Council throws out report after debate
CAMBRIDGE — Council decided to throw out an integrity commissioner’s report that found a fellow politician breached the code of conduct instead of imposing a penalty.
The debate became divisive at a council meeting Tuesday night when council was set to make a decision on how to penalize Coun. Frank Monteiro after the integrity commissioner’s report found he was discourteous to a fellow councillor.
Many council members, however, did not agree Monteiro needed to be disciplined and voted in favour of dismissing the entire report.
The complaint was filed by a resident who claimed Monteiro violated council’s code of conduct when he accused fellow councillor, Coun. Jan Liggett, of going to a closed-door multiplex task force meeting she was not invited to and taking documents from the meeting.
He made the claims, without naming Liggett, in a local radio interview last November. Both councillors were invited, on separate occasions, to speak on a motion before council to restrict councillors from closed doors meetings they were not invited to.
Monteiro raised the motion when he found out Liggett was at a
closed-door multiplex task force meeting. He said his belief was that it was against the rules to attend a closed-door meeting of a task force if you were not appointed to that committee or task force.
But it was not clear whether what Liggett did was wrong because the procedural bylaw that governs meetings of council was vague at the time, prompting Monteiro’s motion to clarify it.
According to the integrity commissioner’s report, the resident who filed the complaint accused Monteiro of harming Liggett’s reputation during the radio interview by claiming she broke the rules. The resident said Monteiro’s comments made Liggett seem untrustworthy to the public.
The integrity commissioner did not agree that Liggett’s reputation was harmed and did not find Monteiro made any comment with malicious intent. The report did find, however, that Monteiro’s comments were discourteous to Liggett and recommended a written apology to her would be a sufficient penalty.
Coun. Donna Reid introduced the motion to dismiss the integrity commissioner’s report entirely on Tuesday night, calling it unworthy and innocuous.
“There was no intention of Coun. Monteiro to bring harm to you,” Reid said to Liggett.
“I do not believe it’s necessary to penalize him.”
It was a brief but heated debate on Tuesday night.
Liggett said the motion was “dangerous” and “divisive” and hoped that she and Monteiro could rise above the integrity commissioner’s report and move on.
“I think what’s happened is very cruel,” she said, speaking of last November’s debate over her attendance at the closed door multiplex task force meeting that turned ugly.
“I was willing to accept a private written apology,” she added.
This integrity commissioner investigation cost the city $7,395.
The multiplex task force was created to appease public outrage over the city’s controversial multiplex project. It was meant to review a site selection process for the massive project and two councillors were appointed to sit on the task force at the time.
Last November’s amendment to the procedural bylaw was the second time it was changed to address ambiguities.
Months before the controversy around Liggett’s presence at task force meetings, there were complaints about Mayor Doug Craig sitting in on the same meetings.
A resident filed a complaint about his presence at the meetings and the mayor was cleared of wrongdoing at the time. The procedural bylaw was then amended to make it clear that the mayor can sit at any meeting struck by council as an ex-officio member. He did not return to the task force.