BARRIE - Barrie Mayor Dave Aspden should do the right thing for the right reason and step down from the Barrie Police Services Board, city councillors say.

After admitting to having a hand in a poorly written ad for a new chief that ran three times in the Globe and Mail without police board authorization, Aspden announced Feb. 17 he was stepping down as police board chairperson. Formerly vice-chairperson, he became chairperson after Rick Jones resigned Feb. 9.

Aspen refused to answer council’s questions about the ad – which is prompting a police board report, to be issued Thursday.

“I feel the mayor stepping down as chair is only half of a solution to the problems we have with the police board. The mayor should step down entirely,” said Ramsay. “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. The people of Barrie have been fooled long enough.”

“Under the Police Services Act, the mayor does not have to serve on the board in a community over 25,000. (A mayor) can ask council for another rep. I feel Dave should leave the police board.”

In an e-mail to The Advance as to why he stepped down as chairperson, Aspden said the reason was workload – not the issue of the unauthorized ad.

“I have several other functions and duties, including Zone 3 police board, which I was recently reelected for another term as Chair of the Zone, and also a director on the Ontario Association of Police Services Boards,” he said.

Ward 6 Coun. Michael Prowse said he’d like to see the mayor leave his police board duties, but questioned the timing.

“This latest fiasco has given the City of Barrie a black eye once again, compliments of the mayor. I believe the mayor stepping down as chair of the police board is the minimum expectation Barrie residents have,” said Prowse.

“(Aspden stepping down entirely) would be my preference. However, the reality of the situation is that until Rick Jones is replaced, we can’t afford to have any more turnover on the board for it to still function properly. Once council replaces Mr. Jones, that would be a good time for the mayor to step down, finally closing a very unfortunate chapter in the police board’s history.”

Ward 6 Coun. John Brassard said Aspden’s resignation as chairperson was a good move, but a better one would be for him to leave the board.

“The ad looked good if we wanted to attract a Grade 5 student who wanted to be chief for a day, but I’m not so sure it would attract the kind of professional we’d like,” said Brassard, referring to a series of grammatical and spelling errors, as well as redundant phrases.

“(Quitting the police board) would be a wise move on his part, considering the circumstances. The ad was an embarrassment to the city and maybe the result of that warrants him stepping down. Ultimately, that’s his decision to make.”