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“There’s a new sheriff in town!”

That’s a slogan our mayor, the garrulous Denis Coderre, liked to unholster in the months following his election victory in the fall of 2013, a declamation that things were going to be markedly different under his watch, a departure from the years of cronyism and corruption that preceded his arrival at City Hall and that corroded Montrealers’ faith in their city’s administration.

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But while the sheriff himself may be new(ish, at this point), some of his recent actions are starting to seem disappointingly familiar.

The latest such instance was brought to light Tuesday by the opposition Projet Montréal, which revealed that in November the city had hired a friend of Coderre’s, Robert Bouvier, for a contract to take part on the city’s behalf in contract negotiations with the Montreal Police Brotherhood. Making matters look worse, the contract issued was for an amount up to $24,999 — just below the $25,000 threshold at which city contracts require bids from at least two suppliers. (The city says Bouvier, who was president of the Teamsters Canada national union for 15 years, ultimately billed for only $4,020 of the $24,999 he could have under the terms of the contract).