Bratina takes over chair of Hamilton's police services board

Hamilton Police Services board members swiftly elected Mayor Bob Bratina astheir chair at the board's first meeting since May, adding another twist to the strained relationship between the self-governed board and city council.

Bratina took over from former chair Nancy DiGregorio at the beginning of Monday's meeting. He will remain as chair untilthe board holds a new election at the end of the year.

Bratina'sappointment came after months of stressful budget negotiations that have put a dent in the relationship between the board and city council.

In June, council voted in favour of asking the province to allow the city to control the board or govern the service directly. Coun. Sam Merulla, who introduced the motion, said the city needs to keep a tab on the increasing costs that it currently has little say over.

• Read more about city council's narrow vote

Bratina, who voted against the motion, said the budget was justified to provide adequate police services.

"Having heard the evidence, as a member of the board, I felt that was the level," he told CBC Hamilton afterMonday's meeting.

Bratina said that police staffing in the city is way below the United Nations' recommended ratio 220 police officers per 100,000 people. The national average is 202, while Hamilton has only 153, he said.

He added that city council's motion will unlikely result in significant changes to how the police services board is governed.

"They are basically asking for changes in the (provincial Police Services Act) to reflect the concerns that this council has with regard to the budgeting process and the relationship with the chief," he said. "My guess is there will be no major changes to the act."

The seven-member board is comprised of three provincial appointees, three city appointees and the mayor. The board sets the budget and oversees Chief Glenn De Caire and his staff.

Vocal rookies

Originally scheduled for June 17, the meeting was postponed three times as city council and the province debated over the legality of the appointment of Lloyd Ferguson, an Ancaster councillor, to sit on the board on an interim basis. Ferguson was voted by city council to temporarily replace Coun. Terry Whitehead, who is suspended pending an investigation by the Ontario Civilian Police Commission over alleged code of conduct violations.

• Read more about Terry Whitehead's suspension

Monday's meeting was Ferguson's first appearance. Along with another new board member, Walt Juchniewicz, who replaced former vice chair Jim Kay afterhis resignation in January, the two rookies dominated discussion during the two-hour meeting.

Ferguson questioned the $286,491 variance in actual spending in 2012 compared to the budget. De Caire explained that the difference was largely due to "an unprecedented amount" of retirements that year.

Fifty-two members retired or resigned last year, De Caire said, which was more than double the annual average of 20 to 25 people, forcing the board to access its reserve to make up for the budget difference.

Later, Juchniewicz asked Bratina to explain the council's motion to change the governance of the police services board. Bratina reiterated his opposition of the motion, saying the current structurewith four out of seven board members coming from the city hall already gives city council significant control over the board.

"So the advantage is with the city in the seven-member form," Bratina said. "Our feeling at this boardwas that we would not want to put the City of Hamilton through a very expensive and timely process to end up in some place we wouldn't be able to predict."