Northern Bruce Peninsula Council Members From Left to Right: Councillor Golden, Deputy Mayor Myles, Mayor McIver, Councillor Myles and Councillor Mielhausen (Photo from Northern Bruce Peninsula website)
Northern Bruce Peninsula Council is deferring a decision about how to reprimand Coun. James Mielhausen after anonymous complaints were submitted against him for failing to disclose a pecuniary interest.
Council made the deferral decision at its meeting on Monday after a report came forward from the Integrity Commissioner that concluded Mielhausen breached a section of the Code of Conduct to not announce a conflict of interest when voting on a topic.
The Integrity Commissioner’s report deals with several council discussions between June and September 2021 dealing with an application by the Blue Heron Company to amend the zoning by-law to rezone a portion of a property in Tobermory to permit the construction of a new parking lot.
During a public meeting in June, a representative from Blue Heron informed council about its lack of parking in the downtown area. Council discussed the matter and the Manager of Land Use Planning for Bruce County suggested they approve the applications. Coun. Megan Myles put forward a motion to defer the application but it was defeated.
Then Coun. Mielhausen suggested council approve the zoning amendment, and it passed.
In July, another motion to defer Blue Heron’s application was defeated. A motion was then put forward by Mielhausen to consult with the Saugeen Ojibway Nation before passing the by-law.
In September, CAO Peggy Van Mierlo-West provided an update on the parking lot proposals after meeting with representatives of SON, Cuesta Planning and Bruce County Planning. The Integrity Commissioner’s report says there was a consensus regarding the procurement of an archeologist and other next steps.
During the process from June to September, Mielhausen did not disclose a pecuniary interest in the matter. His daughter is employed at Blue Heron Company.
Mielhausen was notified of the complaint in early August. In an email to the Integrity Commissioner included in the report, Mielhausen says he does not believe he imposed a conflict of interest as his daughter’s role is limited to social media, marketing, advertising, and motel and retail-specific inventorying, and has no part in corporate planning, development, or parking-related issues.
“As a local resident of the Northern Bruce Peninsula for over 55 years, I have the utmost respect for my community members, and respect my role as their Councillor,” says Mielhausen.
He added as part of the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act (MCIA), the indirect pecuniary interest conflict outlined details to include parent, spouse and child. To this extent, Mielhausen says his daughter is not considered a child according to the province age requirements, and is no longer considered a dependant of his.
In response, the Integrity Commissioner says in its report, if his daughter has a direct or indirect pecuniary interest in the Blue Heron application, that in turn is deemed to be a interest of her father, therefore not allowing him to participate in the application discussion at council.
The Integrity Commissioner found Mielhausen to have contravened a section of the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act and the Code of Conduct, and recommended council reprimand him.
During discussions, council was unsure of how to proceed with a reprimand and agreed to defer a decision to a later date.
Council will be following up on this matter at their next meeting on Dec. 13.