Vaughan deputy mayor lashes out at ethics report

Michael Di Biase says he “strongly disagrees with the allegations and conclusions” in an integrity commissioner report that found he breached conduct rules and suggests he be docked three months without pay.

Thestar.com
April 18, 2015
By Noor Javed

Vaughan’s deputy mayor Michael Di Biase says he “strongly disagrees with the allegations and conclusions” in an integrity commissioner report that found he breached code of conduct rules and suggests he be docked three months pay.

In a report released late Friday, ethics czar Suzanne Craig said her four-month investigation found the veteran councillor interfered in the city’s procurement process and created a “culture of fear” among employees who pushed back.

She recommends councillors impose a suspension of 90 days pay on Di Biase when they discuss the report at council on Tuesday. Under the Municipal Act, the maximum penalty council can levy for code breaches is withholding 90 days pay.

But in an email Saturday, Di Biase, who served as mayor from 2002 to 2006, said he was “extremely disappointed that I was not given opportunity to respond.”

“If I had been given all relevant information concerning the allegations, I would have been able to answer the allegations and demonstrate why the conclusions were wrong in fact and law,” he added.

“As for my conduct, I’m a soft spoken individual and I am respectful in both speech and conduct. Anyone that knows me would know that to be factual,” he wrote.

It’s an image that differs significantly from one Craig describes in a scathing interim and final report which found Di Biase openly defied the city’s code of conduct, repeatedly breached the city’s strict tendering rules and used his authority to intimidate city staff.

“I find that the purpose of the code has been seriously undermined by the actions of the respondent in relation to the procurement matters, the perception of influence, and improper conduct with respect to staff,” Craig wrote.

“The actions of the respondent have left the city open to public criticism and questioning of ethics in procurement on one end of the spectrum and financial liability on the other,” she writes.

Di Biase, who earned $128,778 as a regional councillor last year according to the provincial Sunshine List, could lose more than $30,000 if council accepts Craig’s recommendation.

When presented with Craig’s initial findings last week, Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua said council would not allow the actions of one person to harm the reputation of the city.

“There are standards that elected officials and individuals working in the city of Vaughan need to abide to,” he said Tuesday. “And if you are an elected official, the standards need to be very very high because you deal with the public trust,” he said.

“There’s no way anyone is going to diminish the public trust we have built here over a number of years and there is no one that is going to blemish the record of this council that has worked very hard to provide the best governance possible.”

Di Biase’s lawyer, Morris Manning, says the mayor and another councillor’s support of Craig at the council meeting last week make them “biased,” and they should not be allowed to participate in the upcoming discussion on his client.

“Both of these individuals have predetermined the issue, they have prejudged my client, are biased in your favour and, as a result, you should advise them that they must declare a conflict before this matter comes before council ... ,” said Manning, in the 15-page response he sent to Craig Friday afternoon.

His client “denies he committed the wrongdoings alleged.” He continues to argue that Craig was unfair, biased and didn’t provide him with the evidence he needed to fully defend himself. Morris says council should replace her with an “independent investigator.”

Craig’s final report delves into further detail of the “culture of fear” she says Di Biase’s actions created among city workers.

“When city staff were asked to provide the respondent with information that was to be kept confidential during the procurement blackout period, the respondent became in their view, aggressive and intimidating,” she writes, adding that many of the 32 people she interviewed during the investigation felt outrage and hopeless resignation at Di Biase’s conduct.

She states that many also felt heightened scrutiny and feared reprisals by Di Biase once her investigation had started.

“Many of the individual city staff with whom I have spoken during the course of this investigation have confirmed that questions regarding their performance have been raised by the respondent causing them to have serious concerns about the security of their employment with the city,” writes Craig.

Two senior bureaucrats, including the city solicitor, who were involved in her investigation suddenly resigned after an in-camera meeting in February.

Craig also notes that Di Biase has not attended any of the code of conduct training sessions she has conducted for council.

City hall watcher Richard Lorello, who filed the complaint, said he was “very pleased” with Craig’s report.”

He plans to provide all his findings to the police so they can “determine if any criminal actions have been committed.”

York Regional Police have taken an interest in Craig’s findings, and were in attendance at the council meeting last week. The police force did not confirm if they are investigating the matter.