Important issues are hidden from the public, Hamilton police board member says
'It has been frustrating to work through the hidden agendas and actions of some of the board members'
A member of Hamilton's police services board has reached out to the city for help, saying he's "lost confidence" in the way the board handles sensitive information after one of his own complaints was hidden from the public.
It has been frustrating to work through the hidden agendas and actions of some of the board members.- Walt Juchniewicz in a letter to city manager Chris Murray
Walt Juchniewicz, the city's appointee to the board that oversees Hamilton Police Service, has asked city manager Chris Murray to investigate.
In his letter — a copy of which has been obtained by the CBC — Juchniewicz says "important issues" have been "hidden from the public, often forgotten or dealt with in a matter which the community would question."
Issues are discussed behind closed doors at board meetings, he says, but never appear on the agenda.
Juchniewicz writes that he's often left out of pre-meeting conversations about issues, and a recent board election appeared to be timed for when he was in the restroom so he couldn't object to it.
"My hope is to ensure an atmosphere where the board and specifically the chair act only with full transparency and utmost integrity," Juchniewicz said.
"I can tell you while being on the board is a privilege I take seriously, it has been frustrating to work through the hidden agendas and actions of some of the board members."
Murray told CBC Hamilton Thursday evening that the board polices its own members and imposes its own consequences. It can reprimand its own members, or ask the Ministry of the Solicitor General or the Ontario Civilian Commission on Police Services to investigate.
But "the city has no jurisdiction over conduct of members of the police services board."
Reeling over comment
Juchniewicz told CBC News that he "never intended for this letter to be made public."
"I have faith in the people who appointed me to do the right thing," he said. "I brought this to the people who appointed me."
Juchniewicz's recent frustration stems from a Dec. 15 conversation with board vice chair Madeleine Levy.
As a meeting wrapped up, Juchniewicz told fellow board member Stanley Tick 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 Coun. Lloyd Ferguson, board chair.
He wanted a chance to read his letter into the public record, he says in an email to Ferguson — which CBC Hamilton also obtained — but Ferguson told him not enough members would agree to that. Ferguson wanted to deal with it in-camera.
Levy apologized to Juchniewicz for her comments in a brief letter on Jan. 4. But Juchniewicz's frustration with Ferguson only grew.
Transparency concerns
Juchniewicz told Ferguson he wouldn't support Levy's re-election as vice-chair at the meeting on Jan. 12. Then when the meeting came, Juchniewicz told Murray, he got up to use the restroom. When he came back, Levy had been re-elected.
Juchniewicz also contacted the Canadian Polish Congress, the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, and the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum's education division, which is preparing an answer for him on the accuracy of Levy's comment.
But Juchniewicz told Murray this all points to a larger issue — a lack of transparency.
"I … swore to be accountable to all citizens and stakeholders of the City of Hamilton," he wrote. "With this in mind, I feel compelled to bring to your attention a matter that greatly concerns me."
CBC News asked Juchniewicz what specific issues are being dealt with at the police board that are being met with a lack of transparency, but he said he could not comment on that.
"The proper authorities need to bring that out and not myself," he said.
Ferguson and Levy have not responded to calls an emails on the matter.
With files from Adam Carter