“If you're going to make statements, you're going to have to back them up.” That from Rod Gillis to Fred Slipp, who testified John Ferguson's comments were full of defamatory inferences and innuendo against the board.
Slipp testifying comments from Ferguson about three trustees suggested they were creating a paper trail to cover wrong-doing--and that harmed the reputation of the whole board.
In an excited back and forth, Gillis said, “Beckett, Nugent and Totten are three members of the pension board--they might also be three members of the YMCA! Are you capable of answering my question?”
Slipp responding Ferguson's comments carried connotations the councillors were quote, "covering their butts", to which Gillis responded it was only reasonable for employees of the city to do that.
Gillis said the board was dysfunctional because problems first identified in the late 1980s weren't addressed until 2007, sticking the city with a 200 million dollar bill.