Gananoque Council Votes to Suspend Mayor’s Pay Due to Multiple Code of Conduct Breaches

Gananoque – Gananoque’s Mayor John Beddows has had his pay suspended by the town council after a report from the town’s integrity commissioner, which found multiple breaches of the municipal code of conduct.

Tony E. Fleming, the Town’s integrity commissioner, said in his report that there were 18 complaints filed against the mayor. Eight of these complaints were substantiated.

Findings found that Mayor Beddows repeatedly made remarks suggesting the town’s chief administrative officer (CAO) should be fired. The integrity commissioner said this behaviour created a pattern of harassment and intimidation.

Discriminatory remarks related to women and affirmative action. The mayor also admitted to telling an offensive sexual joke. Additionally, aggressive behaviour towards another councillor during a meeting was noted.

“Comments about affirmative action and whether the CAO can be fired only exacerbate the difficult relationship between staff and the Member. This strained relationship is also apparent in the aspects of the complaint that were not found to breach the Code of Conduct. Comments about “seeing and hearing everything that goes on in this building”, while not a breach of the Code, do not foster a positive working relationship with staff. Similarly, comments about being the smartest person in the building do not establish the Member as a strong leader; they appear to have the opposite effect with staff,” said Tony E. Fleming, Town’s Integrity Commissioner

Several penalties were recommended by the commissioner, including a 30-day pay suspension for harassment of the CAO, another 30 days for discriminatory comments, five days for a sexual joke, and 15 days for aggressive behaviour. In total, the mayor’s pay will be suspended for 80 days.

“Our overall finding is that the Member has a genuine desire to create a positive working environment, but he struggles with interpersonal relationships. The Member recognizes that he struggles with reading people, and we see this as being at the core of many of the issues in the complaints. As with many complaints our office receives, the relationship between the Member and staff has reached a point where behaviour that staff might otherwise ignore or that would be unremarkable is now perceived to be offensive or as having meaning that the Member does not intend,” said the commissioner