City explains $18,000 bill for scrutiny of inspectors

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This article was published 20/06/2019 (1918 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The deal in which the city agreed to pay $18,000 for a report on alleged workplace misconduct by inspectors took more than two months to arrive at with the middle man for the private group that commissioned it.

In a letter to Mayor Brian Bowman and city councillors late Thursday, chief corporate services officer Michael Jack explained that the city had reached out to the group after the allegations were first reported April 4 in the Winnipeg Free Press.

A private investigation firm hired by the group placed 17 inspectors under surveillance during a 28-day period. It documented its investigation in notes, photos and video that were shared with the Free Press. It found evidence of widespread workplace misconduct.

Inspectors were photographed and videotaped taking hours-long lunch breaks, shopping and running personal errands on city time, and slipping away from work early, effectively cutting shifts in half. Only one employee appeared to be putting in an honest day’s work, the investigator reported. On average, it’s alleged the inspectors put in less than three hours of work each shift.

Jack said in his letter to mayor and council Thursday that the city contacted the private investigator hired by the group “to assist us in investigating the allegations and ensuring that any substantiated misconduct was dealt with appropriately.”

The group — it was formed by individuals upset by their past dealings with the planning department — refused to hand over the material uncovered by the private investigation firm, even after Jack said he offered to compensate them for the cost of the investigation. The city had reasoned that it would be an appropriate expenditure, given that the city sometimes will hire a private investigator in the course of a human resources investigation, Jack said in a copy of the letter obtained by the Free Press.

“This situation was oddly in reverse, with the work having already been done, but in the circumstances it made sense to offer compensation to the client and the significant media coverage of the investigation gave us confidence that the evidence would be useful in our own investigation.”

About a month ago, the private investigator acting as a go-between told Jack that the group wanted to be compensated but “without offering the evidence in exchange,” he said in the letter to mayor and council. “Accordingly, we did not agree to such an arrangement.”

A few days ago, the city was contacted by the go-between who said his clients were now prepared to turn over all the material in exchange for compensation. “After some discussion about how to effect the exchange while still preserving the anonymity demanded by the client(s), we are now in receipt of the evidence.”

The report will be part of the city’s own investigation into the planning, property and development department. It’s expected to be completed in the next several weeks.

A spokesperson for the private group did not respond to a request for comment.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca