Pembroke – While the City of Pembroke’s Integrity Commissioner Tony Fleming found Councillor Troy Purcell guilty of a breach of the Code of Conduct, in the end he received no sanction.

On Tuesday night, council chose to pass a resolution stating council “does not agree fully with the report” but were then deeply divided on whether they should ask the councillor to write a letter of apology to his unnamed accuser. As the matter dragged on for an hour with several tied votes resulting in the motions being defeated on possibly sanctions, Mayor Ron Gervais said it was time to move on.

“We are agreeing to disagree and move on to the next order of business,” he said.

Even though council was tied on whether or not Coun. Purcell should write a letter of apology, the councillor had already made a public statement that evening addressing his comments which stated he had never had the intention of being disrespectful.

“Please hear me clearly. Again. My intent – and I am only the only person fully aware and knowing my true intent — was not to disrespect staff, but to spur change,” Coun. Purcell told council on Tuesday night prior to council making a decision on the issue.

However, this was not the finding of the Integrity Commissioner, Tony Fleming who recommended a 15 day pay penalty as well as the requirement for an apology to be read by Coun. Purcell in an open council meeting.

“We find this was a breach, not just because of the words, but the forum in which those words were uttered,” the Integrity Commissioner told council. “Council is able to discipline for a lack of a better word, staff. Typically, that is done through the CAO. The issue too we take with this particular incident is staff were subjected to a form of performance review in an open session of council.”

The comments which sparked the complaint took place on April 18. In those comments, the rookie councillor noted the meeting agenda for the council meeting was not posted to the City of Pembroke website until a few hours before the meeting thus hindering the public from knowing the agenda.

“You will probably hear from the executive committee that this was done in oversight or error, but this further demonstrates complacency in promoting an open and transparent local government,” he said at the time.

Coun. Purcell then also pointed out the executive committee went “as far as potentially suspending sections of our procedural by-law” to allow a member to participate in a vote that did not meet the electronic participation timelines.

“I also want to inform our residents of my challenges and frustrations as a new councillor representing the citizens of Pembroke in accessing information from the executive committee, copies of approved by-laws, reports and studies, and timely responses to inquiries, with requests for call back unfulfilled, demonstrating to me the utter lack of leadership from the executive committee,” he stated in those April comments.

Coun. Purcell gave specific examples noting by-laws are not available to the public, reports and studies, meeting agendas and meeting reports are not posted in a timely manner.

“And I can go on and on,” he noted.

The councillor said when he inquired about the issues, he was told there are no action tracking capabilities, record retention issues and other issues.
“We have by-laws that go back to the horse and buggy days and my all time favourite ‘if we do this, how do we get things done?’,” he stated of the reasons given to him in his April comments.

When the IC presented his findings to council last Tuesday night, he said the councillor did breach the Code of Conduct and described his words as disrespectful of staff.

“Even if all of the member’s comments were factual, no member of council should bring the professionalism or competency of staff into question at an open meeting of council,” he wrote. “The airing of perceived grievances in public demonstrates a significant lack of respect for staff.”

Coun Purcell Speaks

In a written statement delivered after the IC’s comments, Coun. Purcell said his intent was to improve transparency and accountability and spoke about the right to freedom of expression.

“My intent was not to cause harm to anyone but to simply express my opinions, challenges and frustrations as a newly elected representative,” he said.

Describing himself as a “doer” he said he has a reputation of getting things done in a timely manner. Since his comments in April, there have been significant changes in procedures in the city.

“I am proud to be the driver of the changes thus far,” he said.

Coun. Purcell said there was a complaint procedure internally which could have happened at the city level but this did not occur. Instead, the IC investigation resulted in “significant additional expenses” while the informal procedure would not.

“I stand behind the comments I made on April 18 detailing my opinions and experiences as a new City of Pembroke councillor,” he said.

However, he recognized if there are concerns with staff performance it should be dealt with in closed session or through a performance review process.

Council Deliberates

As council began deliberations, it was clear there were diverging opinions – some a tad heated – around the table.

Councillor Ian Kuehl said he found the entire process to be “sad, unfortunate and likely unnecessary.”

He said he also had a Code of Conduct complaint in the spring. When he was investigated, he was told to watch the You Tube video, “figure out which section you breached” and then respond.

In other boards there is transparency to know who the complainant is, he added, but in this process the identity of the complainant is never revealed.

In his own case the matter was withdrawn. He had submitted a 23-page reply and spent a week dealing with the matter, he said.

In addressing the Integrity Commissioner report, he questioned the rationale for the finding.

“In my opinion a justice of the peace trying a traffic ticket would have to give better reasons,” he said.

The reasoning from the IC does not give a bar for what disrespect is, he said.

“I ask you, what else might be disrespectful?” he said. “On occasion when debate gets heated around this table. Some of us have interrupted other people while speaking improperly. Is that disrespectful? Is that going to be a Code of Conduct complaint?”

