{"id":281,"date":"2014-11-12T20:38:17","date_gmt":"2014-11-12T20:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/shillersllp.brandandmortar.com\/?p=281"},"modified":"2020-12-01T17:25:46","modified_gmt":"2020-12-01T22:25:46","slug":"brampton-council-orders-mayor-to-pay-144150-docks-her-90-days-pay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shillers.com\/index.php\/2014\/11\/12\/brampton-council-orders-mayor-to-pay-144150-docks-her-90-days-pay\/","title":{"rendered":"Brampton council orders mayor to pay $144,150, docks her 90 days\u2019 pay"},"content":{"rendered":"[vc_row type=”in_container” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ width=”1\/1″][vc_column_text]Punishment, via a 7-3 vote, follows her code of conduct breach and seeks reimbursement for undocumented use of a limo service, to be taken from her $323,000 severance package.<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][divider line_type=”No Line” custom_height=”12″][vc_column_text]View Article <\/span><\/a>[\/vc_column_text][divider line_type=”No Line” custom_height=”12″][vc_column_text]By: San Grewal Urban Affairs Reporter, Published on Wed Nov 12 2014<\/p>\n

In a move to \u201cprotect Brampton taxpayers,\u201d city council has handed outgoing Mayor Susan Fennell the maximum penalty under law, stripping her of 90 days\u2019 pay and ordering her to pay back $144,150 related to an expense scandal that dominated her final year in office.<\/p>\n

The punishment was delivered in a 7-3 vote Wednesday. Fennell was absent from the meeting due to what she has described as urgent spinal surgery.
\nThe vote followed a city integrity commissioner\u2019s finding in September that she had breached the code of conduct by \u201cknowingly\u201d violating the city\u2019s travel expense policies.<\/p>\n

Under the Municipal Act, the maximum penalty council can levy for code breaches is 90 days\u2019 pay. The $144,150 Fennell has been ordered to pay back relates to the cost of an on-call limousine service.<\/p>\n

A forensic audit released in August by Deloitte Canada, which found numerous violations of spending rules by Fennell and her staff, said she was not able to provide enough information to show the limo service had actually been used for city business.
\nWednesday\u2019s motion gives Fennell the opportunity to get the $144,150 back if she can provide proof the car was used as intended.
\n\u201cI\u2019m sick and tired of people trying to protect the mayor,\u201d Councillor Grant Gibson said, after Fennell\u2019s three closest allies on council tried to defend her from further penalties.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will be considerable risk to the municipality,\u201d Councillor Gael Miles warned council, suggesting Fennell would take legal action if the council resolution to punish her was passed.<\/p>\n

People say \u201cthat I am an ally of Mayor Fennell. I am an ally of this community,\u201d Miles said, saying her concern was to save taxpayers\u2019 money in a potential legal battle.<\/p>\n

That remark drew laughter in the sparsely filled council chamber, which had been two-thirds full before council went into a two-hour closed-door meeting to discuss the potential legal issues.<\/p>\n

Councillor Elaine Moore called Miles\u2019 reasoning a \u201clame excuse\u201d for not seeking reimbursement from Fennell for the limo service.
\n\u201cIn the real world, if you don\u2019t have documentation (for expenses) you don\u2019t get the money back,\u201d Moore said.<\/p>\n

Staff clarified that the money and the 90 days\u2019 loss of pay could be held back from the $323,000 severance package Fennell will receive on leaving council. (She will also get a retirement package of more than $50,000 for sitting on Peel Region council.)<\/p>\n

The Deloitte forensic audit, which originally determined that Fennell and her staff had broken spending rules 266 times over seven years in cases where documents were available \u2014 totalling $172,608 \u2014 had recommended Fennell return $34,118. But on appeal to the audit\u2019s dispute resolution arbitrator, that amount was lowered to just $3,522.97, to cover a business-class flight to London and a hotel suite at the Fairmont Whistler.<\/p>\n

Lawyer David Shiller argued on behalf of his client, Fennell, before council on Wednesday, asking them to \u201cput aside your strong political or personal animosity to the mayor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shiller said she should be allowed to defend herself before being punished, and that the audit arbitrator had exonerated the mayor, finding that Deloitte and the integrity commissioner were wrong in their interpretation of the rules.
\nIntegrity commissioner Robert Swayze, asked later by councillors to clarify his findings, told council that he stands behind his report.
\nFennell lost her re-election bid in the Oct. 27 election, garnering just 12 per cent of the vote.<\/p>\n

That brought her sympathy from retiring Councillor Sandra Hames, who said: \u201cMayor Fennell is not going to be coming back to council at all. Why are we trying to knock her down every which way we can?\u201d
\nLike Miles, Councillor Paul Palleschi, who is also retiring, said Fennell would almost certainly sue the city if the punishment was passed.
\nBut other councillors weren\u2019t buying it.<\/p>\n

Moore said that all Fennell has to do to avoid the $144,150 penalty is \u201cproduce the documents.\u201d
\nCouncillor John Hutton placed blame for the turmoil that has shaken the city squarely on Fennell\u2019s shoulders.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur city was tarnished. The headlines kept getting bigger and bigger. She kept spreading the blame around, not accepting the blame herself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mayor-elect Linda Jeffrey takes on the job of mayor Dec. 1.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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