A former Windsor city councillor says the allegations of the "culture" at city hall are true.
"The issue here is pretty simple," says former ward 3 city councillor Rino Bortolin. "The allegations of the culture that Mr. Nepszy is talking about is 100% true."
Speaking on AM800's The Dan MacDonald Show, Bortolin says he lived it for eight years and says it's one of the reasons why he didn't return to council.
He says the problem is the culture of the mayor using his singular political influence to override the will of council.
"I had so many times where staff, senior level staff would have a conversation with me about a council question or a report that was coming forward and they would say to me point blank, I won't be able to say that in open session of council," says Bortolin.
He says the lawsuit should see the light of day in court for the residents of Windsor.
"For the other council members listening, everybody should be putting their hand up to go to court on this and fight it vigorously right until the end because if you stand by the fact that it's not true, don't give a penny to Mr. Nepszy," says Bortolin. "The reality is, it is true and we need to have senior administration on the record, under oath talking about the culture at city hall."
As AM800 news reported Monday morning, former Commissioner of Infrastructure Services Chris Nepszy filed a wrongful dismissal lawsuit last week after negotiations failed to reach an agreement on a severance package.
Nepszy was let go in November 2023 in what the city called 'a strategic realignment of its organizational structure.'
His lawyer Howard Levitt says his client contends in the lawsuit that he was always transparent and acted with integrity in his position, and there were no criticisms of his performance.
On Tuesday, mayor Drew Dilkens called the lawsuit against the city as "absolute nonsense."
He says the city will deny all of the allegations that have been levelled against the city, himself and certain city councillors.