Sudbury council votes to remove colleague from police board
CBC
Sudbury city councillors voted Tuesday to remove Ward 2 Coun. Michael Vagnini from the Greater Sudbury Police Services Board.
Ward 11 Coun. Bill Leduc put forward the motion due to an exchange that occurred during the city's finance committee meeting on Jan. 18, 2022.
During that meeting Vagnini said he witnessed a woman fleeing eight men from a shelter in a tent encampment located in Memorial Park.
During that meeting Greater Sudbury Mayor Brian Bigger asked Vagnini if he reported the incident to police.
Vagnini responded, "That's a great question. Through you Mr. Chair, I have a meeting tomorrow morning with the Police Board and that is going to be the first question I ask so thank you very much for that Mr. Mayor."
Leduc proposed Tuesday's motion to remove Vagnini from the Police Services Board was because he deemed the councillor was not fit to serve in that role.
"He did not recognize a crisis, and I believe as a councillor, and especially as part of that board, you've got to be able to pick up that phone and make that call to 911," Leduc said during the council meeting Tuesday.
"We can't wait three or four days on the road when we see a person in distress," he added.
Councillors voted nine to two in favour of removing Vagnini from the Police Services Board. Ward 12 Coun. Joscelyne Landry-Altman was chosen, through a vote, to take his place on the board.
Vagnini also faces allegations of threatening Leduc in an unrelated incident. The North Bay Police Service is investigating those allegations. Because Vagnini is a councillor, and was a member of the Greater Sudbury Police Services Board, the case was passed on to North Bay.
"I categorically deny that I committed any criminal offence," Vagnini said in a statement released on Jan. 31.
During Tuesday's debate on whether or not to remove Vagnini from the Police Services Board, Ward 1 Coun. Mark Signoretti called the motion a "waste of time" that should not be debated while a police investigation is still ongoing.
"This motion being brought forward does little to convince the public that we are a functional council," Signoretti said.
But Greater Sudbury Mayor Brian Bigger said Tuesday's motion was unrelated to the police investigation regarding allegations Vagnini had threatened Leduc.
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