Ward 11 Coun. Bill Leduc had his pay suspended for 30 days, while Ward 3 Coun. Gerry Montpellier was docked for 10 days, following a vote at city council Tuesday evening.
Leduc was sanctioned for revealing the names and personal relationships of two city managers at the Sept. 7 meeting. Montpellier was sanctioned for “piling on” by attacking work done by the same staff on the Maley Drive extension project.
Councillors approved sanctions recommended by integrity commissioner David Boghosian, who received a complaint about the meeting from city CAO Ed Archer.
At the meeting in question, Frank Crupi of Road Surface Recycling, a contractor whose work was halted because of problems with the asphalt, made several allegations of corruption and conflict of interest within city hall.
Sudbury Auditor General Ron Foster examined the allegations made by Crupi and found them to be without merit.
In filing the complaint, Archer alleged that during the course of the meeting, “the featured speaker made a variety of misogynistic, defamatory, and provably false statements directed toward, and about, municipal employees.”
In his summary, Boghosian said city councillors are not required to defend staff at public meetings.
“It is another matter, however, for councillors to jump on the ‘staffbashing bandwagon’ by means of direct or indirect comments and actions that a reasonable person would interpret as supporting defamatory statements regarding identified staff made by third parties,” he wrote.
A third councillor was present at the meeting, Ward 2 Coun. Michael Vagnini, but Boghosian said there was no evidence he violated the code of conduct.
