A local man may have to pursue court action if he wants to return to the Canada Games Centre (CGC).

Mark Mendelsohn went public with the matter at Monday’s council meeting.

Appearing as a delegate, he asked that either the ban the city has placed on him from being at the CGC be lifted or his property tax bill be reduced so he’s not paying for something he doesn’t have access to.

Council did not ask any questions nor confirm that it would respond to Mendelsohn’s request.

While he argued to council the ban was in place for seemingly “no apparent reason,” he later told reporters the only reason he could recall for the banishment happened about five years ago, when a youth group his daughter was part of went to the pool.

He was among a few of the parents who had joined the group for the outing.

He was playing around with the kids and later threw another girl into the pool, thinking she was with the same youth group.

When he realized she wasn’t with the group, the horseplay was soon over and he was banned from the facility.

Mendelsohn said he was charged with assault over the incident, but that charge was later dropped.

“It was a case of mistaken identity,” he said.

While he can understand being banned from the CGC while the matter is going through the court process, he said, once the charge was dropped, he believes, he should have been permitted back in the facility.

Instead, the ban has remained in place. Mendelsohn remains unsure why, despite continually seeking an explanation from city staff and its lawyers.

“I can’t get a straight answer,” he said.

Management officials have not been willing to provide anything in writing stating a reason, he said.

While he spoke to city lawyers last year about it, he said the only explanation he could get from them was “inappropriate behaviour”, which, he argued, is a more of an opinion. The lawyers did not provide further explanation on it, he said.

“Again, it’s not clear (why),” Mendelsohn said.

Most recently, he went to the CGC a couple of weeks back to pick up his girlfriend’s daughter, only to be told by a staffer who recognized him he had to leave. He said he was simply sitting at a table reading a book while he waited.

The ban has had an impact both on his professional and family life. The facility is the centre of most recreational and community events, he noted, as well as major holiday celebrations.

As a general contractor, Mendelsohn is banned from attending trade shows. That means a number of “missed opportunities” for work.

What’s extremely frustrating, he said, is when someone in the family suggests taking in, for example, the Halloween Spooktacular only to realize that they can’t go as a family.

And then there are the ongoing activities the kids take part in.

“I can’t take my kids to swimming lessons,” he said.

City staff say they cannot speak directly to Mendelsohn’s case.

Linda Rapp, the city’s director of community and recreation services, said in general, there is a process under which those who have been banned from a city facility can go through to be readmitted.

That process varies depending on the circumstances of each individual case, Rapp said.

Once that has been exhausted, it becomes a legal issue, where the person banned would have to challenge the matter in court.

“It’s a legal process,” Rapp said.

Mendelsohn, however, maintains that without any specifics as to why the banishment is in place, it becomes difficult to argue the matter in court.

Coun. Betty Irwin was absent from Monday’s meeting.