Kingston, Ont. councillor Ryan Boehme has been cleared of any wrongdoing by the integrity commissioner.
An integrity investigation was triggered in June when council voted to have the integrity commissioner look into a vote Boehme cast during budget discussions.
Boehme voted in favour of expediting the hiring process for more firefighters, and then applied for one of the positions.
A few weeks ago, Boehme was notified he didn’t get one.
According to the integrity commissioner’s report, Boehme “did not to use his influence for any purpose other than to advocate for improved emergency response times”.
The report also found that Boehme had no “real” conflict of interest in this case.
“While the Member may have been perceived as having an apparent conflict of interest in the Matter, we are satisfied that he took the appropriate mitigative steps,” reads the report.
“The Member appears to have intentionally kept a distance from individuals involved in (Kingston Fire & Rescue) recruitment process while it was underway. Furthermore, as noted, based on our interviews, we find that the Member did not attempt to assert his influence as a councillor at any point during the recruitment process.”
Global News has sent Coun. Boehme several requests for comment over the course of the investigation, and received no responses.
The integrity commissioner’s report will go before council at the Aug. 8th meeting.