Giorgio Mammoliti violated code of conduct, integrity commissioner finds

TORONTO – Toronto’s integrity commissioner has ruled councillor Giorgio Mammoliti violated the city’s code of conduct after he “improperly” accepted gifts, favours and benefits from the sale of tickets at an event last year.

Integrity commissioner Janet Leiper is recommending city council to suspend the Ward 7 councillor’s pay for 90 days beginning Sept. 1, 2014.

The findings stem from an investigation which began from a public complaint regarding a fundraiser organized by Mammoliti’s office with a “third party” company on May 22, 2013.

Tickets were sold at $500.00 each or $5,000.00 for a table of 10 in which over 200 people attended the event that included staff, family members, lobbyists and companies doing business with the city.

Leiper concluded that “staff members worked on the event during City work hours” and “in some cases, Mammoliti’s staff revised invoices and removed references to the May 22 event.”

The integrity commissioner’s report also said the event company “paid” Mammoliti $80,000 as a gift from the profit made by the ticket sales.

The councillor has said in the past the fundraiser was of a “personal nature” and did not feel he violated any rules.

Mammoliti recently applied to Ontario’s Divisional Court to halt the probe saying information on the investigation had been leaked to the public and that he wasn’t being judged fairly.

“At one point during the investigation I requested assurance from Ms. Leiper that confidentiality and privacy would be maintained so that I may provide her with highly personal information; my request for confidentiality and privacy was refused,” Mammoliti said in a written statement.

“To date, the City Solicitor herself has denied having knowledge of the investigation even though it has been made public. If the report is on the Council agenda I trust that Councillor’s will move a motion to defer the report.”