A dark chapter in Niagara's history is coming to an end as the Ombudsman's office closes its file on the tainted 2016 hiring of Niagara's CAO.
In a letter addressed to Regional Chair Jim Bradley, Ontario Ombudsman Paul Dubé confirmed that his office will be closing their file on the hiring process, and expressed appreciation for the cooperation he experienced from the Region.
The letter confirms Regional Council has successfully implemented all 16 recommendations found in the 2019 “Inside Job” report.
The report, found the hiring of former Chief Administrative Officer Carmen D’Angelo was “compromised” by confidential information leaked by insiders in former Regional Chair Al Caslin’s office.
Caslin was defeated in the 2018 municipal election, which saw long-time MPP Jim Bradley take over the role.
The Ombudsman’s letter indicates that “no further follow up reports are required and my Office will be closing our file in this matter.”
The 71-page “Inside Job” report responded to over 110 formal complaints registered with the Ontario Ombudsman’s office by members of the public.
The complaints called on the Ombudsman to investigate the how the 2016 CAO hiring process was carried out, and many other related issues.
In addition to providing an extensive overview of the situation, and his findings, the Ombudsman gave Regional Council several recommendations to help avoid similar issues in the future.
""While the 2016 CAO hiring process, and the resulting fallout, will long be remembered as stain on the Region’s reputation, this term of council made it a top priority to take immediate action on this matter. As a team, we implemented all of the Ombudsman’s recommendations, ensuring we took every step necessary to prevent this type of controversy from occurring again. I want to thank Mr. Dubé, and his staff, for the exceptional report and recommendations, as well as their commitment to work with us as we implemented policies to make the Region more open, fair and transparent. The residents of Niagara deserved better, and these new policies and practices will help make sure we are living up to our constituents’ appropriately high expectations."" ~ Regional Chair Jim Bradley