CENTRE WELLINGTON – An integrity commissioner has ruled the mayor and a councillor did not have a conflict of interest when it came to council’s approval of a plan to tackle the township’s termite issue.
A report by the township’s integrity commissioner John Mascarin of Aird & Berlis LLP found neither Mayor Shawn Watters nor Coun. Kim Jefferson contravened the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act when council unanimously voted for the township to commit $1.4 million over five years for termite management services in September.
A report from 2021 about a termite survey identified “red zone” properties with confirmed termite activity and “blue zone” properties surrounding the red zone as potential for future infestation.
The complaint to the integrity commissioner alleged Jefferson and Watters would have had a pecuniary interest in this decision because their homes fall within or just outside these zones and therefore would personally benefit from termite treatment.
Mascarin found the complainant did not correctly identify the location of either Jefferson’s or Watters’ property.
“To be clear, neither of the members’ (Jefferson and Watters) respective residential properties fall within either the red or blue zones nor do they appear to be ‘adjacent’ to the red zone referred to in the termite survey report,” Mascarin wrote.
The integrity commissioner elaborated that the allegation against the mayor was entirely speculative as it was based on a potential future event of the red zone growing.
“A pecuniary interest must exist at the time of the vote and cannot be predicated on future contingencies,” the report stated.
Further, Mascarin stated Jefferson’s property is not within the red zone as set out in the application or even within the vicinity of the red or blue zones.
Council will receive this report for information at a meeting on Monday evening.
