BARRIE - Barrie Mayor Dave Aspden told city council he had a hand in an unauthorized Globe and Mail employment ad that ran Saturday.
At Monday night’s meeting, city council demanded answers about the ad for a police chief but Aspden said relatively little.
The ad included grammatical errors and directed resumes to City Hall rather than to the Barrie Police Services Board’s secretary. Three members of the city’s police board did not know about the ad, The Advance learned on Saturday.
In an interview earlier in the day Monday, Aspden did not take responsibility for placing the ad.
Instead, he would only say police board chairperson Rick Jones was responsible.
“He’s the chair of the board,” the mayor said. “Right now, he’s the chair of the board and speaks for the board.”
Hours later, however, the mayor said he was involved.
“I had something to do with it,” he said. “A lot was taken from a previous ad that had been sent out by another board. Human Resources at the Barrie Police Services will not be involved at this time.”
Now, with the resignation of board chairperson Jones – effective Tuesday – the mayor, as vice-chairperson, is acting chairperson.
The mayor would not acknowledge Jones’ resignation, which councillors received notice of just before 5 p.m. Monday via e-mail.
“I’m not going to confirm a rumour,” he said of Jones, who was the city’s civilian appointee on the board. The city’s other two members are Aspden and Coun. Jerry Moore.
Moore said in April 2009, the police board struck a committee to search for a chief to succeed Wayne Frechette, who is to retire Sept. 1. That committee included Aspden and provincial appointee Doug Jure.
That committee has not yet met, nor discussed how to conduct the search, let alone approve an ad, said Moore, who is not part of the search committee.
“The board still has to decide whether we will hire a consultant,” the mayor added.
The last time Aspden was police board chairperson, in 2007, he overstepped his bounds and on mayor’s office letterhead, wrote a letter urging a disciplinary hearing chairperson to go easy on an officer found guilty of discreditable conduct. The Ontario Civilian Commission on Police Services charged Aspden with breaking the Police Services Act’s code of conduct. He pled guilty at the start of a December 2007 hearing.
The police board, meanwhile, learned a lot about the delineation of operational vs. policy issues.
That made a matter discussed Jan. 26, 2010 even more critical. Pertaining to an officer’s assignment, the private-session discussion deadlocked the board and prompted the chief to threaten to quit early. The Advance reported on his threat Feb. 4.
Throughout Monday’s city council meeting, the mayor continually raised the article, although he never denied its veracity or accuracy.
“What was printed in The Advance was not discussed in the public portion of the police board meeting,” he said repeatedly.
City councillors, however, questioned the mayor’s judgment in placing the ad without letting the police board subcommittee know.
“Do you not find it highly unusual in your position as mayor and vice-chairperson of the police services board that you would engage an ad without the consent of the board?” asked Coun. John Brassard. “The public has a right to know.”
Aspden said the issue is a police board issue and any concerns should be addressed to the board.
“It appears you have acted independently of the board. It causes me to wonder if the board is able to function,” Brassard added.
Coun. Mike Ramsay added city taxpayers deserve answers and assurance the police board is functional.
“This has genuinely thrown me for a loop. I am fully aware of the division and separation of a police services board from elected officials. Taxpayers in Barrie fund police services tens of millions of dollars each year ($38 million in 2010),” said Ramsay. “We need to be reassured.”
In responding, the mayor focused on The Advance’s Feb. 4 story. “Let’s not forget what was printed in the newspaper was not discussed in a public portion of a meeting,” he said.