Integrity Commissioner absolves Cambridge mayor after complaint alleges misleading comments

Comments made by Cambridge Mayor Jan Liggett in February about the city’s 2024 budget sparked a complaint to the Integrity Commissioner.

The findings from the investigation were made public on Tuesday evening at a City of Cambridge Council meeting.

An unnamed complainant claimed that Mayor Liggett was being intentionally misleading in comments made about the city’s budget when it was released back in February.

The city’s tax increase for 2024 was 7.17 per cent, more than double the rate of inflation at the time at 3.4 per cent.

In contrast to those numbers, Mayor Liggett claimed that the city’s budgetary increases were “less than inflation” and had been for the last 10 years.

“Now, it’s out there in the open, we are once again below the rate of inflation,” said Mayor Liggett at a council meeting on Feb. 13.

The Integrity Commissioner reviewed the complaint made by the unnamed source, as well as the mayor’s responses to that complaint.

Mayor Liggett responded to the complaint by explaining that it was her belief that the city’s portion of the tax bill increase was well below the rate of inflation, and that she was always up-front in stating that the overall increase was 7.17 per cent.

The Integrity Commissioner found that the mayor had not made inaccurate statements, and that she made those comments “in good faith” while relying on city staff for guidance and explanation.

“The mayor is not an accountant,” noted the Integrity Commissioner in their report.

Administrative staff are not within the jurisdiction of the Integrity Commissioner to investigate.

The report concluded that Mayor Liggett did not break any code, and should receive no penalty.

The report was on the council agenda at a meeting on Tuesday. Council unanimously passed a motion, accepting the Integrity Commissioner’s findings.

The Integrity Commissioner, appointed by the City of Cambridge, is Canadian law firm Aird & Berlis LLP.