A rare Friday night council meeting has been called by the mayor after a scathing letter was sent to city hall by the police board's budget chair, Paul Paolatto.

Councillor Josh Morgan says the letter deserves an answer from top city brass.

"There are some serious allegations about communications made in this," says Morgan.

The three page letter penned by Paolatto takes direct aim at the actions, or inaction of the city manager's office during the nine month budget dispute.

"The CAO's office began to exhibit a concerning level of indifference to our board, the Ontario Civilian Police Commission, and the appeal process," it states.

Paolatto lists eight times he claims the city manager's office provided no response during the process.

  • Oct. 14 deadline for appeal document submissions-- no response-- city hall had to be granted an extension
  • Oct. 7 deadline to submit replies to expert reports-- no response
  • Sept. 23 deadline for exchange of expert reports-- no response
  • Sept.10 deadline to post a public notice on the city website-- and in the local newspaper-- no response
  • June 27 the police board sends a settlement offer to city hall-- no response
  • May 16 the police board suggested a hearing date-- no response.

Mayor Brown has called a special meeting of councillors on Friday.

"As a council, we need to take a very close look at this letter, we need to do it together. That's why I called for this special meeting," says Brown.

Stopped outside his office on Tuesday, city manager Art Zuidema provided no response to the letter.

"I appreciate the concern, but as you know there is a council meeting on Friday," says Zuidema.

Morgan says Paolatto's letter is the first he was made aware of some of the concerns about late filings and not responding to the commission.

In addition to Zuidema, Morgan will have questions for other city staff.

"Not just our city manager's view but any other member of our staff who has been engaged in the process and who can clarify some of the concerns raised in the letter," says Morgan.

Councillor Jesse Helmer says that while the letter takes issue with the city manager's office, ultimately the buck stops with city council.

"I think we need to be honest with ourselves, about where we as a group might have fallen short and where we did fine," says Helmer.

The rare Friday evening committee meeting will start at 4 p.m.