Accountable Government: Remove Councillor Paul Rexe from City of Peterborough business until criminal and other legal matters are resolved.

We, the citizens of Peterborough and others concerned with democratic and accountable government do here call upon Her Worship Sylvia Sutherland, Mayor of the City of Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, to act forthwith to uphold the integrity of public office; to establish in reality and perception a level of respect, responsibility and fairness, at all time recognizing the position of trust and authority held by members of municipal council and the circumstances under which such members are elected to office and where, those circumstances, may change from time to time.

To wit, we the signatories to this petition have read the background documentation provided at http://www.GARRYHERRING.ca and are sufficiently acquainted with the facts and circumstances involved to petition Her Worship Sylvia Sutherland exercise her statutory and inherent authority and temporarily remove Councillor Mr. Paul Rexe from his duties as Chair of the City Finance Committee, and any other Chairmanships that he may currently hold. We, the signatories to this petition do believe that there is sufficient precedence so to do, while still allowing Councillor Paul Rexe to continue to represent his constituents at Council meetings and to conduct certain other Council business.

We also believe that beyond any legal precedent, there exists a superior duty on the part of Her Worship to ensure that no activity, on the part of City Councillors, is permitted to bring City Council or the City of Peterborough itself into a position of disrepute, or into a situation where a reasonable person may view decisions or actions, or lack thereof, to cast a shadow of doubt over City business. More specifically, in this regard, we view the facts that:

Councillor Paul Rexe has recently been charged, and awaits criminal trial, with breaching of a peace bond signed as part of a deal to dispose of previous criminal charges that he assaulted his former partner, and;

Councillor Paul Rexe is currently under federal investigation of allegations of questionable tax activity in an estimated amount of $11 million,

as sufficient cause to cast a shadow of doubt over Mr. Rexe, but also over the various committees chaired by him with particular regard to the Finance Committee, given the tax investigation mentioned above.

Therefore, we hereby respectfully petition and request that Her Worship Mayor Sylvia Sutherland move to protect the integrity of the City Council of Peterborough, Ontario, and remove Mr. Paul Rexe from any committee chairmanships that he holds, with particular regard to the Finance Committee, until such time as criminal and other legal matters involving the Councillor are resolved through due process.

In closing, if Her Worship finds, after consulting legal counsel, that she does not have the authority to remove a Councillor from committee appointments, then we respectfully petition City Council as a whole, through Her Worship, to take whatever steps necessary to effect such remedy.