Council reopens probe into hiring of CAO
Report by Standard uncovered new information
Niagara Regional Council has voted unanimously to reopen the investigation into the hiring of CAO Carmen D’Angelo.
Council hammered out the motion after more than two hours of deliberations behind closed doors. The motion directs the Region’s legal counsel and chief information officer — operating under the oversight of an external auditor — to search the Region’s servers as well as the cellphones of D’Angelo and two staff members for confidential
information about the hiring process.
The motion also requests the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority, where D’Angelo previously worked, to search its servers for the documents.
The team is to complete its work in time for the first meeting of council in September.
Lincoln Mayor Sandra Easton wanted to make it clear to D’Angelo and the staff members, Jason Tamming and Rob D’Amboise, that there was no malice intended in her motion.
“If it is possible for us to look into the servers and see if this information exists, then we can say the question has been asked — and the question has been answered. Whether it is yes or no, we can then report that to the public accordingly.”
Thorold Regional Coun. Henry D’Angela added having an external official oversee the investigation was essential.
“I don’t want to be sitting here again in a month when the report comes back, and there are questions because we did it internally,” D’Angela said. “This is not against our staff. It is to give the report openness and transparency.”
Thursday’s vote was the second time council has ordered an investigation into the CAO hiring process. Marvin Huberman of the Toronto law firm ADR Chambers conducted the first probe. In a 43-page report to council on July 5, Huberman concluded there was nothing improper in the 2016 hiring of D’Angelo.
The investigation by Huberman was sparked by Standard reporter Grant LaFleche in April when his expose of the CAO hiring process found evidence D’Angelo had obtained confidential information about other candidates for the job. The memo was sent by D’Amboise, the policy director for Regional Chair Alan Caslin.
Huberman ultimately accepted D’Angelo’s statement that he did not receive the confidential information, but also found some of D’Angelo’s recollections were “improbable.” He also noted D’Angelo claimed his cellphone had been stolen, making it impossible to check if he had received the memo.
Council voted to accept Huberman’s report and close the matter.
It remained that way until Wednesday when LaFleche reported he had new information from a source that showed D’Angelo had downloaded documents that included interview questions and confidential information about other candidates.
One of those document was written by the Region’s director of strategic communications, Tamming, who was serving as Caslin’s director of communications at the time.
Tamming's document provided questions D’Angelo had to address in a written presentation to the CAO hiring committee. It also offered answers, many of which were used, sometimes verbatim, in D’Angelo’s submission to the hiring committee.
William.Sawchuk@niagaradailies.com
905-225-1630 | @bill_standard