In regard to Coun. Purcell, he said he “was not attacking any specific staff member.”

Coun. Kuehl said council members should be able to speak freely around the table as representatives of the people. He also pointed out the IC recommended the highest penalty he was able to give, as opposed to a reprimand. He noted if a member of council sexually harassed a staffer the sanction would also be a financial sanction.

Councillor Ed Jacyno asked if Coun. Kuehl, who is a lawyer, represented Coun. Purcell as a client, Coun. Kuehl said he did not, but this was a “quasi-judicial process.”

Coun. Jacyno said as the former mayor he felt opinions need to be expressed with decency and not allowing an individual to feel attacked.

“We have a first time CAO and we are talking a first-time councillor,” he said.

He respects the councillor for his audacity, he added.

While some councillors have said they don’t feel welcome, he said it is important to have a team effort.

“He (Coun. Purcell) did hurt someone’s feelings,” he said.

In his closing comment, he said it was important for council to work together and presentation and body language is important. Someone did put in a complaint because they thought the issue was serious enough, he added.

Deputy Mayor Brian Abdallah said it is time to move past the division and negativity and work together as a team.

“Positive communication, transparency and accountability are essential,” he said.

The deputy mayor said he also disagreed with the process, saying it could have been handled internally.

Veteran Councillor Patricia Lafreniere said things were quite rocky when this term of council started.

“Let’s face it,” she said. “This term got off with explosions in every direction and we were all running to think, ‘oh my gosh what can I say?’.”

She said she was scrutinized and was blasted with comments she made on diversity.

At this point Coun. Purcell interjected with a Point of Order. The mayor asked for her to stick to the report.

“Because I am a female? Because Councillor Kuehl just stated all kinds of court cases all across the county of different matters,” she said.

She said she was trying to compare apples to apples.
“I spoke freely. I did not mean to hurt anyone’s feelings,” she said.

Coun. Lafreniere said Coun. Purcell was speaking passionately and maybe did not perceive how his comments would be taken.

“In this toxic environment I think we need to take our breath and see if we have learned anything,” she said.

In April she was fearful, but now she is excited about the term.

“Going forward I think we should really take it seriously and be mindful about how we are speaking about inadequacy in the process,” she said.

Councillor Andrew Plummer said reading the comments Coun. Purcell made he does not see the rationale for the Integrity Commissioner finding. He said the councillor was passionate in April but not disrespectful.

“Those comments may have come off as harsh, but I don’t think it was in the realm of being disrespectful, abuse or harassment,” he said.

Mayor Gervais said there are lots of personalities around the table and all are elected to do the best they can for the citizens.

“Councillor Purcell’s heart is on his sleeve, so for some to say passionate, you can use whatever word you wish,” he said.

Someone saw fit to make a complaint and use the Ontario government process, he said.

“This was created by the province requiring an Integrity Commissioner,” he said, noting other neighbouring municipalities have gone through the process.

Council is pulling together for the City of Pembroke, the mayor said.

“We need to be cautious of how we are expressing our thoughts,” he added.

Motion to Council

Coun. Kuehl made the motion council does not agree fully with the report and that a copy of the resolution be posted on the City of Pembroke website.

The motion was seconded by the Deputy Mayor. Coun. Purcell abstained from the vote. Coun. Kuehl, Deputy Mayor Abdallah, Coun. Lafreniere and Coun. Plummer voted in favour with Mayor Gervais and Councillor Jacyno voting against.

Coun. Kuehl made a second motion that council does not sanction Coun. Purcell. It was also seconded by Deputy Mayor Abdallah.

 Coun. Lafreniere said she agreed there should be no financial penalty but did feel a letter of apology was warranted. She said while she heard there was no malice intended, she said it was perceived. She asked if Coun. Purcell would be willing to say there was no malice. The councillor said his comments from earlier in the evening stood.

On the vote, with Coun. Purcell abstaining, it was a tied vote. Coun. Kuehl, Deputy-Mayor Abdallah and Coun. Plummer voted in favour and Mayor Gervais, Coun. Jacyno and Coun. Lafreniere against. As a result, the motion failed.

Coun. Lafreniere asked to separate the two sanctions. She said to eliminate the financial penalty and maintain the letter to the complainant.

“The difficulty with that motion is the complainants are confidential or unknown so I don’t know who Councillor Purcell would be writing to,” the mayor said.

The Integrity Commissioner said the identity of the complainant was confidential and his report recommended an apology in the public forum and not to the complainant.
“Just a generic apology,” he said.

Coun. Lafreniere said she wanted an explanation there was no malice intended.

The motion again resulted in a tied vote.

Coun. Kuehl moved the matter be tabled indefinitely.  This motion also resulted in a tied vote, so it failed. Then Mayor Gervais suggested the council move on unless there was another motion.

“This council chooses simply to not address the matter further,” he said.

Council then moved on to the next item on the agenda.