LETTER TO THE PEOPLE OF SARNIA

Waiting to find out what price

You have to pay to get out of
Going through all these things twice.
Bob Dylan

I am resending the response that I shared with the community on the Integrity
Commissioner Report on June 28th, 2016. Why? Because the issues and
allegations in both reports are the same and it was unfair and unhelpful to the
community to have two investigations. The comments then stand today on the
second investigation. It is Double Jeopardy or wanting a pound of flesh over and
over again. Both investigations were authored by Sarnia City Council at a closed
meeting on February 4th, 2016. Council was advised then there should be one
investigation, not two, and Council chose to ignore that advice.
There was no attempt to find a third way to resolve or mediate the issues. I had
offered to the City Manager, by e-mail, to meet along with Human Resources to
discuss the workplace issues--an offer that to this day has not been responded to.
It has been a struggle to deal with the two investigations both headed by lawyers
with a third City-paid lawyer co-ordinating. Why? Because City Council denied me,
under the Indemnification By-law, any legal advice or assistance, despite knowing
that all the allegations are based on my role as Mayor. Council also failed to put
any control on the mandate or on the costs. Nor did any Councillor request to know
my side of the story. The investigations are the same. Both investigators did not
put anyone under oath, nor was there opportunity to question witnesses on their
comments. Ms. Bernardi, like Mr. Swayze, chose not to interview people that could
provide context, background and balance to the issues, including the two staff
people in the Mayors Office. There was no opportunity to question the
complainants on their allegations and there were factual errors in the reports. As a
result of the Integrity Commissioners report there was a penalty of the loss of
three months salary endorsed by Sarnia City Council. This amounted to
approximately $14,000. During that time I continued every day to serve the public
as their representative, to be their watchdog and voice at City Hall. And I will
continue to do so.
I accept that, like anyone else, I have made my share of mistakes in the workplace
including being aggressive and bold in seeking accountability from some Senior
Staff. I regret in certain situations I let my passion for the City in carrying out the
peoples business overcome my judgement and normal good manners. I apologize
for those incidents.
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In the past I have tried to deal with issues internally and to resolve them.
However, the release of the workplace investigation report places me in a position
where I must put context and colour to the report, keeping in mind this represents
only a few of the serious issues.
The public should be aware of the substantial issues that led to significant
disagreement in the workplace between me and senior management including the
arrest of two family members of a senior official on the greatest night in the Citys
history when 10,000 people gathered in downtown Sarnia to celebrate our 100th
Anniversary. Subsequent to the incident and the arrest of two individuals the
senior official contacted Sarnia Police to criticize the conduct of the Officers. I
viewed this as being highly inappropriate.
A senior officials actions in 2015 resulted in the entire City workforce attending
harassment training. This was never disclosed to the public and I would call upon
City Council to release the Human Resources harassment report just as they have
with this recent report.
A top senior official withheld significant financial information from Sarnia City
Council at a Council Meeting which could have resulted in the loss of the transfer of
Sarnia Harbour and $8 million.
A number of other issues related to the prolific spending of the publics tax dollars
with the continual hiring of consultants and outside legal advice at great cost to the
taxpayers on issues which, in my view, could have been handled internally.
The public should also be aware of the nature of some of the complaints against me
that were vexatious and frivolous; however, neither Mr. Swayze nor Ms. Bernardi
chose to eliminate them from consideration. They include:

Mayor did not speak to me for a period of time

Mayor did not introduce me to school children when they were touring the
Mayors Office
Mayor did not give me a larger role during the Inaugural Meeting of Council
Mayor ignored me at Council Meetings
Mayor only visited my office three times during my time at City Hall
Mayor did not say goodbye to me when I left the City employ

The public should also be aware that Sarnia City Council:

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Over-road a public by-law at a secret, closed-door meeting on February 4th,

2016
Illegally polled Council on holding Council meetings in April, 2016
Conducted an illegal electronic meeting in August, 2016

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There have been other violations of the Rules of Order or open government
legislation. At this point in time I have chosen not to go to the Ombudsman on
these issues as I believe the City needs to move forward, not backwards.
The cost of the first investigation was over $70,000. The second one by Ms.
Bernardi appears to be much more by hundreds of thousands of dollars. The public
deserves to know the full cost of the two investigations, the cost of the third lawyer
and to see itemized billing details on the costs to judge the value for taxpayers
money. The enormous amounts of taxpayer dollars spent on the two investigations
could have paved a lot of roads, protected a lot of waterfront beaches, improved a
lot of parks and made Sarnians lives better.
Sadly, this year there have been a number of public actions by Council to diminish
the Office of the Mayor of Sarnia including trying to establish a Deputy Mayor
position (which should be chosen by the people of Sarnia) and removing the
Executive Assistant to the Mayor from reporting to the Mayor. Behind the scenes
there have been a number of actions unknown to the public to diminish the Office
of the Mayor on a regular basis.
The comments at the end of the public statement in June are even more valid today
after the events of the last three months.
I nevertheless think it is time to move on. No individual or group is bigger than
the City. The challenges we face as a community require our full attention. For
Sarnia to be what it has the potential to be, the work we do as a Council must be
done in good faith. We must be willing to set aside our competing interests and put
the needs of the people first. We must see the best in each of us.
Mayor Mike Bradley