Mayor Matt Brown says he is not resigning. In fact, he has returned to work.
Brown addressed reporters outside his office on Wednesday afternoon. In a prepared statement, he said he is returning to his official duties as mayor, effective immediately.
"It's time now for me to return to work and as of today I'll be returning as mayor," said Brown "That said, I'm also very committed to striking a much better, a much healthier work life balance with a much greater focus on my family."
Brown's short-lived leave of absence began last Tuesday after his extra-marital affair with former Deputy Mayor Maureen Cassidy became public.
In his statement, Brown apologized to the people of London and to his council colleagues. He told reporters the decision to return to work was a family decision.
"This was a decision that I made in very close consultation with my wife. We feel that this is the best course of action," said Brown. "My primary focus was to take the initial steps that I needed to repair the damage that I've caused in my personal life. Now I'm also focusing on moving forward in this role as mayor."
Several times throughout the news conference, Brown stated that he made a "grave error in judgement" and that he needs to work "very hard" to regain the trust and respect of Londoners.
He also said he can work with all councillors, including Maureen Cassidy, whom he did not mention by name. Instead, he referred to her as “the Ward 5 councillor.”
Brown went on to say he fully accepts Integrity Commissioner Greg Stewart's report which found he and Cassidy violated three sections of council's code of conduct. But was vague about how he will repair the damage that has been done to the city's reputation.
"You're going to need to give me the next two and a half years to do that," said Brown. "This isn't something that is going to be happen overnight. I need to work very hard, first with my council colleagues, with members of the community and demonstrate through my actions that we can move forward from this."
Cassidy, who resigned her post as deputy mayor moments before admitting to the affair, remains on a leave of absence from her councillor's seat. There is no indication when she will return to city hall.
Immediately following the news conference, Brown's Communications Advisor Ashton Patis announced that Corrine Rahman has resigned as the mayor's chief of staff.
"We thank her for all of her work and as you can imagine this is an HR matter and no further comment will be given," said Patis.
Mayor Brown Statement:
"I've made a commitment to being open and honest no matter how painful or embarrassing that it has been. What occurred should never have happened and it's something that I take responsibility for and it's something that I deeply regret. This has been a difficult and a painful time for everyone involved.
Over the past week I have been on an unpaid leave and I've been focused on my family. I want to thank everyone for respecting their privacy during this time. I've been away and I've been setting in motion initial steps to repair the damage that I've done in my personal life. And I know that I have a great deal of work to do in the months and years to come to continue to repair this damage and I'm determined to do that.
I've said this before, I made a grave error in judgement and I'm not going to let that take away from all of the milestones that we have achieved as a council and all of the goals that we have set together to build a better city for all moving forward.
It's time now for me to return to work and as of today I'll be returning as mayor. That said I'm also very committed to striking a much better, a much healthier work life balance with a much greater focus on my family.
I want to thank Deputy Mayor Paul Hubert for his service and his leadership during this difficult time. I also want to apologize to my council colleagues for the distraction that this has caused for each of them. I don't want this to take away from the great work that we have accomplished together so far. I know I will have to regain the trust and the respect of my council colleagues and I'm prepared to do that.
I would also like to formally apologies to my fellow Londoners for this situation and for the negative attention it has brought to our community. I'd like to thank my staff in the Mayor's Office who have been working very hard during this difficult time.
Like you, I've read the Integrity Commissioners report. It's very frank and it pulls no punches. I accept his criticisms and I accept his conclusions. I also accept his decision not to launch an investigation for the reasons he provided.
Now that's I've taken the first steps to repair the damage that I've caused in my personal life and now that we have heard from the Integrity Commissioner I can tell you that I am ready to focus on the future, and on the work that needs to be done to move our community forward. We have accomplished a great deal during this term of council. We have worked tirelessly to implement a rapid transit system for London, to help the most vulnerable populations in our community, to revitalize our downtown and to set a plan in motion that will grow our city in a much more sustainable and a much more affordable way. I'm proud of the work we have done so far, I'm excited about what we can do in the years ahead and I'm confident that we can work together. That we can continue together to lead our city forward.
I am pleased to be back and I'm ready to move forward. We have a full agenda slated for council tomorrow night and I'm looking forward to rejoining my colleagues to focusing on the business of our city."