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Share this Story: St. Thomas Mayor Heather Jackson insists she was not in a conflict of interest over IT vote in March
St. Thomas Mayor Heather Jackson insists she was not in a conflict of interest over IT vote in March
What's good for the goose may not necessarily be good for the gander.
So charges a former St. Thomas resident who unsuccessfully ran as an aldermanic candidate in the 2010 municipal election.
Writing to the Times-Journal last month, Bill Sandison chides St. Thomas Mayor Heather Jackson - the driving force behind city council's newly adopted code of conduct after a steady leak of confidential information from in-camera meetings - for not declaring a conflict of interest on debate and the ultimate vote to out-source IT services at city hall.
Sandison writes, ". . . a mayor who failed to declare a conflict of interest during two separate council meetings last year as council debated outsourcing IT (Information Technology) services, for the City of St. Thomas, to the municipally-owned and financially-challenged Ascent (formerly St. Thomas Energy Services) instead of going through the standard procedure of a request for proposal when work is being outsourced.
"The Ascent IT department is home to one of the mayor's love interests, no? Yet, the mayor had no reservations advancing her own self interest on this matter as she debated fully and voted."
Sandison continues, "It is both sad and laughable to watch this mayor attempt to embrace moral integrity and a code of conduct . . . ."
City council was unanimous in awarding the contract to Ascent in March of this year and Jackson has been romantically linked to an Ascent employee in their IT department for approximately two years
In an emailed response dated April 30, Jackson does not deny her relationship to the individual, adding he is not her "spouse as defined in the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act."
In her rebuttal Jackson stresses, according to the Ontario Municipal Act, "there is no conflict of interest because my personal income nor am I benefitted or enriched in any way by the City contracting Ascent for the provision of IT services.
Jackson goes on to note, "nor is he (the Ascent employee) enriched or benefitted in any way by the City contracting Ascent for the provision of IT services. Furthermore, the man in question is not on the Ascent project team responsible for the provision of IT services to the City."
According to a pair of municipal governance experts, it is open to debate as to whether Jackson was in a conflict of interest situaion, based on Ontario Municipal Act guidelines.
However her involvement in the IT debate and vote could possibly be perceived by some ratepayers in a far different light.
Western University political scientist Andrew Sancton suggested it may have been prudent for Jackson not to vote and let the rest of council decide the matter.
"There is no question that the cautious thing to do would have been to not vote," Sancton advised. "If the municipality had an integrity commissioner, the councillor in question could consult the integrity commissioner.
"Anybody could say the mayor should set an example, but that's up to the mayor."
Municipal consultant George Cuff - who has published over 300 articles as well as two books on local government and governance - noted there is both real conflict of interest and also perceived conflict of interest.
"And perception becomes reality in the mind of the public pretty quickly," Cuff pointed out.
"My question would be, is there a tie that puts me in a somewhat different position than the average citizen with regard to this issue. And if so, then I think I'm in a position of bias if not conflict of interest. So, as a result of that, I would withdraw from the discussion and ask council to excuse me from that debate."
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