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Family ties complicate integrity agenda

Martin, Toronto law firm partner are cousins

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Norfolk County’s relationship with its integrity commissioner has been complicated by the revelation that a partner at his Toronto law firm is a first cousin of a Norfolk councillor.

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The firm Aird and Berlis confirmed the connection in an email to the county April 12. Norfolk council was scheduled to review integrity commissioner John Mascarin’s 2020 report on Norfolk council April 13 but deferred the matter in light of the new information.

“The county has been notified of the conflict-of-interest disclosure, and this memo is to notify council of a potential conflict-of-interest related to the county’s appointed integrity commissioner,” Norfolk clerk Teresa Olsen said in an update to council Tuesday. “Staff requires additional time to prepare a report related to this matter and requests the matter be deferred.”

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Mascarin has confirmed to the Reformer that Aird and Berlis partner N. Jane Pepino is a first cousin of Port Dover Coun. Amy Martin.

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Pepino is a specialist in municipal law and land-use planning. Mascarin, who is also a partner at Aird and Berlis, says he was not aware of the familial relationship until recently, adding Pepino has never weighed in on county business.

“I just spoke at some length to my partner Jane Pepino, who was clear with me that she did not know that Coun. Martin was a council member, nor that she lives in Port Dover,” Mascarin said in an email. “She told me the last time she saw Coun. Martin was as a young girl attending a family funeral with (Martin’s) father. They have had no contact since that time. Ms. Pepino has not had any files concerning the county in the last number of years.”

For her part, Martin says she shared this information at Governor Simcoe Square last year, adding she wasn’t aware until recently that her cousin was actually a partner at Aird and Berlis and a colleague of Norfolk’s integrity commissioner.

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“I haven’t talked to her since I was 10,” Martin says.

For their part, county staff see no immediate cause for concern. Aird and Berlis has told county staff that Norfolk files are “firewalled” within the firm’s integrity office and that no one outside that office has access to them.

In light of the new information, Mascarin was asked whether it is appropriate for Aird and Berlis to monitor integrity issues in Norfolk County – an appointment which is mandatory under provincial law:

“I learned yesterday (April 9) that a partner of my firm who has nothing to do with our work in Norfolk County — or with any unrelated work there — has a relative who sits on council that she did not know was a member of council and with whom she has not spoken to in decades,” Mascarin said in an email to the Reformer. “Based on this information, I see no reason why my firm cannot continue to provide services as Norfolk County’s integrity commissioner.”

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Norfolk council briefly discussed the matter Tuesday. During a break in Tuesday’s meeting, Mayor Kristal Chopp said other issues have risen since Aird and Berlis disclosed its connection to Coun. Martin.

Chopp also wants to hear how Mascarin arrived at the conclusion that Martin’s relationship to Pepino does not constitute a conflict for Aird and Berlis.

“So the integrity commissioner gets to investigate the integrity commissioner?” the mayor said. “I’m curious how he investigated the conflict involved and whether he spoke only to the two parties.  I’m surprised John can say – without speaking to council – that there is no conflict of interest.”

MSonnenberg@postmedia.com

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