My wife and I are very disappointed with the different responses to how the issue of alleged bullying has been dealt with by Owen Sound Council. We are not lawyers and cannot definitively decide what proper procedure should have been followed from the beginning. The only facts we have to date are what has been written and published in The Hub. In a sincere attempt to maintain objectivity, here's what we understand so far:
1. Councillor Tamming pens “Politics of Intimidation: An Open Letter to City Council” (published in The Hub) which the mayor ruled 'out of order' and that it 'violated the Council Code of Conduct' at a recent council meeting, as councillor Tamming attempted to discuss the issue.
2. Councillor Tamming submits a second letter to The Hub expressing appreciation for feedback to his original article and explaining how he was shut down at council and regretfully proceeding with an official complaint process to the Integrity Commissioner.
3. Councillor Thomas responds with his own letter asking why Councillor Tamming's original letter appeared in the media. He expresses the opinion that it was published partly because it got ruled out of order at council, and implies that Councillor Tamming is using the court of public opinion.
One would need to read these letters in their entirety to get the details, but if any of the reported alleged abuses took place regarding Councillors Merton and Grieg and Tamming, then more than one official complaint should have been filed long before this one. In the Code of Conduct for Council Members on the city website introduction, it states that its purpose is to establish a common basis for ethical behaviour, and to increase public confidence by making a commitment to operate with integrity, justice, and courtesy.
If anyone is interested in more pertinent detail, check out part 9 (Member Conduct), part 10 (media communication), and part 12 (Respectful Workplace).
At this point it is reasonably certain that public confidence has not increased, perhaps the opposite. Now that the formal complaint has been made to the Integrity Commissioner, it is our hope that the affected councillors will feel secure enough to report their experiences to the commissioner and let the process deal with it.
Did Councillor Tamming violate the Code of Conduct by publishing the open letter? Did Councillor Thomas minimize the central issue by calling it 'one person's opinion'? I would ask Councillor Thomas not to include us in his comment “ that people are only too willing to believe the accuser without considering whether the charge has any merit” - an insult to all of us.
We both agree that this situation has a chilling effect on earnest discussion, on willingness to express a dissenting opinion, and on collaboration between the people we elected to make informed decisions on our behalf. We applaud them all for their efforts to make this a better place to live; no one should need a written code to act respectfully, but we hope that the Integrity Commissioner will remind anyone that has forgotten!
Jim & Micheline Howitt, Owen Sound