Mayor Taso Christopher(Photo: Mary Thomas/Quinte News)
Belleville’s mayor has been found guilty of being in breach of the municipal act.
In court documents obtained by Quinte News, Justice Timothy Ray found that Taso Christopher breached the Municipal Act (Ontario Municipal Conflict of Interest Act).
It stemmed from several meetings in which the mayor was alleged to be in conflict of interest, over land he owned, which would be needed to construct a roundabout.
The Statement of Claim, filed by local realtor Gary Davidson, related to capital budget discussions last October, which focused on the proposed roundabout at Farnham Road and Maitland Drive.
Council and staff discussed numerous topics, including increasing the budget for the Mineral Drive and Maitland Road project (which includes the roundabout) by $1.75 million.
On the first day of discussions, Mayor Christopher recused himself from discussion, however on the second day, when the vote took place, he voted in favour of increasing the project budget.
CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS OF THE STATEMENT OF CLAIM
On June 30th, in a Kingston court, Justice Raye heard from both Mayor Christopher’s lawyer, and the lawyer for the applicant local realtor Gary Davidson.
CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS ON THE COURT HEARING
Belleville Mayor Taso Christopher addresses city council’s budget meeting, April 12, 2017 (Photo: Mary Thomas/Quinte News)
In his decision, Justice Rae says Taso Christopher breached Section 5(1) of the act. Ray says he clearly had a pecuniary interest, as the project required a purchase of his property. Ray says he ought to have declared the interest, left his chair and withdrawn from the meeting.
Justice Ray went on to say he believes Christopher committed the error in judgement but he will not remove His Worship from his seat as the Mayor of the City of Belleville.
Gary Davidson (the applicant) tells Quinte News, “I am very happy the court has found Mayor Christopher in breach of the act concerning a conflict of interest. It is disappointing that he is not being removed from office because of what the courts term an error of judgement. I find it shocking that within 24 hours of seeing the video and viewing the website on the municipal conflict of interest, where I was referred to go to by the city clerk, I came to a very quick decision that the mayor was guilty of a conflict of interest. After 10 years on city council and numerous courses and seminars the mayor could not understand what he had done wrong.”
Here is what Mayor Taso Christopher had to say on the situation.
