Results of an investigation into possible misconduct by city staff, which Brampton council has been waiting for since December, are expected to be released Monday.

Councillors ordered the probe last fall, following allegations that they had been misled by senior city staff in 2011 regarding the process of awarding a $500-million downtown redevelopment contract to Dominus Construction.

Interim auditor general George Rust-D’Eye was hired with council’s approval in September to investigate the allegations, many of which appeared in documents filed in a $28.5-million lawsuit against the city by another developer who alleges he was unfairly disqualified from bidding on the deal. (Dominus is not a target of the lawsuit.)

The City of Brampton denies all allegations in the lawsuit. Dominus has stated that it followed all the rules of the bidding process.

An unusually secretive bidding process called “competitive dialogue” was used for the massive procurement. Brampton staff said the method, never before used in Canada, would guarantee protection from cost overruns in exchange for protecting the pricing developers used in their bids. As a result of this untried process, council had very little involvement and its oversight role was replaced by a “fairness advisor.”

Rust-D’Eye’s report has been delayed three times, trying the patience of some councillors, but staff told them Wednesday that his findings would be handed over Monday.

Rust-D’Eye made it clear in an October preliminary report that none of the allegations he was investigating had been proven and that none of the specific allegations against Dominus, Brampton city staff and members of council had been validated.

Here are the allegations councillors asked him to investigate:

Whether or not staff misled council on key details during the selection process, when it recommended Dominus. Rust-D’Eye stated in an outline of his investigation that the following staff, at the time, were on the selection committee: Mo Lewis, commissioner of finance (no longer employed by the city); Julian Patteson, commissioner of buildings; Dennis Cutajar, commissioner of economic development; John Corbett, commissioner of planning (no longer employed by the city); Randy Rason, director of design and construction; and Peter Honeyborne, director of treasury.

Whether or not Dominus improperly lobbied any member of council, trying to influence council’s decision, and if there was any possible payback to a member of council.

How staff funded a $480,000 option on a parcel of land for Dominus, using taxpayer money, without ever telling council.

Whether or not council and Brampton residents had reasonable time and information to have input in the selection process.

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Whether or not the city’s procurement and zoning rules were followed during the selection process; whether the $205 million the city is paying for the first of the project’s three phases was a good deal for Brampton taxpayers; and whether the calculation of the cost was accurate.

Whether or not any members of staff or council used improper influence during the selection process and whether or not favouritism was shown toward Dominus, effectively pre-determining the outcome.

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