City staff routinely rush through the recruitment process in filling positions on boards, agencies and commissions making seemingly “arbitrary” decisions as a result, a new report from the city’s ombudsman alleges.

The report, titled “An Investigation into the Administration of the Public Appointments Policy”, is based off an examination of appointments made after Mayor Rob Ford assumed office in late 2010.

The report states that under pressure from the mayor’s office to speed up the recruitment and hiring process for a number of open positions, staff from the city clerk’s office failed to identify conflicts-of-interest among applicants and to ensure the city’s diversity policy was followed.

On one occasion in the summer of 2011 staff twice failed to note the conflict-of-interest held by one candidate for a particular board, the report says

“Because of the accelerated schedule and the lack of resources, staff’s abilities to carry out their responsibilities under the policy were compromised,” the report states. “Staff did not have the required time or resources to screen applicants and prepare qualification summaries. This left the integrity of the committee’s review open to perceptions that selections were done in an arbitrary manner, instead of one based on merit.”

Speaking with CP24 Thursday afternoon Coun. Giorgio Mammoliti, who sits on the civic appointments committee, said the report reveals serious mistakes made by city staff but incorrectly puts the blame on the mayor’s office.

“The ombudsman is there to look at the process and the city officials and I think what has happened here is that she caught city staff making mistakes and not moving through the process and somehow is trying to put the onus onto the politicians,” he said. “It is outside of her jurisdiction.”

Mayor’s office interfered with hiring

The report, which was released Thursday morning, also accuses the mayor’s office of interfering with the recruitment and hiring process.

It says that on one occasion staff were directed to place a recruitment advertisement in the Toronto Sun and National Post, but not the Toronto Star, a newspaper the mayor has had a longstanding feud with.

“City Manager’s Office (CMO) staff informed my investigator that they were directed by the mayor’s staff on which publications to place the advertisements. They were not to be placed in the Toronto Star,” the report states. “CMO had concerns with that direction, given the (Toronto) Star has a diverse readership, the largest circulation in Toronto and the ‘best demographics.’ The CMO informed my investigator that when they raised this with the Mayor’s staff, they were told that ‘we do not like the Star.’”

The report also cites concerns regarding the “level of direction from the mayor’s office” throughout the hiring process, at one point referencing a July, 2011 meeting to short-list candidates that was attended by staff from the mayor’s office.

“The city clerk’s office observed that political staff attendance during committee in-camera sessions was ‘unusual’ and that it had never happened before in their experience,” the report says. “Accounts of the Mayor’s staff activities during the meeting varied. One attendee said that the mayor’s staff had several files with lists of names marked confidential. The attendee said that the lists were on some of the members’ desks. Another attendee saw a list of names for each committee on a few of the members’ desks. A third attendee saw the mayor’s staff handing a member sheets of paper with names on them.”

Speaking with reporters after attending a groundbreaking ceremony for the Pan Am Games Aquatic Centre Thursday afternoon, Mayor Rob Ford said his city staff did not act inappropriately.

"I have actually cleaned up the process that we had before," he said. "It is a very clean, above board and transparent process."

Councillor accused of threatening staff

The report, which was prepared by ombudsman Fiona Crean, also describes a contentious meeting of the civic action committee in which the committee chair threatened a member of the city’s staff.

According to the report, the councillor grew “outraged” after a staff member brought up an apparent conflict-of-interest held by a candidate before the committee and then took to their feet, pointed and screamed ‘I’m going to get you,” adding that the staff member had “fooled” other members of council but not him.

Responding to the allegation Thursday afternoon, Mammoliti said he wasn’t the one described in the report but defended the person who is without mentioning them by name.

The civic appointments committee is chaired by Coun. Frances Nunziata.

“That certainly wasn’t me, however I am certainly a councillor whose tail will not be wagged by the bureaucracy and I can tell you that when mistakes are made to the degree that they were some politicians like myself will challenge staff on a regular basis and if they are trying to fight back lets drop our gloves and we will decide who the winner will be,” Mammoliti said. “The staff of the city better role up their sleeves and be ready for a fight because I will be the watchdog and the ombudsman myself. Staff will not influence the actions and decisions of committees and when they do I have something to say about it.”

Four recommendations made

The report makes four recommendations, all of which were accepted by the city:

• Review the Public Appointments Policy to correct any omissions or short-comings.
• Consolidate responsibility for administering the Public Appointments Policy into a single unit and ensure it has adequate resources.
• Require that staff report in writing to the Civic Appointments Committee any known information about potential conflicts of interest.
• Develop sustained community engagement strategies to attract and recruit applicants from diverse communities.

City boards, agencies and commissions are responsible for about $15 billion in city assets.