Green resigns from fractured rental housing group for a conflict of interest

After some tense meetings, Coun. Matthew Green is resigning from a committee looking at licensing rental units — but not for the reason he initially thought.

Green, a Ward 3 councillor, has chaired the rental housing subcommittee, where a mix of landlords, affordable housing advocates and others debate the merits of licensing units in buildings with six or fewer apartments.

It's been a rough ride. Last month, Green even threatened to step down, calling it a waste of time if members weren't willing to work together. On Tuesday, he stepped down for another reason — a potential conflict of interest.

"Although I do not presently have rentable residential units, my commercial property contains two units that could be rented in the future," said Green, who owns a gym on Ottawa Street.

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So he's stepping down to avoid "even a public perception of a conflict of interest."

It's not the reason Green said he would leave the subcommittee, which first met in late 2015.

The city formed the group to tackle the debate over whether to license units. Licensing opponents say it would reduce Hamilton's affordable rental supply. Supporters say it would help crack down on bad student housing.

Last month, the subcommittee voted 7-5 to look into a "voluntary registry model." Green said he'd step down if that didn't pass, since it would show lack of ability to work together. His departure would effectively disband the subcommittee, he said, because it needs three councillors.

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"You can go home with your principle and have achieved nothing at this table for the last eight months," he told members.

Citizen member Nigel Warren took exception to that.

"I have never, ever heard a chair of a committee of council threaten members of a committee that you're going to disband," said Warren, a former Tiny Township, Ont. councillor.

The group's future is unclear. It meets again in April. The clerk's office is canvassing councillors to see who else wants to sit on the committee. Council will approve whatever one of them wants to sit on it, and he or she will attend the next meeting. 

There are other landlords on it, but Green said for him, the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act takes precedent.

The nature of the subcommittee matters when determining if there's a conflict, Integrity Commissioner George Rust D'Eye told Green in an email.

But "if the vote may have an impact on the value or money-making potential of a property … it is probably best for its owner to declare the interest and not participate in debate or voting."