Pembroke council delays reconsidering contract with mayor's law firm

City councillors in Pembroke, Ont., voted Tuesday night to delay reconsidering its decades-old contract with the city's solicitor a lawyer at Sheppard & Gervais, the law firm the mayor currently works at.

Therelationship between Mayor Ron Gervais, the firm, and city solicitorRobert Sheppard has been under scrutinyafter some residentsraised questions aboutperceived and possible conflicts of interest in recentmedia coverage.

Gervais has been an elected official on council for more than a decade, andserved as deputy mayor before becoming mayor last November. The city has been paying Sheppard & Gervais forlegal services throughout that time.

The city's chief administrative officer (CAO) David Unrauhas told CBC that legal services are exempt from Pembroke's procurement policy under its bylaws, meaning the city doesn't have to go through a bidding process to hire itslawyers.

Unrau added that Mayor Gervais is an employee at Sheppard & Gervais, not a partner.

At Tuesday's council meeting, Coun. Troy Purcell brought forward a motion to reconsiderthe city's contract with Sheppard, which dates back to 2002.The motion asked the CAO to put out a request for proposal (RFP) an open request for bids for the services Sheppard is currently providing.

Mayor Gervais was notpart of the discussion;he left council chambers after declaring he had a "perceivedpecuniary interest" in the matter.

Introducing his motion, Purcell said he has "significant concerns regarding the lack of transparency and accountability of this council."

Purcellwent on to say that he's perplexed as to why this procurement motion "has caused such a stir with council, with some lobbying ... behind the scenes to strike down this motion."

He said councillors received an email from Unraucomparing Sheppard'srate with what other municipalities are paying for legal services.

"The charge rate is in the middle of the rates provided, leading me to assume there may be an opportunity for reduced costs," Purcell said.

• Watch the full council meeting on the city's Youtube channel here

CBC has contacted Unrau multiple times since March,asking for information on the city's budget for legal services andthe total costs paid toSheppard & Gervais, but has not yet received a response.

The city's treasurer referred CBC back to the CAO's office.

Councillors ask CAO to prep amendment to bylaw

Coun. Ian Kuehlsaid council members played "procedural chess" over the last couple of days in anticipation of the Tuesdaymotion.

Both Kuehl and Purcell suggested that the two councillors who were away Patricia Lafreniere, who was attending via video, and Brian Abdallah,who was at a conference as part of a city delegation had tried to change their plans to attend the council meeting via video last minute in order to "help defeat this particularmotion."

WATCH | Councillors frustrated with procedural 'chess' over motion:

Pembroke councillors claim behind-the-scenes 'chess' over motion

1 year ago

Duration 1:39

Pembroke, Ont., councillors Troy Purcell and Ian Kuehl shared their concerns over what members of council were doing in the days leading up to the April 18 council meeting.

"We had a pretty significant breakthrough late this afternoon," Kuehl continued, saying councillors came to a "settlement" despite disagreeing on the initial motion to review the contract.

Kuehlthen moved a motion to table Purcell's motion for now, and instead askthe CAOto prepare an amendment to the city's procurement bylaw and bring it to council. That amendment would see professional contracts, including legal services, be reviewed after five years.

"In all honesty, I think what you're suggesting is right," said Coun. Ed Jacyno, who had defended the city's use of Sheppard for his long-term experienceat the April 4 council meeting.

"Individuals should come forward and be able to bid on that process."

All five councillors present voted in favour of Kuehl's motion.

Lafreniere, who is on vacation,addressed her video attendance at the end of the meeting.

"It was mentioned earlier tonight that maybe I was here on one agenda tonight, and that was to oppose something that was coming forward. That may be so but there's other issues," she said, adding that she was also attending because of her work on other business discussed Tuesday.

"I was here to ensure that the best interest of the ratepayers was represented," she continued, adding that she was contacted byother legal firms this week, voicing their opinions on the city's contract for legal services.

CBC contacted Abdallahlate Tuesday night, and he said he'd review the meeting before commenting.

Purcell gave notice that he'll introduce another motion at the next council meeting to update Pembroke's procurement bylaw, and to revise several others like the procedural, accountability and transparency, andcode of conduct bylaws.