Langley city mayor misused power to ‘target, intimidate, threaten’ employee: council

Weeks after City of Langley Mayor Val van den Broek was censured by council for what it described as “conduct unbecoming,” council members are now providing more details as to what led to that decision.

City council responded on Tuesday after the mayor released a statement about the circumstances around the motion, saying it sanctioned her on May 10 “for breaching the City’s Respectful Workplace Policy.”

Claims of bullying, harassment, and intimidation were brought forward, leading to an independent investigation conducted by a third-party.

Council now alleges the mayor “misused her power” to “target, intimidate, and threaten an employee of the city, including by making unjustified and false statements about the employee.”

“Council considers the Mayor’s conduct a breach of the Respectful Workplace Policy and conduct unbecoming of a member of City Council,” the May 31 statement from council reads.

Related article: Langley mayor faced with censure from city council

“As a result, council took measures it considered reasonable in the circumstances to minimize the risk of further bullying and harassment of the complainant and to publicly reprimand the mayor.”

Councillor Gayle Martin for the city told CityNews council is looking forward to putting this behind them, adding, “This has not been a pleasant experience for anybody on council.”

“We want to move forward. But we take it very seriously to protect our staff and by law, when there is a complaint made against anybody in the city … we have to investigate,” she said.

“This has probably been going on, I think about a year ago, we started this. So we’ve gone through the procedure … because we do take it very seriously as someone who’s being bullied, intimidated or harassed. And we want our employees to feel safe. And we also want our employees to feel free to come forward. If there is such an event happening in the city.”

Van den Broek was elected as mayor in 2018, replacing Ted Schaffer. Prior to becoming mayor, van den Broek served as a city councillor.

“As the Mayor and a public servant of the City, her words and actions matter. Council believes that as Mayor, she had a responsibility to use her power and influence in a responsible and respectful manner. That did not happen in relation to the conduct giving rise to the motion of censure and sanction,” the statement from council adds.

In addition to the censure and sanction, van den Broek was also recently removed from a number of appointments, including the Fraser Health Municipal Advisory Council and Youth Advisory Committee.

Council says she was given a chance to partake in the investigative process.

CityNews has reached out to the mayor, for comment.