Councillor to be reprimanded for calling constituent ‘sexy gramma’

The mayor of Cambridge, Ont., will publicly reprimand a city councillor who admitted to making lewd comments to one of his constituents.

The city’s integrity commissioner ruled earlier this month that Coun. Mike Devine violated the harassment section of the code of conduct for councillors under the Municipal Act after he called a woman a “sexy gramma” on two separate occasions.

In the decision, the commissioner said Devine’s comments were “undignified, disrespectful and discourteous.”

Mayor Doug Craig said Devine will be reprimanded Tuesday at city hall and will be apologizing publicly to the complainant. Craig also said Devine will receive sensitivity training.

In a Facebook post, Devine wrote he’s “deeply ashamed” of his behaviour and apologized to the woman, his family and the community.

“My behaviour was completely unacceptable,” the councillor wrote. “I recognize it is even more inappropriate as a city councillor and for that I am very sorry.”

In her complaint to the commissioner dated Sept. 12, 2016, the woman — whose name was removed from the report for privacy — said she was introduced to Devine at a local restaurant, where he then made a remark about her age and called her a “sexy gramma.”

The woman said she could smell alcohol on Devine’s breath and noticed him slurring.

She said they met again in August at the Hespeler Village Market, where she was participating as a vendor with her husband. During that interaction, she said Devine told her “you are (expletive) hot” and again called her a “sexy gramma.”

The report says he then gave her his business card and said, “call me if you need anything.”

She noted again that she could smell alcohol on his breath.

In an interview, Craig said city council members were “quite surprised and disappointed” by Devine’s behaviour.

“Sexual harassment of any sort is unacceptable,” Craig said. “As leaders in the community, we need to set the example, and that’s exactly what we are doing.”