Port Moody mayor plans return to work after charges stayed

Port Moody Mayor Rob Vagramov says he’ll be back at work Monday after a charge of sex assault against him was stayed Wednesday.

“I am happy to live in a place where people’s reports are taken seriously by the justice system, where no one stands above the law and where being an elected official means more scrutiny in the justice system not less, and where the justice system is able to distinguish between predatory behaviour and awkward dates that could have benefited from more communication,” he said in a prepared statement to reporters in Port Moody on Thursday.

Special prosecutor Michael Klein stayed the proceedings against Vagramov after being advised by B.C. Corrections that Vagramov has successfully completed an alternative measures program. Details of the alternative measures weren’t disclosed.

Vagramov said Thursday he is glad to have his name cleared, and will be returning to his duties as mayor Monday. Acting mayor Steve Milani will return to his position as city councillor.

Vagramov plans to resume his duties as chairman of the Port Moody police board and the city’s representative on the TransLink Mayors’ Council and the Metro Vancouver board.

He said he has apologized to the woman who accused him of sexual assault for the “awkward date” that they had in Coquitlam in 2015. While he wouldn’t go into specifics citing a confidentiality agreement, he said he went on a few dates with the woman, and it “wasn’t a match.”

He said nearly four years later that he learned that she “had an issue” with what happened between them. “I left someone with a negative impression and I feel awful about that,” he said.

He noted there has been division in city council, and will be pushing the province for some clarity on what should happen when a municipal leader is charged with a crime. Vagramov said he supports the call for leaders to go on leave while facing a charge and to be forced out of office if they’re found guilty.

Vagramov went on voluntary leave of absence March 29, a day after the B.C. Prosecution Service announced he had been charged with sexual assault. He returned to work briefly in September, but council voted in favour of asking him to return to a leave of absence while he faced the charge. He went back on leave in early October.