The woman who convinced city council to examine Mayor Linda Jackson’s finances had once asked the mayor to create a $240,000 per annum job for her, Jackson says.

The mayor presented a document to Vaughan Today that she says she received from Carrie Liddy a day after the 2006 election. The document proposes the creation of an integrity commissioner position and suggests Liddy fill the role.

In an interview, Liddy denied the document came from her but she later retracted the statement.

Jackson says Liddy’s complaints about the mayor’s expenses stem from “sour grapes” over being denied the city job.

“Carrie Liddy was looking for a plum position within the city,” Jackson says.

Liddy wrote to the city manager April 4, questioning numerous items on the mayor’s 2007 expense filing. Council responded to the allegations last week by asking the city manager to review Jackson’s books.

More than a mere campaign worker, Liddy was a friend, Jackson said. But the relationship soured soon after the election.

“She wanted actually to have a position prior to even me being sworn in, and I have the documentation to prove it,” Jackson said.

Jackson said she received a written proposal from Liddy on “about Nov. 14”, the day after the election. The document, marked confidential, outlined what an integrity commissioner’s job should entail, including responsibilities and pay — $20,000 per month. It also suggested Liddy for the job.

“She wanted more money than any employee was paid in the City of Vaughan per month, including our city manager.… I don’t have this ultimate power to be giving people positions, which I think upset her because she felt that she, for some reason, was owed this.”

Liddy denied the document came from her.

“No document like this even exists,” she said Wednesday, adding she never aspired to be integrity commissioner. “And if it does exist, I would also like to see it because it’s obviously a fabrication.”

The accusations are a diversion from the issue of the mayor’s 2007 expenses, Liddy said.

“My motivation really doesn’t matter,” she said. “She’s going to these huge lengths to attack my credibility.

“It’s not my credibility that matters here. It’s hers.”

While the document does not indicate who wrote it, when asked to confirm that it came from Liddy, Jackson replied, “Well of course.”

Liddy later called Vaughan Today to say she had since consulted a lawyer and did not want her earlier comments published. She also said she was going to obtain a cease and desist order against Jackson.

Vaughan Today
Online: April 24, 2008 [link]