There was a hour long discussion at the July 6th Council Meeting regarding the Integrity Commissioner Investigation Report. Councillor Perrelli did not excuse himself and also voted on this motion as well as attempted to make a deferral motion. His lawyer also delegated at the meeting. (Watch Council's discussion here)
There were 2 delegates on this item
Stephen Thiele, Councillor Perrelli's lawyer (Watch delegation here)
Brian Chapnick, A Better Richmond Hill (Watch delegation here)
Councillor Sheppard moved the motion below which includes:
(b) that Perrelli's remuneration be suspended for 90 days for contravening the Code of Conduct
(c) That Perrelli issue a written apology to the City Staff named in the report
Here is Councillor Perrelli's rebuttal to comments made by Council Members
At this point Councillor Perrelli attempted to defer the motion to September strongly encouraging that Council Members obtain independent legal advice before making the decision to suspend his pay suggesting that they will be acting in bad faith.
Motion to Defer Failed
Yes: Perrelli, Beros, Muench
No: West, DiPaola, Chan, Liu, Cilevitz, Sheppard
The Main Motion Passed
Part (a) Receive report
Passed Unanimously
Part (b) Suspend pay for 90 days - Passed
Yes: West, DiPaola, Chan, Cilevitz, Sheppard
No: Perrelli, Beros, Muench, Liu
Part (c) Written apology to City Staff - Passed
Yes: West, DiPaola, Chan, Liu, Cilevitz, Sheppard, Muench
No: Perrelli, Beros
Appended today to the July 6th Richmond Hill Council agenda is a letter from Charles Harnick, Integrity Commissioner, ADR Chambers, dated June 30, 2022, regarding final Investigation Report for Complaint Reference Number IC-13702-052.
There were 11 complaint allegations made by various City of Richmond Hill employees brought forward by the Director of Human Resources, Catherine Treacy, against Councillor Carmine Perrelli going back to May 2021. Nine of the allegations were dismissed by the IC.
Analysis by the IC of the 11 complaint allegations begins on page 4 of the report.
View the complete IC Report here (24 pages)
Below is an overview:
1. Allegation that, starting in March 2021, Mr. Perrelli behaved inappropriately in relation to the termination of employment of Mike Makrigiorgos, contrary to the Respect in the Workplace Policy and/or the Code of Conduct
2. Allegation that, starting in March 2021, Mr. Perrelli falsely told staff that MaryAnne Dempster, the City Manager, had a list of staff that she intended to make things difficult for, so that they would resign, contrary to the Respect in the Workplace Policy and/or the Code of Conduct
3. Allegation that after Ms Dempster directed, on March 26, 2021, that communications between Mr. Perrelli and staff were to be only in writing, Mr. Perrelli communicated inappropriately with staff, contrary to the Respect in the Workplace Policy and/or the Code of Conduct
4. Allegation that in January 2021 Mr. Perrelli threatened the job of Mary-Anne Dempster, the City Manager, contrary to the Respect in the Workplace Policy
5. Allegation that in January 2021 Mr. Perrelli threatened the job of Antonio Dimilta, the City Solicitor, and told the City Manager that the City Manager was to fire him, contrary to the Respect in the Workplace Policy
6. Allegation that in October 2020 Mr. Perrelli acted inappropriately in relation to a concern from a resident about an intersection, contrary to the Respect in the Workplace Policy
7(a) Allegation that Mr. Perrelli challenged the recommendations made by staff in an attempt to contravene their professional expertise and the City's corporate objectives, contrary to the Respect in the Workplace Policy
7(b) Allegation that Mr. Perrelli attempted to influence, intimidate, harrass and coerce staff and interfere in their ability to carry out their duties, contrary to the Respect in the Workplace Policy
7 (c) Allegation that in the spring and fall of 2020 Mr. Perrelli inappropriately expressed his views to Ms. Dempster on an Integrity Commissioner complaint against a fellow Councillor, contrary to the Respect in the Workplace Policy
7(d) Allegation that in the fall of 2020 Mr. Perrelli inappropriately told Ms. Dempster that one of the Commissioners should receive an increase in salary, contrary to the Respect in the Workplace Policy
7(e) Allegation that Mr. Perrelli communicated to staff inappropriately in a meeting on February 3, 2021 concerning Richmond Hill communications, contrary to the Respect in the Workplace Policy
7(f) Allegation that in a Budget meeting on January 26, 2021, Councillor Perrelli inappropriately had his staff instruct that Ms. Dempster's camera be turned off when she was not speaking, which was inappropriate given that he was not chairing the meeting, contrary to the Respect in the Workplace Policy
7(g) Allegation that in a Council meeting in the spring of 2021, Mr. Perrelli spoke dismissively to Ms. Dempster, contrary to the Respect in the Workplace Policy
7(h) Allegation that in the timeframe July 2020 to January 2021, Mr. Perrelli inappropriately communicated expectations to Ms. Dempster about an issue concerning use of a truck by the Director of Public Works, contrary to the Respect in the Workplace Policy
7 (i) Allegation that Mr. Perrelli inappropriately directed the Director of Public Works to hire two people, one of whom was Mr. Perrelli's nephew, who had not passed the normal interview and testing requirements, contrary to the Respect in the Workplace Policy
8. Allegation that Mr. Perrelli indicated to staff that his conversations were recorded, in an effort to intimidate staff, contrary to the Respect in the Workplace Policy
9. Allegation that in early 2021, Mr. Perrelli inappropriately told Nadim Khan, Director Building Division and Chief Building Official, that Mr. Khan should not exercise his legislated function of issuing orders against properties where appropriate, contrary to the Respect in the Workplace Policy
10. Allegation that in April 2021 Mr. Perrelli acted inappropriately concerning a stop work order that Mr. Khan had issued concerning a property where construction had occurred without a building permit, contrary to the Respect in the Workplace Policy and/or the Code of Conduct
11. Allegation that in the fall of 2020 when Mr. Perrelli visited the Operations Centre, where staff were setting up a tent, he called staff names, contrary to the Respect in the Workplace Policy
D. Summary of Conclusions and Recommendations (Page 19)
As stated above, we have concluded that three of the complaint allegations are valid. We have dismissed the remainder of the complaint allegations. The three complaint allegations that we have found to be valid are as follows:
Allegation that after Ms Dempster directed, on March 26, 2021, that communications between Mr. Perrelli and staff were to be only in writing, Mr. Perrelli communicated inappropriately with staff. This contravened subsection 7.4(c) of the Code of Conduct.
Allegation that in January 2021 Mr. Perrelli threatened the job of Antonio Dimilta, the City Solicitor. This contravened the Respect in the Workplace Policy.
Allegation that in April 2021 Mr. Perrelli acted inappropriately concerning a stop work order that Mr. Khan had issued concerning a property where construction had occurred without a building permit. This contravened the Respect in the Workplace Policy and subsection 7.5(c) and section 7.6 of the Code of Conduct.
We recommend that Council reprimand Mr. Perrelli for these contraventions. We believe that this penalty will have a rehabilitative effect on Mr. Perrelli and act as a deterrent to such behaviour more broadly.
View the complete IC Report here (24 pages)