December 21, 2011
New complaints raised
by Kay McQuade
The complaints keep mounting.
The latest is a harassment and Code of Conduct complaint filed by an
unnamed ratepayer against Head, Clara, Maria council in general,
against Councillors Dave Foote and Jim Gibson in particular, and
against the municipal clerk, Melinda Reith.
Details of the complaints were not forthcoming as townships council met
last Friday.
The four remaining council members (Ed Aiston retired effective
December 6) voted unanimously to ask Ray Bonenberg of the Delfi Group
to investigate.
Council hired the Delfi Group at its last meeting to conduct a
workplace harassment investigation and to propose resolutions dealing
with the harassment complaints filed by Reith against council in early
October.
This new investigation is expected to put township ratepayers on the
hook for an additional “couple of thousand dollars” according to the
clerk’s report, on top of the estimated $7,000 to $12,000 already
earmarked for the previous investigation.
Reith reported that Bonenberg had been provided with all background
information regarding her complaints and has commenced the
investigation with interviews.
In that regard, council issued a “media/communication protocol” agreed
to by Bonenberg and Councillor Gibson on December 12, stating that:
- No media interviews or public comments will be made by the
investigator (Bonenberg) or any member of the HCM council and/or staff
during the process.
- After formal submission and acceptance of Bonenberg's final report,
any media and/or public inquiries will be handled by a spokesman of the
council of HCM only.
- If the council of HCM desires a one-on-one meeting with the
investigator to discuss and/or clarify the findings in the report and
discuss recommendations, this would be conducted as a closed session.
Bonenberg says this is necessary to maintain the integrity of the
process and to respect and protect those being interviewed.
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