Open letter to the citizens of Brantford,
In a public forum, our Integrity Commissioner found Richard Carpenter guilty of a Code of Conduct violation.
In his overview of the violation he described the severity of the offence, and advocated for a reprimand and apology to Council and to the public. You would think that Council would take the recommendation of their hired Integrity Commissioner, as this is his profession and specialty.
Instead, Council put forth its own motion of a more severe penalty to suspend Carpenter’s pay for 30 days. This motion comes from a junior councillor and doesn’t consider the past track record of Councillor Carpenter.
What happened next gives Council a different and new definition of meeting decorum. A fellow councillor goes on a rant about the character of Councillor Carpenter through unfounded allegations of the past. After two warnings from the chair, this councillor was still allowed to complete his rant, and further allowed to speak a second time on the motion.
This behaviour itself warrants a Code of Conduct complaint from not only those in Council Chambers, but those that witnessed this display on live video and the YouTube taping and replay.
I find it disturbing that our City leaders find it necessary to go beyond their own expert. They have no background or history in Code of Conduct matters to levy a penalty, only the right to do so as they themselves were the ones that created the Code of Conduct. They also allowed the councillor who filed the code of conduct complaint, and created the penalty portion before them, to vote on this penalty motion.
Correct me if I’m wrong, I would think that this would be considered a conflict of interest as they are voting on their own complaint.
So why have an expert on staff if you’re not going to adhere to his wisdom and recommendations.
This is not the first time that our Council has gone beyond its own staff representatives that are paid for by Brantford constituents.
The Integrity Commissioner, at the request of Council, has spent countless hours of taxpayers’ money to evaluate this code of conduct complaint and assess a penalty that would fit the issue. Why is Council not listening, and believe they have more expertise in code of conduct matters.
This certainly appears to be a witch hunt against a councillor who is dedicated to Brantford, and is knowingly outside of favour with many of his fellow councillors.
Ron Heaslip
Concerned citizen
City of Brantford
