Mayor and councillor will attempt mediation

Mayor Brian Jackson and councillor Bill Pring will attempt to resolve their legal dispute through mediated, one-on-one discussion over the next few weeks.

Jackson made his first official appearance in court Wednesday, nearly seven months after being charged for allegedly assaulting and threatening Pring, during a confrontation at the New Town Hall. During the appearance, Jackson's lawyers were granted a request for mediation to begin, in an effort to resolve the matter.

"We've been in a series of pre-trial discussions," said Jackson's lawyer, Mark Sandler. "We had proposed that one of the things that would be helpful is if (Jackson) and Pring would attend mediation together. We're setting up mediation, and then we'll come back to court and a decision will be made on how to deal with the case. Sometimes, one wants to look past an individual case and try to suggest approaches that will serve more long-term interests. Mediation is a way to deal with these kinds of issues as they arise. This is just between the two of them, and it's mediated by a facilitator."

The alleged incident occurred in June. After deferring a motion related to the town's growth management process, Jackson called a five minute recess, and walked into a private meeting room with Pring and deputy mayor Gord Wauchope.

Jackson's lapel microphone was inadvertently left on, and he proceeded to berate and swear at Pring, allowing residents, staff members and local media to hear the intendedly private conversation.

When Pring, Jackson and Wauchope emerged from the meeting room about 15 minutes later, the councillor immediately apologized for the motion.

Jackson has also publicly apologized for his use of profanity — but not the incident itself — and temporarily resigned from the South Simcoe Police Services Board.

South Simcoe officers are responsible for investigating the incident.

Jackson's next court appearance is scheduled for March 10.