Di Biase rejects scathing ethics report
Vaughan councillor accused of intimidating city staff says he’s ‘soft-spoken,’ ‘respectful’
Vaughan Deputy Mayor Michael Di Biase has said that he “strongly disagrees with the allegations and conclusions” in an integrity commissioner report that found he breached code of conduct rules and suggests he be docked three months’ pay.
In a report released late Friday, ethics czar Suzanne Craig said her fourmonth investigation found the veteran councillor interfered in the city’s procurement process and created a “culture of fear” among employees who pushed back.
She recommends councillors impose a suspension of 90 days’ pay on Di Biase when they discuss the report at council on Tuesday. Under the Municipal Act, the maximum penalty council can levy for code breaches is withholding 90 days’ pay.
But in an email Saturday, Di Biase, who served as mayor from 2002 to 2006, said he was “extremely disappointed that I was not given opportunity to respond.
“If I had been given all relevant information concerning the allegations, I would have been able to answer the allegations and demonstrate why the conclusions were wrong in fact and law,” Di Biase added.
“As for my conduct, I’m a soft-spoken individual and I am respectful in both speech and conduct. Anyone that knows me would know that to be factual,” he wrote.
It’s an image that differs significantly from what Craig describes in a scathing interim and final report which found Di Biase openly defied the city’s code of conduct, repeatedly breached the city’s strict tendering rules and used his authority to intimidate city staff.
“I find that the purpose of the code has been seriously undermined by the actions of the respondent in relation to the procurement matters, the perception of influence and improper conduct with respect to staff,” Craig wrote.
“The actions of the respondent have left the city open to public criticism and questioning of ethics in procurement on one end of the spectrum and financial liability on the other.”
Di Biase, who earned $128,778 as a regional councillor last year according to the provincial sunshine list, could lose more than $30,000 if council accepts Craig’s recommendation.
When presented with Craig’s initial findings last week, Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua said council would not allow the actions of one person to harm the reputation of the city.
“There are standards that elected officials and individuals working in the city of Vaughan need to abide to,” he said Tuesday.
“And if you are an elected official, the standards need to be very, very high because you deal with the public trust
“There’s no way anyone is going to diminish the public trust we have built here over a number of years and there is no one that is going to blemish the record of this council that has worked very hard to provide the best governance possible.”
Di Biase’s lawyer, Morris Manning, has said his client “denies he committed the wrongdoings alleged.”
City hall watcher Richard Lorello, who filed the complaint, said he was “very pleased” with Craig’s report.
He plans to provide all his findings to the police so they can “determine if any criminal actions have been committed.”
York Regional Police have taken an interest in Craig’s findings and were in attendance at the council meeting last week. The police force did not confirm whether they are investigating the matter.