Unfounded, again: 2nd complaint against Fredericton councillor carries $18K price tag

The City of Fredericton has spent thousands of dollars, yet again, to ultimately find that a code of conduct complaint lodged against a councillor was unfounded the third time an external review has produced that result, and the second time involving the same councillor.

The city spent $18,776to hire lawyer Joel Michaud to investigate complaints from 13 residents alleging that Ward 10 Coun. Cassandra LeBlanc had violated the councillors' code of conduct.

Michaud ultimately deemed the complaints to be unfounded, said Steve Hart, the city's chief administrative officer.

While Hart declined to share the names of the complainants, or what the specific allegations in their complaints were, a resident said they related to a lack of consultation over completion of the Cross Town Trail in their neighbourhood.

"The allegations were essentially that the councilloressentially failed to influence a decision of all of council in a way that would have met the complainants' interests," Hart said.

City spokesperson Wayne Knorr said LeBlanc would not be commenting on the matter, and deferred interview requests to Hart.

A Fredericton city staff report said the complaints were filed by people"residing or working on the 100 block of Argyle Street."

The report says the complaints were made last December, and Mayor Kate Rogers met with the complainants on March 1 as part of the informal resolution process. The report says Rogers determined "the complaints would be forwarded to an external investigator."

Complainant tells her side

Milda Titford, an Argyle Street resident who filed one of the complaints, said she was disappointed by Michaud's conclusion, and questioned his impartiality due to himbeing financially compensated to investigate the complaint by the city.

Titford said her complaint stems from the city's plan to complete the Cross Town Trailby building a new section of trail along Argyle Street.

She said her complaint mainly pointed at what she feels was a lack of consultation from LeBlanc,her ward councillor, over the construction of the trail, which will abut her and others' properties and driveways.

Titford said she also felt LeBlanc misrepresented her efforts to advocate for residents, and that she dismissed concerns from residents about the safety of building a trail perpendicular to a series of driveways.

"I would expect if you're digging a massive hole in front of my house, that there would be some sort of public announcement or notice or something," Titford said.

Not the first unfounded complaint

The complaint against LeBlanc is the third to be investigated by external legal counsel and ultimatelydeemed unfounded in this current council term, said Hart.

Last summer, a complaint against Mayor Kate Rogers and LeBlanc that was deemed unfounded prompted Deputy Mayor Greg Ericson to say he would review ways the city could reduce its need to turn to outside lawyers when dealing with "vexatious" complaints.

Ericson later became the subject of a complaint himself, and in February, councillors accepted an external lawyer's ruling that the complaint was unfounded.

Hart said the third investigation now puts the total tab on fees paid to outside lawyers at $41,779.

Hart said the complaint process calls on the mayor to be the first to review a complaint once it's received by the city.

He said the mayor can dismiss it, or make the decision to refer it on to a third party lawyer.

Asked if the policy on handling complaints should be altered, Hart said the province recently launched a municipal commission, which might provide support to municipalities in times when a third party is needed to resolve a dispute.

"Everyone in my office takes fiscal expenditures extremely seriously, but in this case, what was deemed the best way to resolve this issue was to get advice, and that's the cost of the advice," Hart said.