Hamilton councillors have selected a prominent Toronto lawyer to investigate both Mayor Fred Eisenberger and Stoney Creek councillor Brad Clark over alleged violations of council's code of conduct.

Councillors have approved George Rust-D'Eye of the Toronto law firm Weir Foulds LLP as the city's temporary integrity commissioner, a position that was previously anticipated to be filled by a retired judge.

Mr. Rust-D'Eye, who is a municipal law expert, will investigate Mr. Eisenberger's conduct related to a taped conversation with a reporter that was released to the media last month. Mr. Eisenberger has stated that he believes he violated council's code of conduct during the recorded 'off-the-record' conversation.

Last week, Mr. Clark submitted a letter to the city asking the integrity commissioner to investigate his conduct related to the release of the recorded conversation and an accompanying transcript to a media outlet late last month.

Mr. Clark also resigned from the accountability and transparency committee, the governance committee and the fairness to Hamilton committee. On July 11, Mr. Eisenberger resigned from the accountability and transparency committee.

Earlier this month, city staff also chose Mr. Rust-D'Eye to investigate Mr. Eisenberger over the taped conversation. Mr. Rust-D'Eye will use a different process to investigate each of the two complaints.

Since Mr. Eisenberger's incident was based upon a conversation he had with a reporter in May 2007, it will not follow the rules as laid out under the integrity commissioner's bylaw. Council approved the bylaw a month ago. Mr. Clark's incident took place after the integrity commissioner bylaw was in place.

The different investigative processes that Mr. Rust-D'Eye will employ have some politicians wondering if both investigations will be fair.

Mountain councillor Scott Duvall said the mayor's incident should be investigated under the integrity commissioner legislation because his admission was revealed to the public last month, when the integrity commissioner bylaw was in place.

"The date of when you become aware of the incident falls within the timeline of the bylaw," added Mountain councillor Terry Whitehead.

But city solicitor Ron Szabo said the mayor's complaint results from an incident that occurred over a year ago, before the integrity commissioner legislation was approved by council.

"The bylaw did not exist at the time. The code of conduct was in place," said Mr. Szabo. "(The legislation) is forward-looking only."

The investigative tools that Mr. Rust-D'Eye can employ under the integrity commissioner's legislation are more substantial than those available under council's rules. For instance, the integrity commissioner can issue subpoenas and conduct inquiries, and the penalties could involve censure or loss of pay.

City staff were unsure of the price tag of the two investigations, but Mr. Szabo suggested a ballpark figure of about $30,000.

The cost caused downtown councillor Bob Bratina to vote against conducting the investigations. "I'm terrified we are going to run up a large bill," said Mr. Bratina. "I have no clamor from the public. We have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars (for investigations) into staff (activities) and have found nothing."