Caslin calls for probe into CAO hiring
Regional Chair Alan Caslin is calling for an independent investigation into the process used to hire Niagara Region’s chief administrative officer, Carmen D’Angelo, in 2016.
“In the interest of openness and transparency, I have requested that an independent HR inquiry of the entire hiring process be undertaken,” wrote Caslin in a Monday email to councillors obtained by The Standard. “The director of human resources will be bringing forward options to regional council on Thursday.”
Caslin’s call for a probe follows a Friday story about a months-long investigation by The Standard that found during the CAO hiring process a memo, created by Caslin’s policy director Rob D’Amboise, identified job candidates and was sent to D’Angelo.
Caslin’s email to councillors also contains a statement from Jayson Phelps — head of The Phelps Group, the recruiting firm hired to run the CAO selection process — walking back on comments made to The Standard last week. In that statement, Phelps said that “at no point
did we have any discussion with the reporter about Mr. D’Amboise or his involvement in the process.”
However, during an April 4 interview with The Standard, Phelps was asked directly about D'Amboise and the memo.
“Why would the policy director know the names of the candidates and why would it be given to Mr. D’Angelo?” Phelps was asked by The Standard, who described the memo in detail and identified D’Amboise as creator.
“The only way is directly through the chair,” said Phelps, who denied any knowledge of the memo. “The chair shared something.”
In an interview Monday evening Phelps apologized for his statement to the Region and said he was only answering the second half of the reporter’s question.
Caslin’s push for a probe follows St. Catharines Mayor Walter Sendzik’s Friday call for an Ontario Ombudsman’s inquiry into the CAO selection process.
Several other councillors have joined Sendzik’s call for an investigation independent from Caslin’s or D’Angelo’s offices.
“I think Walter is on to the right idea there,” said St. Catharines Coun. Tim Rigby. “We need to understand what happened and why.”
Welland Coun. Paul Greiner, St. Catharines Couns. Brian Hiet and Kelly Edgar, Niagara-on-theLake Coun. Gary Burroughs, Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn and Niagara-on-the-Lake Lord Mayor Patrick Darte also said the Ombudsman should investigate.
“No matter what side you come down on, everyone should want this investigation,” Darte said. “And those accused of any of wrongdoing, if they didn’t do anything wrong, should want an investigation as well.”
Darte and Grenier cautioned that any probe should be narrowly focused on the CAO selection process and should not become a review of D’Angelo’s job performance.
“I sat on the board of the NPCA (Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority), where Carmen was CAO, and I was very impressed with how he handled his job and got things done,” Darte said.
Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati said an internal review of hiring practices is in order.
“We should certainly do an internal review, and if we are not satisfied with that then we can turn to someone outside,” he said.
Diodati, who said he believes D’Angelo has been doing a good job as CAO, also said council needs to understand “why that memo was leaked and who directed the leak.”
Councillors are also raising questions about why D’Amboise was involved in the CAO hiring process. The terms of reference for the CAO selection committee, approved by a vote of regional council, identifies only human resources, legal and the clerk as staff supports for the committee.
On Friday, Caslin issued a statement to CKTB 610 AM radio saying that in “accepted practice of past chairs” he added his support staff, which includes D’Amboise, to the committee.
Couns. Burroughs, Heit, Rigby and Augystyn said the chair cannot add staff to a committee outside the terms of reference without a vote from council.
Minutes of the committee meetings list D’Amboise as attending some meetings. Several sources said the list of attendees in the minutes — many of which were missing from the Region’s online record until The Standard asked the clerk’s office about them Monday — may contain errors.
In his email, Phelps wrote that the Region’s human resources department was involved in the hiring of The Phelps Group.
Government sources have told The Standard the human resources department was kept out of the selection process and had no knowledge of CAO candidates.
For more on this story go to www.stcatharinesstandard.ca.