Vaughan deputy mayor Di Biase mulls stepping aside

Yorkregion.com
May 4, 2015
By Adam Martin-Robbins

Vaughan Deputy Mayor Michael Di Biase has yet to decide if he’ll step aside in the wake of an OPP probe.

“I have made no decision and I will be meeting with my lawyer (to discuss it),” Di Biase said Monday afternoon just days after it was announced that the provincial police force had taken over the local police force’s investigation into the veteran councillor.

The Citizen last Thursday reported York Regional Police, in partnership with the OPP, were investigating city contracts signed during Di Biase’s 24 years in office, including his time in the mayor’s chair from 2002 to 2006 and, more recently, while a local and regional councillor.

The probe is also looking into any role he might have played in the city’s tendering process to secure municipal contracts for companies, including Maystar General Contractors, the firm that built Vaughan city hall, a source said.

York police told The Vaughan Citizen Friday the investigation has been handed over to the OPP to avoid any hint of a conflict of interest as Di Biase sits on regional council and votes on the local police board budget.

He is also a past member of the police services board.

OPP spokesperson Sgt. Peter Leon confirmed Monday there’s an “ongoing and active investigation,” but was otherwise tightlipped about the details.

Maystar president Joe Maio has yet to respond to requests for comment.

The police probe comes after a council decision late last month to dock Di Biase’s pay for 90 days - which amounts to about $21,000 - after Vaughan Integrity Commissioner Suzanne Craig found he violated the city’s code of conduct.

Craig conducted a four-month probe following a complaint by Richard Lorello, a city hall watcher and Di Biase’s longtime political rival.

She found Di Biase interfered in the city’s procurement process to aid Maystar in landing plum municipal contracts and that he created a “culture of fear” among employees who pushed back.

Craig didn’t investigate Maystar and there’s nothing to indicate the company did anything wrong.

In his complaint to the integrity commissioner, Lorello brought forward allegations that Maystar was helping build Di Biase’s family cottage as reported in a CBC investigation days before the October 2014 municipal election.

Both Di Biase and Maio denied the allegations made in the CBC report.

Craig concluded that the matter appeared to be of “a criminal nature” and beyond her jurisdiction to investigate.

She advised Lorello he should take it to the police, which he reportedly did.

Check back here as this story develops.