Keiko Nakamura, Toronto Community Housing's Chief Executive Officer, left, and David Mitchell, Chair of Toronto Community Housing's Board of Directors attend a press conference to announce the company's response to the report made public by Toronto auditor-general Jeff Griffiths in Toronto, February 28, 2011.Fernando Morales/The Globe and Mail
The Toronto Community Housing Corporation board of directors' slow dissolution continued Friday as two of its four councillor members resigned.
And a motion going before council next week suggests removing not only any remaining members of the board but also the handful of alternates designated by the selection committee years ago when the board's members were first chosen.
This would leave the housing corporation's board purged entirely, after a pair of auditor-general reports published Monday revealed "pervasive" flouting of the housing corporation's own spending and procurement policies. A new board likely wouldn't be in place for at least a month.
The fate of the two executives whose terms as CEO coincided with the timeline of Jeff Griffiths's damning report remains uncertain. The housing corporation's current CEO, Keiko Nakamura, refused Mayor Rob Ford's request she step down earlier this week.
And Derek Ballantyne, who was CEO from 2002 to 2009, remains chief operating officer of Build Toronto - the arm's-length organization responsible for selling off the city's surplus real estate.
A Build Toronto conference-call board meeting, hastily scheduled after Mr. Ballantyne's meeting with the mayor's brother, Councillor Doug Ford, on Thursday, ended inconclusively. A statement from board chair Blake Hutcheson said "we have established a process to arrive at the right professional decision" regarding Mr. Ballantyne's position at Build Toronto.
The mayor, who said Monday people would "have an answer" on Mr. Ballantyne's fate by Friday, wouldn't comment on the results of the call. A statement from his office said "the matter is now in the hands of the board to take any action that it feels is appropriate."
Now, TCHC board members councillors Frances Nunziata and John Parker both have stepped down. Mr. Parker, Mayor Ford's designate on the board, says he did so at the mayor's request.
"When the mayor asks you to serve, you serve. And when the mayor asks you to step off, you step off," he said, adding that he's still interested in being on the new board once it's struck - and he sees no reason for Ms. Nakamura to resign.
"Frankly, I've seen Keiko Nakamura in action just for the month or so that I've been on the board. I've been very impressed with her actions; I've been very impressed with her professionalism."