Allegations of past conflict

Posted by Magda
In my research about councillor conflicts of interest, I found a long-ago story about allegations of conflict that actually went to court.

This is from the Mercury, Feb. 9, 2000.
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U of G professor on hook for about $10,000 in councillor's legal fees
A Guelph city councillor has been cleared of allegations that he acted in a conflict of interest.

Councillor Dan Schnurr was taken to court in 1999 by Hugh Whiteley, a University of Guelph engineering professor. Whiteley, who regularly makes presentations to city council, alleged Schnurr was in a conflict of interest when he voted on the application by the university for an Official Plan amendment to develop land for a "big box" project. Schnurr has been employed full-time by the university since 1985 as a computer and technical support worker and took the position that his financial interest in the university's application was insignificant.

In a ruling in June 1999, a judge in Guelph agreed with Schnurr, concluding the councillor's interest "was of such remoteness and insignificance in its nature that it could not reasonably be regarded as having been likely to influence the respondent in his vote on the subject matter."
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I'm working on a story about recent issues of alleged, perceived or declared conflict among councillors. Read all about it in tomorrow's Merc.