Vancouver integrity commissioner tracks feud between mayor and parks board

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Vancouver’s integrity commissioner has released two reports that paint a picture of strained relations between Mayor Ken Sim’s office and some park board commissioners.

While the complaints that prompted the commissioner’s report have been dismissed, they highlight ongoing tensions since Sim announced he would abolish the elected parks board and transfer its responsibilities to the city council.

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The statement comes days ahead of an ongoing investigation by Parliamentary Freeze Commissioner Lisa Southern. Allow third-party review Her office.

One of the reports stems from a complaint filed in March by Sim’s chief of staff, Trevor Ford, and senior adviser David Grewal, against Parks Commissioners Scott Jensen and Brennan Bastyovanszky, who were previously ABC candidates but became independent commissioners after the mayor’s unexpected decision in December to ask the province to disband the Parks Commission.

Sim’s aides claimed that the two parks commissioners recorded two phone calls between them, one in September 2023 and another in November 2023, without the knowledge of Jensen, Ford and Grewal, in violation of the city’s code of conduct.

“They thought they were having confidential conversations with Commissioner Jensen, and the recordings amounted to a serious breach of trust and invasion of privacy,” Thorson wrote.

Southern Insurance concluded that Jensen recorded both calls without Ford and Grewal’s knowledge, and that Bastiowanski taped the November call.

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In dismissing the complaint, Thorson said the recordings were not illegal because Jensen, one party to the conversations, was aware of them.

She also found the recordings were not made with malicious intent and there was no breach of trust.

“The complainant exaggerated the situation. They were not asked, nor were they told, that they were talking privately or that this was a private space where a conversation could take place.”

During the November call, Ford and Grewal told Jensen that he should support the mayor’s choice for the next Parks Commission chair because the integrity commissioner was conducting an “active investigation” into Bastiowanski’s conduct during the PNE’s Drag Stars event, and the findings would be made public and “bar” him from serving as chair.

Southern wrote that they received a complaint against Bastjovanski, but because the allegations were merely hearsay, no formal investigation was conducted.

The second report concerns complaints Bastyovsky made against the mayor – one in December and another in April.

Current Park Board Chairman Bast Yovanski complained that Sim or his representatives interfered politically by trying to get him to resign while he was vice chairman of the Park Board and by dictating who the Park Board should hire as general manager.

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Buster Yovanski also claimed the mayor’s office lied to city councillors and the school board that the mayor was under investigation by the integrity commissioner and that Sim tried to disband the parks board because he had “no control over the commissioner’s decisions.”

Southern dismissed the complaint.

“(Simm) did not have the authority to use his position as mayor to influence the complainant or other Parks Board commissioners, nor did he use his position as mayor to advance his political agenda,” Thorson wrote, adding that he did not violate the code of conduct ordinance.

Thorson said there was no evidence that Sim told councillors or school trustee Buster Yovanski was under investigation by the integrity commissioner. While Ford’s statement about the investigation was “inaccurate,” that didn’t necessarily mean he was speaking for the mayor.

She also rejected allegations that Sim was trying to disband the parks board because he had no control over commissioners’ decisions.

Earlier this month, the ABC’s majority board voted to stop the integrity commissioner’s work to allow for a third-party review of his office, citing Southern’s annual report that the scope of oversight of the conduct of board and advisory board members was not always clear.

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A special council meeting is scheduled for Aug. 6 to discuss amendments that would allow for a review and suspension of the Southern investigation.

Premier David Eby says the province won’t respond to requests to abolish the parks board until after the provincial election.

Attached with Douglas Quan’s documents

sgrochowski@postmedia.com

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