Mayor hopes for tamer meetings after outspoken Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s councilor has been suspended

The tension around the council table in Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s has come to light in recent weeks following the publication of two independent reports and the suspension – during a highly charged meeting on October 2 – of outspoken city councilor Darryl Harding.

Now the mayor is hopeful that decorum will return and stress levels for elected leaders and employees will decrease now that Harding is back on the sidelines.

“Darrell Harding is a brilliant man when it comes to the (municipal) plan… That’s the only thing he’s brilliant at. He’s not brilliant at respecting others,” said Carol McDonald, mayor of this large, wealthy city. since 2017 a town on the outskirts of St. John’s.

“I would prefer to spend my last year (in municipal politics) in peace,” McDonald said when asked if she was okay with Harding returning to his council seat in January after serving his three-month suspension.

Harding’s suspension amounts to a financial penalty of nearly $6,000, but the mayor hopes his absence will last even longer.

In addition to Harding’s suspension, councilors also voted to ask the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador to declare Harding’s council seat vacant for the final year of the current four-year term.

“I just hope the judge sees it the same way we did and the investigator saw it,” McDonald said.

Causes unrest in the city

Some council members and employees have complained that Harding is causing unrest in the chamber by continually interrupting debate, monopolizing it to the point where meetings routinely last four hours, and singling out chief administrator Jody Murray.

His behavior at a meeting in September 2023 prompted the investigation.

“He interrupted someone, me maybe 10 times, but a council member… 24, 26 times. And that was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” McDonald said.

“I haven’t always been respected and I think that was reflected in the report,” added Murray, who has served as the city’s CAO for more than two years.

LOOK | Not everything is harmonious at the local political level in Portugal Cove-St. Philips:

Portugal The behavior of the councilor of Cove-St.Philip amounts to harassment in the workplace: reports from the consultant

Count. Darrell Harding was suspended on October 2 at Portugal Cove-St. Philips council meeting. The CBC’s Terry Roberts reports on the political battle, the costs to taxpayers and the legal battle ahead.

Both reports – one from Toronto law firm MNP LLP and one from the St. John’s office of McInnes Cooper – show that Harding’s conduct amounts to workplace harassment.

“Despite the inherent and expected conflict of municipal politics, these individuals have the right to a respectful work environment, free from harassment. That has not been the case,” the McInnes Cooper report said.

The MNP report found that Harding’s conduct toward Murray met “the threshold of workplace harassment” under the province’s Occupational Health and Safety Act and the city’s code of conduct.

The mayor said Harding was required to participate in sensitivity training, but his behavior did not change.

Earlier this month, the City Council voted 4-2 to suspend Harding, who declined an interview request.

Harding denies wrongdoing

However, Harding denies any wrongdoing and tells investigators that he is only doing the job he was chosen to do. He has also gone to the Supreme Court to appeal his suspension.

Harding has previously been suspended due to his conduct and a conflict of interest controversy. Earlier this year he had a bitter feud with the PC Party ahead of a provincial by-election in Conception Bay East-Bell Island. Harding ran as an independent in a field that also included fellow city councilor – and rival – Tina Neary, who carried the PC flag and finished second to Liberal Fred Hutton. Harding received less than two percent of the vote.

The workplace surveys now paint a picture of a tense atmosphere within the city office. It also reveals a divide among elected leaders, with Harding, Coun. Cyril Hayden and Deputy Mayor Madonna Stewart-Sharpe on one side, and Councilors Neary, Gavin Will and Dave Bartlett on the other. The mayor “tended to be in the middle, but swung more toward the Neary-Will-Bartlett side of the divide,” the McInnes Cooper report said.

According to the studies, the working environment for employees is also stressful.

“I don’t have a problem with accountability, but I do think everyone around the table deserves to be respected,” Murray told CBC.

However, all this unrest costs taxpayers money. The total bill for these two reports is more than $80,000, and the costs will continue to rise as the dispute works its way through the courts.

Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push notifications for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Click here to visit our landing page.