Police board chair and city Coun. Lloyd Ferguson is sticking to the high road.

He refuses to point fingers or discuss whether Chief Glenn De Caire played the board for suckers by first accepting a contract extension then suddenly taking a powder for another job.

"You can think that all you want, but I'm not going to focus on the past,' Ferguson said, adding the goal now is to find a replacement.

"Any employee can resign or retire any time they want. You have no control over that as an employer."

De Caire blindsided the city by announcing Friday he's leaving the service Jan. 17 to become the director of security and parking at McMaster University.

[Clairmont: De Caire left his mark on the city]

The move came mere weeks after De Caire happily accepted a unanimous board offer for a two-year extension, which, combined with the year remaining on his existing contract, would have seen him remain top cop until the end of 2018.

Ferguson sees the move as a pragmatic business decision by De Caire to exchange a time-limited job as chief for the prospect of longer term employment with McMaster.

By leaving policing after 35 years, Ferguson notes De Caire can collect both his full public pension from policing and an annual salary from McMaster, likely in the $133,000 range received by his predecessor.

"That's the business side I'm looking at," Ferguson said, noting that when De Caire accepted the reappointment he hadn't been offered the Mac job yet.

That's true enough. But obviously De Caire's name was already in the pipeline at Mac when he made his commitment to continue as chief.

Ferguson, who has invested a lot of political capital in supporting De Caire, isn't interested in connecting the dots. But consider: According to the Academica Careers website, the job for director of security at Mac was posted Oct. 28 with the closing date for applications Nov. 10.

The board reappointed De Caire Nov. 19. De Caire told Friday's news conference McMaster formally offered him the job Dec. 12.

[De Caire's resignation for Mac job surprises police board]

Anyway you cut it, that means when the board sat De Caire down and asked him if he wanted to stay on as chief and he emphatically answered yes, he was already in the mix for another job.

If the words double-dealing and deception are too strong to describe his actions, there's no question he pulled the wool over the board's eyes.

It's hard not to see his decision to accept the contract extension until a better offer came along as a slap in the face of the board, the police service, and the community to whom De Caire had publicly renewed his commitment to serve.

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Granted, there are those across that same spectrum who are probably doing cartwheels over De Caire's unexpected departure. Critics of his firm hand and unbending style have never been in short supply.

But even his most devoted supporters must be embarrassed by his betrayal of their confidence.

Like Ferguson, Mayor Fred Eisenberger, who is also a board member, refuses to play the blame game.

Eisenberger understands why De Caire couldn't tell the board he had other irons in the fire. If he had, his contract likely wouldn't have been renewed.

"He was obviously keeping his options open at both ends of the equation," said Eisenberger, who likes and respects De Caire for his innovative police programming.

Still, the Mayor admits feeling let down.

"I'm not here to criticize the fact that he's taking another job. I'm disappointed that he's leaving … and that he didn't follow through on what we thought was a commitment to Hamilton when we offered him an extension and he agreed."

Maybe, as Ferguson believes, it is simply a business decision by De Caire.

Or maybe his nose is out of joint because the board only offered him a two-year extension rather than the three he apparently wanted.

Regardless, ultimately it boils down to De Caire doing what he believes is best for himself.

In other words, it's more about looking after No. 1 than anything else.