If he’s elected, mayoral candidate Jim Watson says he plans to implement policies that will deliver increased openness and transparency at city hall.
“We must start governing ourselves by a higher ethical standard, and the changes I have proposed … will raise the bar for our municipal leaders,” said Watson.
Watson said he would pass a bylaw in conjunction with council that prohibits all elected officials from sitting on corporate for-profit boards of directors.
“The current mayor sits on a private, for-profit board of directors. I don’t think that’s appropriate,” Watson said.
Watson said he was not questioning Mayor Larry O’Brien’s ethics.
“I’m questioning his judgment,” he said. “Why would he continue to stay on a corporate board of directors that does business with the City of Ottawa … the optics don’t look good.”
Watson would also require the mayor to put all financial assets in a blind trust and ban all sole-sourced contracts by the city, which he said damage public trust.
On Lansdowne Park, he said, “I’m not going to turn back the clock, but on a go-forward basis, my view is that we shouldn’t be sole-sourcing.”
