Mission councillor Ken Herar has filed a notice of civil claim against the mayor and other city staffers, saying a professional-conduct complaint was wrongfully filed against him earlier this year.
Herar further alleges that he was subjected to “ridicule, pressure and threats” by city council and staff.
The notice of civil claim was filed Sept. 13 by Herar and names Mayor Paul Horn; chief administrative officer Mike Younie; parks, recreation and culture director Louis Dauphin; the City of Mission; and two anonymous people.
The matter relates to two situations, the first of which occurred on March 13 of this year.
Herar, who runs a charitable organization called Spinning for Diversity (formerly Cycling for Diversity), received a proclamation from Horn declaring a day known as Hands Up Against Racism.
In the court documents, Herar states that he wanted to get a photo to commemorate the occasion and submit it to the Mission City Record.
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He initially went to a local fire hall with the intention of having firefighters holding their hands up “against racism” and displaying the proclamation.
However, the firefighters were out on a call so Herar and his wife Pamela decided to go to the Mission Youth Centre.
The documents state that Herar checked with an in-charge employee to see if it was OK to get a photo with any of the kids who agreed to be in the picture.
A photo was taken, and the Herars decided to order pizza for the youths, according to the documents.
Herar said he later received a text message from the employee of the youth centre that her manager – presumed to be Dauphin – objected to the photo being taken and said it should not be published.
Herar agreed to the request, and the photo was not used.
The second incident took place on March 31 after Herar had undergone eye surgery and was having trouble seeing.
He states that he and his wife went to city hall for help in accessing his municipal account. When a city employee asked Herar if he had his city password, he responded that “we” had it, “implying that Ms. Herar knew where the password was, not that she knew it.”
The documents state that Herar’s wife informed him that he kept his passwords locked in his personal email account, and he retrieved his city password from there.
“Ms. Herar never read or accessed confidential information that was for the eyes of Mr. Herar alone,” the notice of civil claim states.
The documents state that on April 17, Horn filed a complaint with Younie of “code of conduct” violations involving Herar.
In part, the complaint stated that Herar “attempted to use pizza to ‘resolve a situation’ with the children at the youth centre,” “breached confidentiality and disclosed unauthorized access” and “behaved dishonestly.”
An investigation of the claims began, and Herar received what he says was a “significantly redacted” copy of the concluding report on Sept. 12.
According to the notice of civil claim, the report stated there were no complaints from the youth centre and that the “closed folder password was not shared by Councillor Herar with his spouse.”
But the report recommended he be found liable for breaching council’s code of conduct by attending the youth centre “in the manner he did” and by “sharing his password for the network with his spouse by having her attend a councillor training session.”
Sanctions imposed following a breach include a formal warning letter, a request that the person issue a letter of apology, a requirement to attend training, suspension or removal from internal and external committees, limits on travel and expenses, and limited access to certain city facilities.
The court documents state that since the complaint against him was launched, Herar “has been subject to clandestine and closed meetings by the council wherein he has been subjected to ridicule, insult and pressure.”
Herar is seeking a dismissal of the “administrative proceedings” connected with the complaint letter, court costs, and monetary damages for “bringing the dismissed proceeding in bad faith or for an improper purpose.”
None of the allegations have been proved in court.
The complaint filed against Herar involved council’s 2020 code of conduct. The code was updated in May 2023.
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