Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley again accused of harassment

Sarnia'sintegrity commissioner suggests city council suspend Mayor Mike Bradley's pay for two weeks, according to a scathing report that says the mayor once again bullied, harassed and intimidated city staff.

In a six-page document, Robert Swayzesays the mayor's "intransigent and persistent behaviour" toward the city clerk during a council meeting in February was "disrespectful" and could have been avoided.

• Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley slammed in consultant's report on harassment

Bradley "couldhave privately spoken to the clerk instead of intentionally trying to humiliate her in public," Swayze wrote.

The incident occurred when a letter from resident, and fervent Bradley supporter, Margaret Bird addressed to the mayor asked for detailed costs of externally hired lawyers, consultants and the integrity commissioner.

City clerk Dianne Gould-Browndeemed Bird's letter to be a request through the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and, therefore, did not include it on the Feb. 27 council agenda. She notified council ahead of time about the decision.

Some councillors support clerk

At the meeting, Bradley criticized staff for responding to a letter that was addressed to council, saying the letter should have been on the agenda.

"That's the point I'm struggling with," he said. "If letters are coming to mayor and council, those letters should come to mayor and council.That's just a matter of fairness."

Several councillors showed support for Gould-Brown, includingCoun. Cindy Scholten. She says the request from Bird asked for a considerable amount of information that would require extensive staff time.

"I'm quite pleased with how it was handled," she said."There was way more to this letter than a simple budgetrequest for information. It was loaded with accusations about councillors covering their back sides."

In his report, Swayze highlighted Bradley's history of bullying his staff that eventually led to the resignation of a cityclerk and planning director.

Investigations into Bradley's conduct found he had bullied and harassed staff. Council eventually decided to renovate city hall to separate politicians from staffers.

• Sarniato pay $75,000 to separate mayor from city staff

"This is the Mayor who has lost three months of his salary and caused council to approve renovations to city hall to isolate him from staff, all directly attributable to his egregious misconduct," Swayzewrote.

The commissioner also pointed out that Bradley, despite being required by his colleagues, still has not attended any coaching or sensitivity training sessions on harassment in the workplace.

Swayzetried to contact the mayor for a response during his latest investigation, but did not receive one. Instead, Swayzereviewed video footage of the meeting in order to come up with his findings.

"I intended to consider any response from the mayor but unfortunately, he has chosen not to respond," Swayze wrote.