Ward 3 Councillor Jon Dziadyk will return the taxpayer money used to pay for part of his master’s degree.
Dziadyk began his MBA at the University of Alberta last September. The program costs approximately $67,000—two thirds of which ($44,000) would be paid for by Edmontonians.
On Thursday, after criticism from his constituents, Dziadyk decided to reimburse the city the $11,000 he had received so far.
Regarding my partial reimbursement for my MBA, I have decided to voluntarily reimburse the @CityofEdmonton although I have been advised that no policies were violated. I will continue to pursue this degree with my own money to be a more effective councillor #yegcc #yeg
— Jon Dziadyk - Ward 3 (@JonDziadyk) February 7, 2019
“I did not have the best judgment with this, and I get that,” he said. “In this case, I’ve heard from people that think that it was inappropriate and I recognize those concerns as very legitimate, so that’s why I’m going to be refunding all the money.”
Ward 6 Councillor Scott McKeen said Dziadyk’s decision to come clean and return the money is the right one, but wished the Ward 3 councillor had checked with council before he decided to use public funds.
“My advice to him would’ve been: ‘Don’t do that because it’ll hurt your reputation.’”
For Ward 2 Councillor Bev Esslinger, part of the issue is Dziadyk’s decision to do his MBA altogether. She told CTV News that when she was elected, she was halfway through a master’s degree that she paid for personally but decided not to continue.
“I just didn’t have time to continue to do that. I just felt like I couldn’t do my job as a councillor and do that work.”
Although Dziadyk did not consult with the city’s ethics commissioner before he used the public funds, they talked after his decision to give back the money and was told he did not break any rules.
With files from Jeremy Thompson
