Windsor mayor won't answer questions about former chief's mysterious retirement agreement

Windsor mayor Drew Dilkens, who's also chair of the police board, says he won't discuss former police chief Pam Mizuno's mysterious retirement agreement that allowed her to collect a full year's salary in a matter of three months.

Mizuno retired unexpectedly in the middle of her five-year contract on March 31, 2022. She paid $266,536.34 in salary last year, according to documents that public institutions are required to release if someone makes more than $100,000.

After Thursday's Windsor police services board meeting, which lasted five minutes in public session, Dilkens wouldn't explain Mizuno's salary to the public.

"It's about an identifiable individual, so I can't talk about the matter," said Dilkens during a media scrum.

CBC News also asked if Mizuno is still being paid as a part of what he calls a retirement agreement, or if she will appear on the 2023 list of high-paid public sector workers when the data is released next year.

"You'll just have to wait and see," Dilkens responded.

Watch the raw, unedited interview:

Mizuno's five-year contract was set to expire some time in 2024.

By comparison, Mizuno's predecessor Al Frederick retired in June of 2019 with a salary of more than $133,000 — less than half of what he made the previous year.

CBC News asked Dilkens why the retirements of the two most recent chiefs of police differed when it comes to salary. He said again that he couldn't discuss it.

"We have an agreement with the chief and I can't speak to the matter anymore," said Dilkens. "Next questions, guys, because I'm not going to stand here and answer this 100 times in the same way."

Ontario's Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act requires all public institutions to report individuals who make more than $100,000 in a year by March 31 of the following year.

Windsor police chief Jason Bellaire also appeared on the sunshine list in 2022, taking home a salary of $238,523.73. He became the acting police chief April 1, 2022, after Mizuno retired and received the permanent position in December.

That means the Windsor police services board spent nearly $600,000 for the role of chief of police in 2022 between Mizuno and Bellaire.