Sergeant-at-arms Gary Lenz resigns under cloud at B.C. legislature
Credit to Author: David Carrigg| Date: Wed, 02 Oct 2019 01:21:00 +0000
The second of the Legislative Assembly of B.C.’s top officials has retired, 11 months after the pair were escorted off the grounds of parliament under a cloud of misspending allegations.
Late Tuesday afternoon, the Legislative Assembly of B.C. released a brief statement that “Gary Lenz, Sergeant-at-Arms of the legislative assembly, retired from his position effective today, October 1, 2019.
“The legislative assembly will undertake steps to appoint a successor to this position.”
Lenz’ retirement comes four months after former legislature clerk Craig James retired. The sergeant-at-arms is responsible for security and daily operations services at the legislature and oversees 100 staff, including 40 special constables.
In a prepared statement, Lenz said that he had resigned with “sincere regret.”
“However, I no longer believe that I can continue to work for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. After considerable reflection, I have concluded that the damage that has been done to my reputation will never be fully repaired, and that if I continued as sergeant-at-arms, I would be doing a disservice to my office. I have served my office with loyalty and integrity and have cooperated with every request that has been made of me since being removed from office in November 2018.”
Lenz and James had been under heavy cloud since January 2019, when Plecas and his chief of staff Alan Mullen provided a detailed list of allegations against Lenz and James around questionable purchases, inappropriate workplace vacations and retirement benefits. This came two months after they had been escorted off the property and placed on paid leaves after it was revealed the pair were under RCMP investigation.
In February, the pair denied any wrongdoing, with Lenz stating “I have done nothing wrong and I wish to return to work.” Soon after, Plecas released a 32-page second report dismissing their detailed responses to the January allegations.
In March, former Supreme Court of Canada chief justice Beverley McLachlin was appointed to investigate Plecas’ allegations. James retired when the report was released in May. The report found many examples of misconduct by James, but cleaned Lenz of misconduct.
However, in July 2019 Plecas revealed another investigation had been launched into Lenz, who was still suspended with pay. This investigation was commissioned by Plecas under the Police Act, based on a complaint from Mullen.
The findings of that inquiry, which was not a criminal investigation despite it being conducted under the Police Act, are to be presented to the legislative management committee. The RCMP investigation is still underway.
According to Global News, in the three months from April 1 to June 30, Lenz (while on paid leave) was paid $61,889. From April 1 until May 17, when James retired, he was paid $123,269, including a $63,750 vacation payout.