Bennett back on board
Mayor returns to police board table after tumultuous five-year absence
Mayor Daryl Bennett returned to the police services board for the first time in five years on Tuesday night – but there was no fanfare, not even a welcome back speech.
The board launched into its agenda after chairman Bob Hall gave a simple greeting to the mayor.
Bennett’s relationship with the police and the police board has been fraught with controversy, and there was no glad-handing on Tuesday as he returned.
The mayor was suspended from the board five years ago over allegations of misconduct.
He was suspended, investigated and found guilty – but later freed from almost all blame and told he could return to the board.
Hall said he didn’t think it was necessary to introduce Bennett to anyone on Tuesday.
“Everyone has worked together, around that table – everyone knows one another,” Hall said, adding that he’s not interested in looking back on the difficult relationship between the mayor.
“We’re looking ahead,” Hall said.
Bennett said he didn’t mind – he was just happy to bring his business experience to the table. “This is Business 101,” he said. Police Chief Murray Rodd didn’t want to comment on the mayor’s return. Although he attends board meeting, he’s not a member – he said it wasn’t his place to make any comment.
The tumult started in 2011, the year of a bitter feud between the police and council over money: the police had asked for too much to run the force in 2012, in Bennett’s opinion, and the mayor wasn’t afraid to say so in public.
Soon after that, Bennett was suspended from the police board while the Ontario Civilian Police Commission (OCPC) investigated 11 allegations of misconduct brought against him.
After a lengthy hearing in 2014, the OCPC found Bennett guilty of all 11 allegations; the OCPC told him he was banned for life from the police board.
But when Bennett vowed to take the matter to court, 10 of the 11 findings against him were dropped.
The one finding that stuck is that he made disparaging comments about Chief Rodd; the mayor says he stands by his comments and hasn’t apologized.
That meant Bennett was legally entitled to return to the board – even though a report released in August that strongly recommended he not go back.
Toronto lawyer Mark Sandler was asked by the OCPC in January to oversee the police board for the first six months of 2017 and then write a report recommending changes to make the board more functional.
Sandler’s report stated that it would be “unwise” for the mayor to return to the board because the board is trying to leave behind “a tumultuous period”, and bringing the mayor back on the board will make that difficult.
But Bennett disregarded that advice and put himself back on the board for a one-year term starting Nov. 30. (Coun. Dave Haacke stepped down from the board to allow Bennett to return).
Three councillors objected to the plan, in October: Coun. Diane Therrien, Keith Riel and Gary Baldwin all spoke against it, at a meeting.
But Bennett didn’t need their approval – he had a legal right to return to the board.
On Tuesday, he spoke a few times at the meeting – at one point he even volunteered to go on a subcommittee to study the space needs of the overcrowded police headquarters on Water St., and the board agreed to have him do that.
When asked how it felt to be back, he didn’t hesitate to answer.
“It feels wonderful.”