Police board to discuss board member suspended over 'a private matter'

Hamilton's police services board will decide Thursday whether to fill the seat of a board member temporarily suspended for what his lawyer calls a "private matter."

The board will go behind closed doors to discuss the vacant spot left by Walt Juchniewicz, an Ancaster business ownerthe Ontario Civilian Police Commission (OCPC) is investigating.

The commission is investigating a "private matter" unrelatedto Juchniewicz's work on the board, said Pam Machado, Juchniewicz's lawyer. She wishes she could say more, she said, but she can't.

In the meantime, Juchniewicz'sspot on the seven-member board and the only citizen voicethe city appoints sits vacant.

"It's on the agenda" for Thursday's meeting, said chair Lloyd Ferguson.

The exact nature of the investigationis being kept under wraps. But Machado said Juchniewicz is frustrated the OCPCis involved at all.

It's "a business relationship between the president and owner of a company and someone he chose to hire," Machado said.

"This is another example of OCPC delving into something which should remain in the private realm."

She andJuchniewicz"don't feel there will be any findings of misconduct," she said. And she's in "utter shock" that this is an OCPCinvestigation.

"These are the taxpayers' dollars at work," she said.

As for the OCPC, it confirmed it's investigating a "code of conduct" issue withJuchniewicz, which means he has to step down until the investigation ends.

"OCPC is proceeding as quickly as possible while ensuring a thorough investigation," said spokespersonSilvia Cheng in an email.

Juchniewicz's time on the board has been colourful so far. The city appointed him in 2013 to replace retired fire chief Jim Kay. Last year, he wrote a letter to then-city manager Chris Murray saying that the board hides issues from the public.

The letter was related to a post-meeting conversation in late 2016. That's whenfellow member Madeline Levy, who is Jewish,toldJuchniewiczthat Poles killed Jews at Auschwitz. The matter continued on for several weeks and ended with Levy publicly apologizing.

This new matter is unrelated, Machado said. The board discussed itbehind closed doors in March. Juchniewiczleftthe room for the discussion.

When he returned, Machado said, board members said they would implement a policy. Then the OCPC informed him later that someone had filed a complaint.

"We're frustrated," Machado said. She doesn't know how long the investigation will take, or even if Juchniewicz will get a written report.

"We're doing our best to cooperate," she said. "We've asked them to expedite this so it doesn't have any further impact on him or the community.It already has (an effect) on the community. There's one less member on the board."