Former staffer of twice-disciplined Hamilton councillor now running in his ward
Published July 4, 2022 at 9:50 pm
Colleen Wicken is running for the Hamilton city council seat occupied by Coun. Terry Whitehead — whom she has a human rights complaint against that stems from when her time as his executive assistant.
Wicken is the third candidate to enter the Ward 14 race on the west Mountain. There are still 46 days, or 7½ weeks, until the Aug. 19 nomination deadline.
Whitehead, who recently took his second medical leave of this term, has told a Hamilton newspaper he intends to seek re-election. He has not filed nomination papers, but it is not uncommon for incumbent councillors to officialize their campaigns close to the deadline.
Wicken filled her human rights complaint against Whitehead and the City of Hamilton, to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, in 2019. She alleged verbal abuse, sexism and harassment incidents that occurred over a span of four years from 2010 to 2014.
Wicken confirmed to inTheHammer that the HRTO file is active. She added that she has spoken with the human rights tribunal about running for council and has been told that is not an issue.
Wicken, who was a community volunteer in Ward 8, became part of Whitehead’s staff in 2009, eventually becoming chief of staff. She was on Whitehead’s staff for nearly a decade until taking a sick leave in March 2018. That same year, ahead of the first election since a boundary revision changed the areas for the neighbouring wards 8 and 14, she entered the Ward 8 race. Whitehead then ran in Ward 14.
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While they were not opponents, Whitehead made an allegation of data theft against Wicken about four weeks before election day. She called the complaint a “desperate” attempt to “besmirch” her, and seemed to be vindicated about six months after the campaign. The Hamilton Police declared the matter “concluded” and said no charges would be filed.
Coun. John-Paul Danko won the 2018 Ward 8 race with 41.67 per cent support, an 18-point spread over runner-up Eve Adams. Wicken ran fourth with 10.12 per cent support.
Whitehead earned 57.79% support in Ward 14. But that was a drop of over 18% from his support in ’14 in Ward 8.
Pay docked twice
Subsequently, the city’s integrity commissioner (IC) has docked Whitehead a total of 75 days’ pay related to four bullying incidents over the past two years. The most recent round of sanctions came two weeks ago, and included a direction to city staff to report back to council on whether Whitehead could be banned from Hamilton City Hall. Whitehead said at that time he would be going on leave for “likely” the rest of the term.
Ward 15 Coun. Judi Partridge, whose office is next to Whitehead’s, was one of the complainants about his behaviour.
The other pay suspension relates to the bullying of a city staffer at a meeting in September 2020.
Whitehead, following a medical leave that extended for about 10 months, attended council meetings virtually from last fall until June 22.
At a meeting in April, he falsely claimed that most intensive care patients with COVID-19 are vaccinated. In December last year, during a general issues committee meeting, he told a housing advocate to “take an addict home and put it in a backyard in a tent.”
Social justice activist Kojo Damptey, who is executive director of the Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion, was the first candidate to file in Ward 14, and has been canvassing in the ward. Brian Lewis, a community volunteer with a professional background in the logistics field, is also in the race.
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