Mayor of Carleton Place stripped of pay till end of term

Carleton Place MayorLouis Antonakos has been stripped of his pay for the remainder of his term in office by his own council following a damning report by the town's integrity commissioner that he'd breached the town's code of conduct.

Council voted for a 90-day suspension of salary,the strongest sanctionsavailable, for each of three breaches identified in the report, including bullying and sharing confidential information.

• Call for mayor's resignation caps long, bitter dispute in Carleton Place

Council also cut off his discretionary funding.

Together, it will mean the mayor will likely never receive another paycheque before the October municipal election, making it one of the harshest penalties ever for an Ontario mayor for breaching acode of conduct.

At the meeting Tuesday night, the crowd erupted in applause as council voted on the motion to sanction their mayor.

Renewed calls for resignation

Antonakosalso faced several calls for his resignation both from the audienceand members of thesix-person council.

"Resign now," said residentKory Earlein a speech aimed at the mayor.

"Enough is enough."

Earle's complaint to the commissioner alleged Antonakos had bullied the long-time advocate for people with intellectual disabilities.

Members of the audienceand several councillorswore pink ribbons, scarves, shirtsand hatsin solidarity with Earle.

Antonakos, who wore a ribbon himself, tried to argue the bullying complaint against him in spite of the commissioner's findingsto jeers from the audience and demands he take the ribbon off.

No support for a review

The mayor then tried to introduce a motion asking for a judicial inquiry to review some of the commissioner's findings, but he couldn't find someone to second his motion.

The next motionbrought forward by Coun.Theresa Fritz involved the sanctions, and with almost no discussion, the motion passed to hoots, hollers and loud applause.

But as the audience filed out of the room, council business returned to the mundane issues of the day.

The mayor returned to his place as chair of the meeting,the symbolicchain of duty back around his neck.

'We did the best we could'

"I'm relieved this is over, this was stressful for everybody.Unbearably stressful," said Deputy Mayor Jerry Flynn during a brief break.

But he acknowledged thatnot much has actually changed for the council moving forward.

"Council goes on the way it has. He remains the mayor and [sanctions are] the only tool we have," said Flynn.

"We did the best we could."