The integrity commissioner for the Municipality in Kincardine released findings of a new investigation into councilor Dorne Fitzsimmons.
It was found that during a council meeting on June 21st, there was a vote on the table to penalize Fitzsimmons for a previous violation of the Code of Conduct, which Fitzsimmons ended up voting on, which presented a conflict of interest.
Integrity commissioner Harold Elston had completed a previous report going back to accusations that Fitzsimmons had harassed staff at an even earlier meeting on April 1st.
Councillor Fitzsimmons said during Wednesday’s meeting that for the vote that had taken place, he had asked for clarification as to whether or not he was supposed to take part.
Elston said that the councilor’s vote didn’t ultimately change the result, so no real consequence was found.
He also said that if another councilor was aware that a colleague has a pecuniary interest in a given matter, they are technically under no obligation to bring it up.
Elston said that instead, it is up to each councilor to understand if there is a conflict of interest for themself.
