Mike Wilson, the Cowichan Valley Regional District’s director for Cobble Hill, has been censured by the board for disrespectful conduct towards an employee of the district.
The board formally censured Wilson in a closed meeting on May 25 for violating the CVRD’s Code of Conduct for Elected Officials Policy and the Respectful Workplace Policy.
The censure was made after a report was provided to the board from a third-party labour and employment lawyer from Victoria.
As the censure was made in a closed meeting, the exact details of the offence were not provided to the public.
Wilson will face no financial repercussions or be suspended from any committees as a result of the censure, and doesn’t have to apologize.
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Board chair Lori Iannidinardo said a complaint was made against Wilson and a fulsome investigation was done.
Iannidinardo said that as a result, the allegations were upheld and that is how the board arrived at his censor.
She said it’s important that colleagues and staff feel supported and respected when difficult situations arise in the workplace.
Iannidinardo said she views Wilson’s censure as an appropriate response in upholding CVRD policies and values and feels confident that moving forward, the CVRD will have an open and respectful working environment.
“We are responsible to the public, staff, and each other as colleagues to conduct ourselves professionally and be accountable for our actions,” Iannidinardo said.
“Director Wilson’s censure should reassure everyone that we take respectful workplace policies seriously, and we’ll continue to strive for appropriate governance in these matters.”
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Last week, after a report from another third party investigator, the Municipality of North Cowichan’s council decided Coun. Kate Marsh must apologize to council and take a pay cut for breaching the municipality’s standards of conduct.
Mayor Al Siebring made the complaint against Marsh after a meeting last fall in which she sent an email to council members that he took exception to.
Marsh also must not communicate in a disrespectful and inflammatory manner with Siebring or other members of council, and she must attend a coaching session on respectful communication.
Although it was not recommended in the report, North Cowichan’s standard of conduct policy states that any council member who has been found by a third party investigator to have breached the standards will face a pay cut of 10 per cent for 12 months.
robert.barron@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
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