‘I need to be there’
After a controversy-filled term on Hamilton city council, Terry Whitehead is running for re-election in Ward 14, aiming for his sixth consecutive term
Terry Whitehead almost decided not to run for re-election.
After two years of serious health issues, the five-term incumbent — who’s found himself at the centre of controversy at city hall, who’s butted heads with other councillors and who’s been called a bully, among other things — was seriously considering retirement. But then … “They relit the fire,” he says.
They is a number of people. Some other councillors. Some senior staff. The integrity commissioner who came down hard on him in a report. But mostly those behind what he sees as a push to pack the council chamber with progressives.
Does that mean he is running again?
“Oh, absolutely,” the 63-year-old says. “Absolutely I’m going to run again because I need to be there.”
Unsurprisingly, it’s not a docile Whitehead preparing for the fight.
This election is going to be one of the most important we’ve had, he insists. That’s because he believes council is poised to take a hard left turn. Many of the moderate incumbents are stepping away, leaving the door open for a number of progressives to replace them.
He says it’s important to have all sides of the political spectrum represented for balance. But he’s worried we’re heading left of famously progressive Portland, Oregon. In a lengthy conversation, he mentions defunding police, allowing encampments, pushing away developers and other issues that in some form have already come up around the council table.
Is that a legitimate concern or alarmist hyperbole? Former mayor Larry Di Ianni, for one, thinks it’s the former.
“(Council is) left,” he says, “and the barbarians are at the gates wanting it to go even further left.”
Whitehead says a small number of people in the community — who are loud on social media — have spent the past few years ramping up the rhetoric and amplifying a narrow political view. This is scary to some, including a number of councillors.
“I think council is spineless,” the representative of Ward 14 says. “I think what is happening is the left are organized and the moderates are running scared.”
But it’s not necessarily his political predictions that makes this a story. Everyone has those. Nor is it an incumbent seeking re-election. They do that all the time.
It’s the fact that there may not be a bigger flashpoint at city hall than Whitehead.
During this term of council, he’s been kicked out of a meeting, had his microphone muted, had his behaviour referred to as bullying and had a report by the integrity commissioner recommend he lose 30 days’ pay and have his communications with staff restricted until the end of this term for “hostile” and “aggressive” questioning of a staff member.
“The Councillor’s conduct and behaviour — peppering Staff Member A with interrogation-style questions, not listening, interrupting, and refusing to accept the responses, then suggesting they are untruthful, lying, incompetent or lack integrity — these are not acceptable behaviours from a member of a municipal Council,” the report said.
That recommendation was approved by other councillors in a 12-0 vote.
He’s appealing that ruling. He says a health crisis — he has declined to elaborate on the exact nature of his illness — was affecting his cognitive skills when the complaint to the integrity commissioner was filed. He was having trouble remembering things and he couldn’t figure out why.
The report says this isn’t justification for his behaviour. But considering that health situation, Whitehead says it absolutely was and ignoring that is entirely unfair.
Besides, he denies he bullies anyone. He says council meetings aren’t supposed to be a sanitized, emotionless, academic discussion. Hard questions need to be asked of staff to defend the interests of constituents, especially when they mess up. Some of his colleagues won’t do that.
“What I call accountability, they call bullying,” he says.
That’s not the consensus. When the report came out, Coun. Maureen Wilson called it council’s “Me Too moment,” Mayor Fred Eisenberger and Coun. John-Paul Danko called it harassment, Coun. Judi Partridge said council had to put a stop to it, and Coun. Brad Clark called the findings “disturbing.”
Ward 3 Coun. Nrinder Nann says Whitehead has spoken over colleagues, manipulated the online meeting platform to unmute himself to keep talking and when she’s been chair of committees, she’s had to bring him to order for what she calls inappropriate behaviour.
“This is an attempt to deflect responsibility for his own actions and he’s looking for people to blame,” she says. “And that’s really too bad. I would have hoped that over the last two years, he would have spent some time reflecting on his practices, reflecting on his behaviour, and especially seeking re-election, really come to reconcile with the way that he has behaved particularly against colleagues and staff at the city.”
His health is better now, he says. Medication has neutralized the negative effects of his illness. He calls it a miracle. But the whole situation has led to pent-up frustration and some things to say.
He says there are some incumbents that need to be voted out, though he wouldn’t say which ones.
He says Wilson and Nann — with whom he’s butted heads repeatedly — have “brought this poison and toxicity to council.”
“Oh, that’s rich,” Nann says in response. “The bottom line here, I wasn’t investigated by the integrity commissioner for my conduct and behaviour at council. He was.”
“(The integrity commissioner) also noted his unwillingness to take responsibility for his actions. As a result, Terry is not permitted to communicate directly with any city staff other than a handful of senior staff,” Wilson says. “I’ll leave it at that.”
Whitehead says city hall was doing well until Eisenberger took over as mayor but today, council is “rudderless.”
The mayor says the councillor is entitled to his opinion and wishes him well on his journey to health.
And Whitehead says there needs to be a housecleaning among the senior bureaucracy.
“There’s some really good staff. There’s staff I’m proud of. Even some senior staff,” he says. “But we’ve got some duds.”
So if his health hasn’t been great, other councillors have been unfair to him and there’s a likelihood council could look far different, presumably leading him to further frustration, why does he want to run again?
“Is my life all about me? Should I make it all about me? Or do I have a natural, bona fide, legitimate fear of what’s going to happen to this community?” he says. “If I feel I can do something about it, should I just I walk away?”
He didn’t register the first day nominations opened. Two reasons for that. One, there was still a medical test he needed to be done to make sure he could get into the race. That came back clean. The other?
“No rush,” he says. “I think people know my name.”
‘‘ Is my life all about me? Should I make it all about me? Or do I have a natural, bona fide, legitimate fear of what’s going to happen to this community?
TERRY WHITEHEAD WARD 14 COUNCILLOR