Hamilton's Integrity Commissioner

[SteelTown]

Integrity commissioner almost ready to table report
Whitehead:‘I will be exonerated’

By Kevin Werner, News Staff
News
May 27, 2010
http://www.hamiltonmountainnews.com/news/article/211366

Hamilton’s integrity commissioner said he expects to provide council with his report over a complaint made against Ward 8 (west Mountain) Coun. Terry Whitehead within the next few weeks.

“There were interviews to be done and a lot of documents to review,” said Earl Basse, who was retained by the City of Hamilton to be its integrity commissioner. “I want to be fair to all parties. It takes time. It shouldn’t be much longer. It’s just about done.”

Basse, a former investigator for the RCMP, and Windsor’s integrity commissioner, began investigating the complaint against the veteran councillor soon after he took over the position Jan. 1. This will be the first complaint that will be conducted under the city’s new integrity commissioner authority since the position and guidelines were approved by council nearly two years ago.

Councillors referred the complaint, made by a former executive assistant, to the integrity commissioner at a meeting last December. The allegations, if proven, could involve council’s new code of conduct rules, and the city’s policies involving harassment and discrimination and personal harassment prevention. Council agreed at the time to keep the complaint private until the commissioner’s investigation and the report is completed.

[SteelTown]

Does it really require six or seven months to complete a report over a complaint?

[SteelTown]

Nearly a year later here's the report.......

http://www.hamilton.ca/NR/rdonlyres/...council517.pdf

Summed up the Integrity Commissioner found that Whitehead "did not contravene of City of Hamilton Code of Conduct"

[markbarbera]

So, as of today, the only council members to contravene the code of conduct are Brad Clark and Fred Eisenberger.

Something to remember during the fall election.

[markbarbera]

I see there were also a couple of reports from the Integrity Commissioner regarding complaints against Tom Jackson and Lloyd Ferguson. As it turn out, both were ruled as being unfounded and vexatious in nature.

This one was of particular interest

http://www.hamilton.ca/NR/rdonlyres/...usonRptEDB.pdf

Surely there isn't someone out in the Hammer with a history of trying to raise up a heritage of frivolous and vexatious behaviour towards certain Hamilton City Council members...

[mattgrande]

Originally Posted by markbarbera

So, as of today, the only council members to contravene the code of conduct are Brad Clark and Fred Eisenberger.

Something to remember during the fall election.

So we have Eisenberger, who contravened the code of conduct and DiIanni, who has his wonderful convictions.

Looks like I'm voting for Baldessarro.

[markbarbera]

The Spec posted this interesting article online yesterday:

Councillors want integrity reforms
Want to make citizens pay for frivolous complaints

Emma Reilly, Thespec.com

The three councillors who were investigated by the integrity commissioner last year want the city to toughen the consequences for citizens who file malicious complaints.

Councillors Tom Jackson, Lloyd Ferguson and Terry Whitehead say citizens who file complaints that are deemed to be frivolous or vexatious by Earl Basse, Hamilton's integrity commissioner, should pay the full cost of the investigation.

“Why should the taxpayers pay for someone who is trying to advance their political agenda?” Ferguson said.

However, Basse doesn't agree —“I think it would make people reluctant to make complaints.”

Currently, anyone can file a complaint for $100. If Basse finds the complaint is valid, the money is refunded to the citizen.

Tom Jackson, who is leading the move to re-evaluate the integrity commissioner bylaw, says he'd like the city to consider raising the $100 fee and was the first to suggest that complainants cover the entire cost of integrity investigations if Basse finds the complaint to be malicious.

“I think that debate is timely and worthy and appropriate,” said Jackson, one of three councillors who were the subject of integrity investigations in 2010. In his annual report, Basse found complaints against Jackson and Ferguson to be “vexatious.”

The third complaint, against Terry Whitehead, was not ruled to be malicious, but Basse found Whitehead did not break the city's code of conduct.

The three investigations cost the city $45,975. Basse is paid $150 an hour.

Ferguson said he'd also like to alter the language of the bylaw to ensure that Basse is the only one who conducts investigations. In Ferguson's case, Basse hired Toronto-based Walter Podzyhun to look into the complaint. The bylaw currently allows Basse to hire other people to help with his investigations.

“I want to know what the background of the individual is,” Ferguson said.

Basse said he hired Podzyhun because all three investigations were ongoing at the same time and he wanted them to be completed as quickly as possible. Basse also stressed that he makes the final decisions and closely supervises anyone he hires to help.

“It's not the integrity commissioner, it's the office of the integrity commissioner,” he said. “That's just a second set of eyes, as opposed to just one.”

Whitehead said he thinks there shouldn't be a cost to make a complaint. However, he agrees that people who make vexatious complaints should cover the cost of the full investigation.

He also wants to set guidelines about the turnaround time for investigations.

“I think we need to define tighter timelines for reporting,” he said.

Basse says he currently has no ongoing investigations.

The article does bring up some valid items that should be addressed. It is useful to have an integrity commissioner to arbitrate complaints against councillors, but the system can be abused to launch politically-motivated attacks that detract from the work of a councillor.

