Hamilton police board looks to discipline member who complained about secrecy
Walt Juchniewicz, a city appointee, told the city manager that the board hides issues from the public
A Hamilton police services board member who wrote a controversial letter about the board's lack of transparency and tendency to settle issues in secret will likely face his own punishment behind closed doors this week.
Just like the whole letter, I have no idea what he's talking about.- Lloyd Ferguson, board chair
Walt Juchniewicz, a city-appointed member to the board that oversees Hamilton Police Service, wrote a letter last week saying "important issues" are "hidden from the public."
He also said issues are discussed that never appear on the agenda.
Lloyd Ferguson, board chair and Ancaster councillor, denies that items are kept secret.
"Just like the whole letter, I have no idea what he's talking about," Ferguson said Monday. He said the board will discuss what actions to take against Juchniewicz for airing his concerns.
At its meeting Thursday, the board will go in-camera to talk about whether Juchniewicz broke Police Services Act protocol by writing to the city manager and including city councillors. The board could sanction him, refer the matter to the Ontario Civilian Police Commission or do nothing.
We're nice people. We can talk about things.- Wladislaw Lizon, Canadian Polish Congress
Juchniewicz maintains he wrote the letter as part of his civic duty, and never meant for the letter to go public.
The board does have agenda review meetings prior to the official meetings that aren't advertised or done in public, said Ferguson.
'He couldn't give any examples'
Those meetings are attended by the chair and vice-chair, but not the full board.
City committees do that too, he said.
"So does public works, community services, audit and administration," Ferguson said, listing off city council committees.
As for issues kept hidden, Ferguson noted Juchniewicz declined to give specific examples.
"He couldn't give any examples," Ferguson said. "He has never raised any issue we discussed in camera that should be public."
Who was in the room, and when
In his letter to city manager Chris Murray, Juchniewicz gave a big one. As a Dec. 15 board meeting was wrapping up, he wrote, he told fellow board member Madeleine Levy about some of his Polish Christmas traditions. Levy, who is Jewish, told Juchniewicz that Poles killed Jews at Auschwitz.
The exchange was "incredibly offensive" and "still has me reeling," Juchniewicz wrote in a Dec. 28 letter to Ferguson.
He wanted a chance to read his letter into the public record, his letter said. Ferguson told him not enough board members would agree to that. Ferguson wanted to deal with it in camera.
Levy apologized to Juchiewicz for her comments in a brief Jan. 4 letter. But Juchniewicz was also frustrated when he was left out of a board vote for vice chair — where Levy was acclaimed — because he was in the restroom, he told Murray.
Ferguson disputes that too. Juchniewicz was present for Levy's re-election as vice chair, Ferguson said. He opposed it, but he was there.
'Personal matters' are in camera
Meeting video does show Juchniewicz present for Levy's acclamation. But it also shows that Ferguson started the meeting when Juchniewicz was out of the room, and the board quickly acclaimed Ferguson as chair in Juchniewicz's absence.
All of this probably should probably be discussed in camera, said Fred Kaustinen, executive director of the Ontario Association of Police Services Boards.
Under the Police Services Act, boards can discuss "intimate financial or personal matters" in camera. This would qualify.
But generally, Kaustinen said, "the minimum amount possible should be in camera."
'These are very painful pages in Polish history'
Meanwhile, Canadian Polish Congress president Wladyslaw Lizon has invited Ferguson, Levy and Juchniewicz to meet with him.
Lizon understands why the comment has caused tension. The majority of Holocaust victims were Polish Jews, he said, and the whole country suffered under the Nazi regime. Lizon's own father, for example, helped a Jewish person survive the war, despite such an act carrying an automatic death penalty.
"These are very painful pages in Polish history," said Lizon, a former MP for Mississauga East — Cooksville.
"I truly hope that the chair and (Levy) agrees to meet. We're nice people. We can talk about things."
The police services board meeting is at 2 p.m. Thursday in city council chambers.