Mayor Simon Yu

By Cheryl Jahn

Code of Conduct

Code of Conduct review concluded on Mayor Yu

Mar 25, 2026 | 3:44 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – According to the City of Prince George’s website, the Code of Conduct Bylaw “is grounded in five core principles: integrity, accountability, leadership, respect, openness, and collaboration – helping to ensure Council Members act ethically, work together effectively, and maintain public trust.”

But last fall Mayor Simon Yu ran afoul of the code of conduct, with someone claiming the mayor – at a community event – made comments to the effect that the work of City staff was “questionable” and an investigation was launched. After four months, the investigation concluded the mayor had not breached the code, though his comments were “close to the line.”

“Apparently, what I said during one of the public sessions had really bothered somebody and, therefore, a complaint was launched and so be it,” says Mayor Simon Yu. “As for the result we respect the process and it’s over now and it’s very unfortunate. I do believe certain things should be resolved in a gentlemen’s way.”

Councillor Brian Skakun took to social media suggesting the whole venture was a waste of taxpayer dollars.

“To go through all of this to hire an external lawyer, external investigators, I think is probably too much,” says Skakun. “And I think we have to discuss if there a way to streamline it? Is there is a way for administration to make more decisions without having to farm that out at a cost? Those are some of my concerns.”

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Councillor Skakun also noted on Facebook: “There must now be a serious review of how these decisions are made. Clear thresholds, defined processes, and proper oversight need to be established to ensure this does not happen again. Without that, we are leaving the door open for further misuse of authority and resources. Taxpayers deserve better. Council must do better.”

“This is the first real case we’ve had with the code of conduct. And I think there’s some shortcomings. And there might be a way to tune it up going forward. But at this point, I don’t know if there’s an appetite to open it up. Debate it again which could take several months, and it might be a decision of the next Council.”

However, some would argue the complaint and the subsequent investigation is due process.

“We need a process for them to say, ‘Hey, I think what was said about me was not accurate or fair.’ But to have it go through – this dragged on for these two or three months and hiring investigators and that. So there has to be a way to make sure that they’re protected, and we just don’t spend a lot of money to come up with the result that didn’t do anything,” says Yu.

So what did the mayor take away from this investigation?

“If people ask me if I might change my way of doing things? Absolutely not,” says the Mayor. “Am I going to change my way of speaking? I need to be a little bit more careful in choosing the words sometimes, and then knowing that, you know, certain English words depend on interpretation.”

However, with an election right around the corner, its uncertain if this Council or the next will grapple with this issue, if at all.