Ferguson and Jackson have already been victims of vexatious attacks through the office of the Integrity Commission. Those who launch vexatious complaints should be held accountable for the costs associated with their malicious and unfounded complaints that the city (i.e. the taxpayer) has had to endure. The question is, how does one do that without discouraging genuine complaints from being filed?

Perhaps the commissioner can be empowered to use his discretion to recommend fines against vexatious complainants which in turn would require council approval to enforce.

Seeing as the system is relatively new, I suppose we can explain these early instances of vexatious complaints as coming from those with a political axe to grind, who have tested the waters to see if it can be leveraged to advance their agenda and have failed in that attempt. Hopefully this in itself will help discourage further vexatious complaints from being filed. At this point it is probably best to continue reviewing the results of future investigations to see if the instances of vexatious complaints recede.

I am glad this is being covered by The Spec online. Other local online media outlets appear reluctant to report the findings of the Integrity Commissioner for one reason or another.

[highwater]

Originally Posted by markbarbera

I am glad this is being covered by The Spec online. Other local online media outlets appear reluctant to report the findings of the Integrity Commissioner for one reason or another.

Which online media outlets are you referring to? Volunteer-run online magazines are hampered by lack of resources and can't be expected to cover every story. I can't speak for the Hamiltonian, but I'm sure RTH would be happy to publish anything you wanted to submit on the issue.

[geoff's two cents]

Originally Posted by highwater

I can't speak for the Hamiltonian, but I'm sure RTH would be happy to publish anything you wanted to submit on the issue.

I second this.

[markbarbera]

I was actually referring more to the other "real" physical media outlets with an online presence, ie 900chml, metroland, bayobserver, CHCH and the like. You know, the institutions that actually pay staff to cover stories like this. I wasn't really thinking of volunteer current affair blog sites like Hamiltonian and RTH.

While I appreciate the votes of confidence, I am certainly not a journalist by trade, and I would not be comfortable putting together an article that would be suitable for publication anywhere. But perhaps those who regularly contribute articles to these sites (Cam DiFalco, Jason Leach, Ryan McGreal and Graham Crawford come to mind) may find the time to write on the topic in the near future.

Having said that, I have recently discovered an interesting new site called OpenFile Hamilton where journalists can submit articles and readers can pass on suggestions for articles on to be picked up by intersted journalists to build on. This is an exciting new development in how news is covered in the Hamilton area and promises to be the catalyst to finally fill the void in local news reporting that Hamiltonians have had to endure for so many years. I am not entirely sure how OpenFile works, but if I can figure it out I certainly would be game to post a suggestion to follow this story there for an intersted journalist to pursue.

[highwater]

Originally Posted by markbarbera

I was actually referring more to the other "real" physical media outlets with an online presence, ie 900chml, metroland, bayobserver, CHCH and the like.

Gotcha. I just realized that you specifically referred to the Spec Online's coverage of this issue. I thought you were just referring to the Spec in general, so assumed by your reference to 'other online media' that you were talking about alternative media and not merely the online presences of trad media outlets. (Although I would argue that in the case of the Bayobserver, their online 'presence' is so cursory as to be little more than a digital billboard, and hardly qualifies to be mentioned in the same sentence as the other outlets you cite.)

Originally Posted by markbarbera

While I appreciate the votes of confidence, I am certainly not a journalist by trade, and I would not be comfortable putting together an article that would be suitable for publication anywhere.

I realize that this is a disingenuous jab at the amateur status of the generous, hard-working writers behind the dynamic alternative media scene in this city, and that you don't actually believe that only professional journalists are qualified to be published, but I'm in a good mood so I'm going to forge ahead and tell you that it is clear from the quality of your writing on this forum, that you are more than qualified to share your views with a wider audience, and if there is an important issue in this city that you feel is under-reported, you should take it upon yourself to do something about it instead of waiting for someone else to do it.

Originally Posted by markbarbera

Having said that, I have recently discovered an interesting new site called OpenFile Hamilton where journalists can submit articles and readers can pass on suggestions for articles on to be picked up by intersted journalists to build on. This is an exciting new development in how news is covered in the Hamilton area and promises to be the catalyst to finally fill the void in local news reporting that Hamiltonians have had to endure for so many years. I am not entirely sure how OpenFile works, but if I can figure it out I certainly would be game to post a suggestion to follow this story there for an intersted journalist to pursue.

I've heard of this as well and been meaning to check it out. Thanks for the reminder. I really am in a good mood.

[markbarbera]

Thank you for the kind words, Highwater, and I am glad to hear you are in a good mood today. As it happens, so am I! Having said that, I must point out that I've inadvertently left you with the wrong impression regarding your second point in your latest post. I certainly was not attempting to cast dispersion on anyone's journalistic qualifications other than my own personal shortcomings.

[highwater]

Then please accept my apologies for my assumption, and allow me to reiterate my suggestion that you consider writing something for RTH. Articles are a little more involved, but someone with your verbal skills should be able to toss off a blog post with a link to the Spec article in your sleep. Think about it.