday. He beat out 67 other applicants during the city's lengthy hiring process.

Basse, 63, lives in Kitchener with his wife of 39 years. The former RCMP inspector and small-town mayor grew up in Kitchener before moving to Manitoba to join the Mounties. During his 21 years there, he refereed for the Winnipeg Minor Hockey Association and became the organization's referee-in-chief.

Basse eventually moved to British Columbia by way of Saskatchewan. It was the loss of his daughter Susan to multiple sclerosis a month before her 25th birthday that brought Basse back to Ontario to be closer to his family.

"Your whole life changes when that happens," he said.

Basse now runs his own business and acts as Windsor's integrity commissioner -- a role he says he intends to keep while employed as Hamilton's integrity czar.

Basse's performance as Windsor's integrity commissioner has received mixed reviews. His first report, released in November, outlined his inability to find the source of a leak during Windsor's bitter municipal strike this summer. Some blame that leak for prolonging the strike for another month.

Basse was also criticized for taking 14 months to dismiss what he called a "frivolous" complaint against Windsor's mayor, Eddie Francis, for meeting with then-Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who was an alleged felon.

"It takes time to do these investigations," Basse said yesterday. "You have to be fair, you have to be very detailed and complete."

[bigguy1231]

Can't see this guy lasting too long. Being a cop or a referee doesn't qualify you for this type of job. Sounds like the council just settled for someone to get the issue off the table.

[FairHamilton]

I'm just glad we've got another Kitchener-Waterloo resident in a 'key' city position.......

Some (not all) of my favourites from his interview in today's Spec;

What are you most proud of about your work as Windsor's Integrity commissioner?
"Probably what I'm most proud of was that I was in on the ground floor of developing an association of integrity commissioners. It's not formalized, but we all got together and got to discuss things......."

Great the thing he's most proud of was for something he wasn't hired to do, and had nothing to do with Windsor. And not being "formalized", I can only imagine it was meeting over a fully expensed meal, with no follow-up actions.

What do you know about Hamilton and its integrity issues?
"I don't know a lot. I'm going to be right up front with you. I will find out - I'm a quick study - but I don't, as yet, have a real handle on it. I don't think it will take long, but right now at this moment I don't know a lot."

Would have been nice if he said he's been following city politics and issues online. Especially when it was reported on December 10th that his first job will be to investigate Councillor Whitehead's conduct, http://www.thespec.com/article/688042.

[markbarbera]

In the role of Integrity Commisioner, I think it is a definite positive that Earl Basse comes from outside the municipality. This means he is completely removed from the city's political scene, and subsequently any potential conflict of interest when investigating complaints. His resume is varied and impressive.

It is way too early for armchair critics to pass judgement on his performance, seeing as his first day of work here hasn't even come yet! I'd like to see how he handles the Whitehead complaint.