Mayor Matt Brown and Deputy Mayor Maureen Cassidy each had statements prepared following an admission of an "inappropriate personal relationship."
Cassidy announced her resignation to council and then held an impromptu news conference where she read a statement, explaining why she is stepping down.
Brown sent out his statement to media.
Brown's wife Andrea also issued one of her own Tuesday. Both can be read below.
The mayor has agreed to his first television interview with CTV London on Wednesday. We'll have coverage of that online and on our newscasts. Brown will also be interviewed by 1290 CJBK at 7:50 a.m. Wednesday.
Statement from Mayor Matt Brown:
In recent days there have been rumours circulating about my private life. Out of fairness for my colleagues and my family, I believe the best course of action is to address them directly.
I can confirm what some have speculated. Over the past many months, during a period of intense workload, I developed a close working relationship and ultimately an inappropriate personal relationship with Deputy Mayor Maureen Cassidy, for a brief period of time. This was a grave error in judgement on my part. The relationship ended sometime ago.
I am deeply sorry for the pain that this has caused – for my wife, my family and everyone involved. I make no excuses for my behavior and my poor judgement in my personal life.
Justifiably, my wife Andrea was extremely angry with me when I told her of the affair. My actions have put a tremendous strain on our relationship. Despite this, she has committed to working through this together and doing what we need to repair the damage I have caused to our marriage.
I love my wife, and we are working through our private issues together, with the help of marriage counselling and the minister of our Church, who has been a true friend to us.
I realize there will be many questions related to my personal and my professional life. In light of that, I will sit down with the integrity commissioner on Thursday. While I do not believe my relationship with the Deputy Mayor resulted in any breach of my professional responsibilities as Mayor, I nonetheless want to obtain his opinion to ensure that there are no issues. I will abide by any decisions or recommendations of the Commissioner.
I want to be as open and transparent as possible. I have made a grave error and I need to own that.
But, I also ask that members of the media and our London community respect the need of my wife and children for some privacy as we work through this difficult time.
I love my family and I love my work as mayor of London. I look forward to continuing that work over the next number of years, even as I find a better balance between the demands of my job, and the needs of my wife and family.
My primary focus must always be to earn the love and respect of Andrea and my family.
I intend to spend more time with my children and my wife in the coming weeks. I’m taking some time away over the next little while and I will return to my other duties when we’re ready.
Statement from Andrea Brown:
This is obviously a very difficult time for our family.
When Matt first admitted to me that he had been unfaithful, I was furious. I was angry and very hurt.
All that said, I am committed to this marriage, our kids, our family and to Matt. This is where we are starting from.
This is not something that is going to get fixed overnight. Together we have work to do – with the help of counseling, family and friends – to rebuild trust and focus on our marriage.
Obviously, as mayor, Matt is a public figure. But, for me and the boys, this is a private family matter and I hope you will respect our privacy as we deal with this as a family.
