The tension around the council table in Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s has been laid bare in recent weeks following the release of two independent reports and the suspension — during a highly charged meeting on Oct. 2 — of outspoken town councillor Darryl Harding.
Now the mayor is hopeful that decorum will return and stress levels for elected leaders and employees will decline now that Harding is on the sidelines once again.
“Darrell Harding is a brilliant man with regards to the [municipal] plan … That’s the only thing that he’s brilliant in. He’s not brilliant in respecting others,” said Carol McDonald, who’s been mayor of this large, well-to-do town on the outskirts of St. John’s since 2017.
“I would prefer to spend my last year [in municipal politics] in peace,” McDonald replied when asked whether she is OK with Harding returning to his council seat in January after serving his three-month suspension.
Harding’s suspension equates to a financial penalty of nearly $6,000, but the mayor is hoping his absence will be even longer.
Along with suspending Harding, councillors also voted to ask the Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court to declare Harding’s council seat vacant for final year of the current four-year term.
“I just hope that the judge sees it the way we do and the investigator saw it,” said McDonald.
Causing turmoil in town
Some councillors and employees have complained that Harding is causing turmoil inside the chamber by constantly interrupting, monopolizing debate to the point where meetings routinely last four hours, and singling out chief administrative officer Jody Murray.
His behaviour during a September 2023 meeting prompted the investigations.
“He interrupted somebody, me maybe 10 times, but some councillor … 24, 26 times. And that was the straw that broke camel’s back,” said McDonald.
“I haven’t always been respected and, I think that came out in the report,” added Murray, who has served as the town’s CAO for more than two years.
WATCH | All is not harmonious at the local level of politics in Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s:
Both reports — one by Toronto law firm MNP LLP and another by the St. John’s office of McInnes Cooper — found that Harding’s behaviour equates to workplace harassment.
“Despite the inherent and expected conflict of municipal politics, these individuals are entitled to a respectful work environment, free from harassment. That has not been the case,” reads the McInnes Cooper report.
The MNP report determined that Harding’s behaviour toward Murray met “the threshold of workplace harassment” under the province’s Occupational Health and Safety Act and the town’s code of conduct.
The mayor said Harding was required to take part in sensitivity training, but that his behaviour did not change.
Earlier this month, council voted 4-2 to suspend Harding, who declined an interview request.
Harding denies wrongdoing
Harding denies any wrongdoing, however, and tells investigators he’s just doing the job he was elected to do. He’s also gone to Supreme Court to appeal his suspension.
Harding’s been suspended before for his behaviour and a conflict of interest controversy. Earlier this year he had a bitter falling out with the PC Party in the lead-up to a provincial byelection in Conception Bay East-Bell Island. Harding ran as an Independent in a field that included fellow town councillor — and rival — Tina Neary, who carried the PC banner and finished second to Liberal Fred Hutton. Harding received less than two per cent of the vote.
The workplace investigations, meanwhile, paint a picture of a tense atmosphere inside the town office. It also reveals a division among elected leaders, with Harding, Coun. Cyril Hayden and Deputy Mayor Madonna Stewart-Sharpe on one side, and councillors Neary, Gavin Will and Dave Bartlett on the other side. The mayor “tended to be in the middle, but swayed more toward the Neary-Will-Bartlett side of the divide,” the McInnes Cooper report states.
The work environment for employees is also stressful, according to the investigations.
“I have no problem being accountable, but I do think that everybody around the table deserves to be respected,” Murray told CBC.
All this turmoil, however, is costing taxpayers. The total bill for these two reports is more than $80,000, and the costs will keep climbing as the dispute works its way through the courts.
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