Halton’s Catholic school board trustees will soon be getting their own report card.
A third-party investigator will be hired to examine trustee behaviour and decorum during board meetings, as well as possible bias on the part of board chair and Milton trustee Patrick Murphy.
The deeply divided board of trustees voted 5-4 in favour of the extraordinary motion during a special board meeting held June 29.
“We’re at a stalemate,” explained Murphy, who brought forward the motion.
“As the person who is responsible to maintain the meeting and conduct the meeting, I’ve run out of tricks. The meetings are dysfunctional, we’re not meeting our mandate in my opinion, and we’re not moving the business of the board forward.”
“What I want is a third-party verification that either I’m wrong or something else is the problem,” he added. “If I’m wrong and I’m the problem, then, by all means, let’s go down that path.”
The investigation, to be done by an “integrity commissioner or lawyer” hired by school board director Patrick Daly, is to be completed by the board’s Aug. 24 meeting.
The findings, along with recommendations for corrective or disciplinary action, are to be brought to the board for consideration.
Pattern of dispute, unfinished business
The last year has seen trustees mired in nearly constant dispute. Meetings typically last three hours but leave the bulk of agenda items unfinished.
In June alone, four additional special board meetings were required to deal with incomplete board business.
The board has also paid professional parliamentarian Atul Kapur to be available for consultation during meetings, to adjudicate ongoing arguments over meeting procedures and board bylaws.
Describing his motion as a “last resort,” Murphy said he has received complaints from members of the public about “dilatory behaviour and purposeful delay” on the part of trustees.
“What I’m asking for is an independent review of everybody’s behaviour,” he said.
“Let’s get the scorecard, then as a board, decide what we want to do.”
During the June 29 meeting, it took the board three recorded votes and almost eight minutes to approve its agenda.
And despite clear indication that Murphy’s motion had enough support for approval, opponents initiated about a dozen amendments.
Some involved minor wording changes; others were as dramatic as tabling or postponing the motion indefinitely.
All the amendments except one meaningless wording change were defeated 5-4, but opponents spoke to each one, often reiterating the same arguments repeatedly.
They also made numerous calls for rulings to parliamentarian Kapur and appealed procedural rulings on the part of the chair over the three-hour meeting.
Burlington trustees Tim O’Brien and Vincent Iantomasi moved most of the unsuccessful amendments but were consistently supported by Oakville trustees Helena Karabela and Peter DeRosa.
Oakville’s third trustee Nancy Guzzo voted with the majority to defeat the amendments and eventually approve the motion for an investigation.
“I don’t understand what the pushback is,” said Guzzo. “If we feel we’ve been conducting ourselves well, then we should welcome this investigation with no worries.”
O’Brien argued that the board is “doing better than we realize.”
“I think we are moving things forward,” he said. “It’s been a painful process, but it’s like birth; it is painful.”
He noted that he comes from a family of politicians and believes “if the public is totally happy with you, there’s probably a bigger problem there.”
Karabela questioned the cost of the investigation and was told the board did not have an estimation.
Oakville News has also asked the board how much has been paid to Kapur’s firm All About Meetings Inc. since the board agreed to hire him in September 2020.
Voting in favour of the motion: Murphy, Guzzo, and trustees Brenda Agnew, Marvin Duarte and Janet O’Hearn-Czarnota.
Opposed were: O’Brien, Iantomassi, Karabela and DeRosa.