Luciani locks horns with Handley
Thorold mayor presses panic button to summon police to Tuesday’s meeting
What do you call the combination of a debate over a street address, yelling, a malfunctioning panic button and a small squadron of a police officers?
In Thorold, it would be called Tuesday’s night city council meeting.
The meeting was disrupted by an argument between Coun. Jim Handley and Mayor Ted Luciani.
Two days later Handley said he is seeking civil rights advice and the mayor vowed he won’t be bullied.
“I feel like my constitutional rights were trampled,” said Handley of the incident, which ultimately resulted in Luciani summoning Niagara Regional Police to remove the councillor from the meeting.
“What right do the police have to come into the council chambers, where I am duly elected to represent the people of Thorold, and escort me out?”
For his part, Luciani said tensions between himself and Handley have been “building for a long time.”
“He’s insulted me before and I have put with it before. But I am not putting up with it ever again,” the mayor said.
The showdown started when Handley rose to ask a question about a street address in Thorold.
A businessman who owns a lot is using it to park his vehicles and wanted a numerical address for it. Handley said he and the owner tried to get a number from the city without success.
City staff told Handley that address numbers are only issued for properties with buildings on them. Otherwise, properties will have lot numbers.
“I thought that was ridiculous,” Handley said in an interview Thursday. “What if someone had a heart attack and they need to call 911? How can they tell the ambulance where they are?”
Luciani explained the city’s policy during Tuesday’s meeting and Handley continued to object with a raised voice, calling the mayor’s explanation “asinine.”
“He got very loud. I told him to keep it down but he wouldn’t,” Luciani said. “It’s my job to maintain decorum in the meeting, so I asked him to leave.”
Handley refused to leave and Luciani recessed the council meeting.
The pair continued to argue from their chairs as other councillors milled about.
“Coun. Handley can be unpredictable,” said Luciani, who pressed a panic button installed at city hall to summon police.
“It didn’t work the first time I pressed it,” he said.
Police officers arrived and asked Handley to speak with them outside council chambers.
“Our officers did that to de-escalate the situation and, frankly, to give Mr. Handley some privacy to tell the officers his side of the story,” said NRP spokesman Const. Phil Gavin.
Handley said he went outside with the officers willingly and when they asked him to leave city hall, he did.
The councillor was not arrested or charged by police.
“Frankly, I felt intimidated. I felt like I was being intimidated to leave city hall, that is why I didn’t kick up a fuss about it. I felt the best thing to do was to leave,” said Handley, who added he is consulting experts on the Municipal Act and the Constitution. “But what right does the mayor have to call in the police to have me removed?”
Luciani said as mayor he has the right to maintain civility during council meetings and remove councillors who are out of order.