Councillor wants leakers to out themselves
Leanna Villella is the latest regional councillor to weigh in on issue of leaks to the news media
A Welland regional councillor has weighed in on the ongoing debate about leaks to the press by urging those who have shared information with The Standard to out themselves.
In an email to all of regional council, obtained by The Standard, Welland Coun. Leanna Villella said if information from confidential sessions of regional council are shared with reporters, then those people should identify themselves.
“If it is an individual on council, I request they come forward and bring a motion to eliminate in-camera sessions,” wrote Villella Thursday, responding to a similar email sent to councillors from St. Catharines representative George Darte. “Just be upfront and stand behind your belief.”
also said if staff have been sharing information with reporters, “it can be grounds for losing your seat.”
Villella was replying to Darte’s call earlier this week for a closed meeting to discuss leaks to The Standard. Darte said he has a plan to expose the newspaper’s sources. However, he would not discuss publicly what that plan is.
Darte’s email was sent after The Standard published information about council’s decision to file an $850,000 lawsuit against former regional chair Alan Caslin and his top aides for their roles in the 2016 chief addressed
ministrative officer hiring scandal.
Villella said she worried if privileged information about legal cases are made public, it could jeopardize the Region’s legal position.
When asked if she felt the Region had been jeopardized by The Standard’s reporting, Villella said she is bothered The Standard published the details about the lawsuit before councillors knew about them.
“We should know those things before the newspaper, is what I am saying,” she said.
The Standard obtained those details from publicly court documents available to anyone.
Like Darte, Villella wrote she was disappointed with how regional chair Jim Bradley adVillella
leaks last week, when St. Catharines Coun. Brian Heit chastised him for not chastizing councillors on the issue.
In an interview Friday, Villella said her issue with Bradley was the “terminology” he used when he reminded councillors not to share confidential information but said there are no guarantees journalists won’t acquire closed session details.
But Villella could not specify what terminology she did not like.
She said the issue does not have to go behind closed doors, and she is not interested in hunting for sources. However, she does want clarity around closed-door meetings and for councillors to take confidential information seriously.