Niagara Falls city council approved suspending Coun. Carolynn Ioannoni's pay for 90 days, effective immediately, and removed her from the boards and committees on which she serves for the remainder of the term.

The punitive measure comes after Ioannoni was found to have breached the city's code of conduct. The issue was dealt with in-camera Tuesday evening. The decision was ratified in open session.

There was no discussion by council during the open portion of the meeting, other than a brief synopsis by the city solicitor.

Ioannoni did not attend the meeting.

An integrity commissioner found Ioannoni breached council's code of conduct by publicly disclosing and discussing confidential information about final approval of FedDev funding for Niagara Falls Ryerson Innovation Hub.

In his initial report Jan. 30, Michael Maynard, aninvestigator at ADR Chambers Inc. recommended council issue only a reprimand to Ioannoni.

He decided against recommending a suspension of remuneration up to 90 days because he did not feel the veteran politician acted with ill motive or intent.

But in an addendum, Maynard said he became aware of a previous breach of closed-door confidentiality had been found against Ioannoni in 2017 by a previous integrity commissioner. With that, he said the initial recommended penalty was no longer suitable and a suspension of pay up to 90 days would be appropriate.

Maynard said due to her past experiences, Ioannoni "ought to have been more acutely aware of her obligations to maintain confidentiality and, as such, ought to have guarded such information more carefully in accordance with the requirements of the Code of Conduct."

Council filed a complaint against Ioannoni with the commissioner in September 2019 alleging she disclosed, during a July 29, 2019, CKTB 610 radio show, information regarding the proposed hub. Council claimed Ioannoni knew or ought to have known such information was considered confidential as it was on the agenda for a scheduled closed meeting of council to take place later the same day.

In an open letter sent to city council Monday, which she also posted to her Facebook page, Ioannoni said she would not attend Tuesday's meeting for health reasons.

Ioannoni said she initially had "no problem" with the integrity commissioner's report, even though she disagreed with the finding she breached confidentiality.

"I still do not understand what is confidential about repeating what has been publicly disclosed on our city website for all to see, information disclosed weeks before council even had a chance to discuss it," she said, adding it was information the radio station used for its newscast all morning the day of the radio interview.

Ioannoni said Mayor Jim Diodati has previously publicly discussed matters that were dealt with in-camera, including issues with a complex on Montrose Road, while Diodati and Coun. Victor Pietrangelo recently publicly talked about a waste-management issue that was discussed behind closed doors.

"Why was Jim and Vic talking about a plan and expert information they may have received in-camera?" asked Ioannoni.

"Is it because nobody has filed a complaint about these instances? Is that what it takes for fairness? Duelling complaints?"

Ioannoni said there should be a "comprehensive" set of rules all councillors should follow.

"Right now, it seems they are just my very own rules of code of conduct that only I have to follow, or else."

She also questioned why the integrity commissioner did not know about her being the subject of a prior integrity commissioner investigation, especially since in her first email to Maynard, Ioannoni said she is "very careful" about what she says publicly because "this process is not something I wanted to have to go through again."

"I don't have a law degree, but I understand again means it has happened before. I did not hide that," she said.

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"In any thorough investigation you would assume at least a basic Google search was done. There are pages of info on me. To state he did not know about a past complaint is disingenuous at best. It is certainly not good investigation."

Ioannoni said she believes someone "interfered" after the initial report was written.

"So, who told him to change his recommendation? Who complained it wasn't harsh enough? It did not change the facts of his prior report, that they believed I did not know I was conveying confidential information."

When the Niagara Falls Review tried to reach Maynard for comment, a reporter was referred to ADR president Allan Stitt.

Stitt did not respond to specific email questions including how Maynard became aware of Ioannoni's previous breach, whether Maynard researched the councillor's past history, and if it is common for the firm to make a recommendation and then change it when new information becomes available.

Instead, an email reply on behalf of Stitt stated: "Unfortunately, it's not appropriate for us to respond to requests for information that relate to investigations conducted through the office of the integrity commissioner."

Raymond.Spiteri@niagaradailies.com

905-225-1645 | @RaySpiteri

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