Whitehead’s ‘awkward’ re-election decision

Councillor’s longtime executive assistant is running as a candidate in his ward

Talk about your awkward political situations.

Hamilton Coun. Terry Whitehead is peeved he may end up running for re-election against his own city hall chief of staff.

His longtime executive assistant, Colleen Wicken, has registered to run as a council candidate in Ward 8, the west Mountain ward Whitehead has represented since 2003.

Wicken says she decided to throw her hat into the ring in order to step up the constituent advocacy work she’s done over the years on Whitehead’s behalf.

“You can only do so much as an executive assistant,” she says. Whitehead is not amused.

“I’m not enamoured that the person I’ve entrusted for the last nine years is making a unilateral decision in the absence of any real conversation with me,” he said.

“I have respect for her. I’ll make that clear. But I don’t think that the ethics of what’s taking place ... I mean, she’s still an employee of mine.”

For her part, Wicken says she first told Whitehead way back in December that she wanted to run for office in the Oct. 22 election.

That, she recalls, created a “very difficult time.”

She kept waiting for Whitehead to say which ward he intended to seek re-election in, but when she didn’t hear from him, she finally took the bull by the horns and registered as a candidate on June 28.

“I think he was a little shocked. I think he was quite shocked, actually.”

Whitehead’s where-to-run dilemma stems from the fact that the Ward 8 he’s represented for so long has undergone a major makeover because of boundary changes.

For the sake of greater voter parity, an additional ward has been created on the Mountain that has essentially split his old ward in two, creating for this election a new Ward 8 and new Ward 14.

Whitehead hasn’t yet said in which of the two rearranged wards he intends to run. He’s “leaning one way” but won’t reveal which because he wants to roll out his decision in a way that’s sensitive to residents in the neighbourhoods where he won’t be running.

Still, he feels that Wicken was trying to force his hand by jumping into the Ward 8 race prior to his formal announcement.

“But you know me, you don’t force my hand very easily,” says Whitehead, who’s known for his outspoken and bullish style.

Besides Wicken, other candidates registered for Ward 8 are Christopher Climie, John-Paul Danko and Anthony Simpson. So far the Ward 14 candidates are Vincent Samuel, Robert Iszkula and Bryan Wilson. The deadline for signing up is July 27.

Wicken says it will be “awkward” if Whitehead opts to run against her, but that can’t be helped.

“I’ve already made my choice. I’ve lived here for 33 years and this is where the people need my help.”

The situation is even more politically uncomfortable when you consider the background.

Although still a contract employee of Whitehead, Wicken hasn’t actually worked for him for months.

That’s because she’s been off on sick leave since March 27. In mid-June, she changed her absentee status to unpaid leave in order to run for office.

Wicken says she can’t discuss her workplace leave because of confidentiality rules. But despite city hall rumours of a human resources investigation, she hasn’t launched a complaint against Whitehead of any kind.

“I have no animosity toward the man.”

As for Whitehead, well, he suggests asking other councillors how they would feel if one of their assistants jumped into a political race without first waiting for their boss to show his or her hand.

Realistically, there’s really no need to ask. These things surely have more to do with healthy working relationships than a political pecking order.