Councillor in court following conflict of interest accusation

A conflict of interest accusation lobbed at a sitting councillor found its way to Superior Court Tuesday.

Opposing lawyers submitted arguments involving the purchase of a vacant Hardisty Street building by a Coun. Robert Tuchenhagen, who is now accused of using his position as a city councillor to acquire the property. Director of Furniture Recycling, Gilles Mondoux, who owns a business adjacent to the Hardisty property, appeared in court Tuesday to make the conflict of interest accusation official.

In June 2008 Mondoux expressed an interest in purchasing the building from the city, but council turned down that $1 offer. Council placed the building up for public tender on July 7, 2008 and had two bidders: Furniture Recycling with a new $100 bid and Coun. Tuchenhagen, under Superior Home Insulation Ltd., at $5,790.

"There were five to six buildings planned to be demolished and if it wasn’t for me, 141 Hardisty Street would be demolished also," Mondoux said. "City council should be getting us more jobs and make sure we don’t lose our buildings to taxes so they can take them. That’s where my problem is; That city councilor shouldn’t be able to vote and be apart of the decision making on a building and then accumulate it under his business."

Sergiel Ettinger, Mondoux’s lawyer, said Tuchenhagen expressed interest in the property in an email to the Reality Services Division on July 2, 2008 and went to see the building the following day.

"He knew in his mind that there was a chance he was going to bid on that property," Ettinger said in court. "This wasn’t a split second decision by the respondent – he gave it some thought."

Ettinger said Tuchenhagen should have expressed a conflict of interest when the property was first presented to council in an in camera session on June 23, 2008. By not doing so, Ettinger alleges that Tuchenhagen violated the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act.

If Tuchenhagen is found guilty of violating the act, the councilor’s seat would become vacant and he would become disqualified from running as a councillor for up to seven years.

Although Tuchenhagen announced he wasn’t going to seek re-election, a guilty verdict could still affect him if he had plans to run in 2014.

He would also be forced to pay restitution for any losses Mondoux might have had, Ettinger said.

Chantelle Bryson, Tuchenhagen’s lawyer, said they absolutely deny that the councillor caused any financial loss. She added that her client denies all of the accusations made against him in this case.

"Council as a whole unanimously decided, that upon Mondoux’s offer of $1, that it was against city policy of disposing of city property," Bryson said. "Generally, the city tries to offer the property to the public and try to get the best value for the asset. They got this property through a tax sale. It is all dilapidated and they were going to demolish it."

Bryson said council couldn’t give Mondoux the property without giving other businesses a fair chance and that is why they accepted bids.

"You can’t give one corporation a benefit without opening up a benefit to everyone," she said. "(Tuchenhagen) volunteered to participate in the tender. It is a confidential process and you’re not suppose to know who else is bidding or what the bids are."