Mayor Jeff Lehman’s last minutes chairing a city council meeting went out like a lion, just like March.
Before taking a leave of absence Tuesday to run in the upcoming provincial election, Lehman had to close down Coun. Gary Harvey’s remarks about the mayor’s former principal secretary.
“It’s really inappropriate to discuss the performance of an individual employee through an enquiry in open council,” Lehman told Harvey near the end of Monday night's meeting. “You know that.
"Discussions around individual employees and their performance of their duties is always a confidential personnel matter for good reason, so that we do not impugn the professional reputation of an individual," the mayor added.
During the enquiries portion of Monday’s council meeting, Harvey asked why the former personal secretary didn’t make a presentation to councillors before she left her position.
“It concerns me that here we had somebody that we’ve paid good money for the past three and a quarter years,” Harvey said, mentioning $294,000. “We didn’t approve the full-year extension that you (Lehman) wanted, along with a raise, but we gave her those three months and now this individual has opted not to come before this council to provide us with an update, so that way it would potentially give us the opportunity to extend the contract until the end of the year if we so wished.”
The principal secretary, whom BarrieToday has chosen not to identify, is no longer a city employee as her contract has ended.
In Barrie’s 2022 operating budget, under new investment and service recommendations, was a motion to extend the contract of Lehman’s principal secretary. This motion was amended by city council to provide a three-month contract extension, reducing the tax levy by $29,287.
And before March 31, 2022, a presentation would be provided concerning the Shift Government program with the possibility of a further three-month extension, ending June 30, 2022, considered after the presentation, with any three-month extension to be funded entirely from the reinvestment reserve.
“To be frank, the response by council to cut the budget of my office and no other department at the city, including these initiatives, at budget time led to the departure of this employee,” Lehman said. “A valued employee that we lost.”
Budget documents say the principal secretary’s position was to continue work on the Shift Government project, implementing the Barrie Health Accord, supporting council’s strategic priorities and the Community Safety and Well-Being Plan, along with supporting Lehman as chairman of Ontario’s Big City Mayors.
“I’m just frustrated to think we’ve invested so much money in this individual and now this individual is just walking away and not providing us with any answers,” Harvey said, “when all we asked for was a simple presentation in front of council, to have an update as to potentially the great things that this person did for the city. Is there a way that we can get these answers for this council?”
“Given that the principal secretary will not be seeking a contract extension, the presentation is no longer required,” Wendy Cooke, Barrie’s city clerk and director of legislative and court service, said on Tuesday.
Lehman said extensive information was provided last December at budget time, but he would provide all of that information again to Harvey and any other member of council who’s interested in understanding the work that was done.
“While I understand you may want to at this time cast aspersions on their work, that’s not appropriate,” Lehman said. “The work was done; I’m happy to provide you with the information.”
But Harvey wasn’t quite finished.
“I’m not doubting the good work that this individual did,” he said. “I believe this is a different situation than any of our other staff members as this was an individual that you hired directly as your principal secretary. Obviously, I wasn’t involved in the hiring process, but this is an individual that you recruited directly into your office to work directly as your principal secretary, or as referenced from time to time in some emails the terminology of chief of staff.”
“No, sir,” Lehman said. “Coun. Harvey, this is getting really inappropriate. If you have concern about an individual employee, then you can bring that to me and my office and I will give you the responses you’re looking for, but no employee of the City of Barrie is treated in this fashion, none, regardless of which office, department or role they play, for good reason.”
Harvey said he would leave it at that.
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