Sarnia's mayor is firing back in response to the integrity commissioner's most recent report recommending he be docked another two weeks pay for breaching the Council Code of Conduct.
Mayor Mike Bradley says Robert Swayze has a personal bias and a conflict of interest.
"The letter that came to council that sparked the discussion, was about him and the failure to get disclosure from the city regime or from him, on the details of what he billed the citizens of Sarnia last year for his services," says Bradley. "Beyond that, I invite anyone in the public to watch the video and to see that if this decision is upheld, basically freedom of speech is dead at Sarnia City Hall. There was a gag order passed last year, put into the code of conduct, that makes it almost impossible for anyone on council, including the mayor, to voice their opinion or to challenge without being put into a code of conduct complaint."
Swayze found the mayor disrespected City Clerk Dianne Gould-Brown during discussion at the February 27 city council meeting about whether a letter from a citizen should have been included on the agenda. Bradley disagreed with some councillors and CAO Margaret Misek-Evans over the clerk's decision to treat Margaret Bird's request for detailed financial information as a Freedom of Information request.
Bird's letter, emailed to the clerk's department and copied to the mayor and councillors, requested detailed accounting of the billings of external lawyers, human resources consultants and the integrity commissioner from January 1, 2016 to February 28, 2017.
Council will consider the recommendation to again suspend the mayor's pay at its meeting on Monday.
Bradley was docked three months pay last summer for breaching the code of conduct.
Related story: Integrity Commissioner Recommends Another Suspension Of Mayor’s Pay
Video courtesy of David Burrows of TVSN:
