The hiring of an integrity officer is proposed by Centre Wellington councillor Stephen Kitras.
On day one of Centre Wellington’s operating budget discussions on Jan. 24, Kitras proposed the township make plans to hire an integrity officer for the municipality.
“Part of the reason is that, if any of the councillors or mayor had been at the recent Save Our Water rally a few weeks ago, they were passing around the hat to pay for rent (for the meeting hall),” Kitras said.
“For the past two years, they have continued to fundraise for the accountability of us. There is also a terrible distrust of this council and mayor.
“I feel that to increase the trust of this council perhaps we should start thinking about an integrity officer.”
Kitras said there are about 40 communities in Ontario with integrity officers, though such positions are not mandatory.
At the same time, future legislation could change that, he added.
“I feel because of that incident with Nestlé and the desire to rebuild good government, I feel we should think about it,” Kitras concluded.
Mayor Kelly Linton asked if the thought could be “parked” until council finished reviewing remaining budget documents.
