Tempers flare at village council meeting

By BARB RAYNER

BLACKS HARBOUR – Tempers flared at Tuesday night’s special village council meeting as Mayor Terry James clashed with the village manager and some councillors on several issues.
At one stage the mayor was so visibly upset by what was going on that she called for a five-minute adjournment and disappeared into her office to collect herself.
She also suggested during the meeting that she would like some conflict resolution between her and village manager Deanna Hunter because they need to be working together not pulling apart.
At the start of the meeting, Deputy Mayor Louise McLaughlin asked if a motion made at the last meeting relating to how often council should meet could be brought back to the table since the mayor had failed to ask for the question at that time.
Councillor Fred Murray pointed out that the motion had been approved at that meeting but it could be brought back to the table again in three months time at the September meeting.
However, Mayor James felt that since there was an error in procedure, which she apologized for, she thought it should be brought back to the table again that night but Councillor Murray said it needed the approval of full council to put it back on the agenda again that night.
Hunter pointed out that a special meeting was called only for certain items. Mayor James said Deputy Mayor McLaughlin had asked for this item to be included on the agenda for that night but had been told by staff that she couldn’t do that.
She also complained that the draft agenda council receives before a council meeting is not the same as the one that they receive at the meeting.
At this stage the deputy mayor apologized for bringing the item up and said she would never have raised the issue if she had known it would start an argument.
Since the agenda had already been approved, Hunter said she thought Deputy Mayor McLaughlin would have to wait three months to bring the matter up again and Councillor David Mahar said there was no problem to put the matter on the table again for the September meeting.
Later in the meeting, Mayor James presented a committee list she had drawn up for 2008-2009. She explained that following the last meeting, when committees had been set up, she had been approached by a number of councillors expressing concerns over the lack of input or consideration of their wishes.
“I reviewed the proposed committee list and there were obvious discrepancies. For example, one councillor was chairperson of every committee he wished to sit on and was not a member of any committee while our deputy mayor was not offered one chair position,” James said.
The mayor said there was an imbalance that she had addressed with her committee list and in a year’s time it would be reviewed again allowing some movement amongst committees by council members.
When Councillor Mahar was emphatic that he would not vote in favour of this list, the mayor said she had been approached by a couple of councillors who felt he had dominated the committee selection following the last meeting and they didn’t have a chance for any input. He denied dominating anything.
Mayor James said that, according to the Department of Local Government, she has the right to select committees but Hunter said that according to the Municipalities Act the mayor is subject to the direction and control of council so must abide by their decision.
Hunter said this was the second time they had gone through this and read a letter from the town solicitor, which stated that committees must be appointed by council and not the mayor then the mayor can appoint the chairs unless objected to by council.
At this stage, Mayor James said she knew what her rights were and she was prepared to take the issue to a higher authority but Hunter pointed out that if they don’t soon have committees, council will fall behind in its work.
Both Councillor Mahar and Councillor Murray questioned the membership on some of the revised committees but the mayor said she was just trying to be fair so someone does not have all the control. At this point Councillor Mahar noted that she was chair of four committees herself.
After some heated discussion, Councillor Murray moved that council accept the committee list from the previous meeting. Voting was three in favour with Councillor Doug Cooke voting against and the deputy mayor abstaining.
Hunter later raised the issue of the mayor contacting Fundy Nursing Home regarding the village’s representative on the board of directors.
Mayor James said she contacted them to find out if she was supposed to appoint someone to the board and was surprised when she was told she could not have a list of names as she did not realize this was confidential.
Hunter said she is the village representative and explained that the board made changes to the bylaws a number of years ago so they now have the authority to appoint someone and it does not necessarily have to be a council member.
The mayor questioned who appointed her and Hunter said she had been there almost three years but if council felt there was a problem with her sitting on that board or any other committee they should say so and she will resign.
“If not, I don’t want to hear anything more about these things I am on,” Hunter said.
At this point Councillor Murray said it seemed there appeared to be a collision coming here between the mayor and the town manager. He said the mayor’s job is to preside over council meetings, give a vision for the future and keep order while the CAO’s job is to run the village.
Mayor James said all she did was ask a question about the board appointment but agreed that there is a conflict and she needed some help.
She said she would not quit but she would like some conflict resolution between her and the town manager so they can move forward on the village’s projects. The mayor said they needed cohesion and not to be pulling apart.
Both she and Hunter referred to the difficulties they have had working together over the last four years but Mayor James added that she had yet to meet someone she could not get along with.
Councillor Murray, who previously served on council from 2002 to 2004, said that during that time he never once claimed for mileage or meals and paid taxes on the remuneration he received.
Referring to comments made by the mayor following the last meeting, when council voted to hold seven regular meetings a year rather than 12, he disagreed that councilors get $200 per meeting – he said they get $2,500 a year.
Back in 2003 he said he introduced two amendments – to reduce the number of councillors from five to four at the next election and to reduce the annual remuneration by $500 for both the mayor and council, which would have meant a reduction in the village tax rate.
Both motions were defeated but he said that seeing as how there have been comments made about remuneration he asked each member of council to contact him during the summer on this issue.
Councillor Murray took issue with Mayor James’ comments that the committees of the previous council were not working.
Having 30 years experience sitting on boards and committees, he said he had always found that committees were only as strong as their leaders. A leader who can lead, delegate and share authority makes for an exceptional chair, he said.
With a mayor who has four years experience, three councillors with prior experience and two new councillors who are showing their willingness to work, he said they can make a strong and unique council.
“My hope is we can work as a team. The previous council moved us forward and it is our duty to continue to move forward. As for the mayor suggesting my resignation, that isn’t going to happen,” he said.
He said the mayor calling for a vote before the question was taking away his right to discussion on a motion and he thought she should know the contents of the procedural bylaw.
Mayor James said she knows she makes mistakes and when she does, she doesn’t mind having them pointed out to her. As for the committees, she said in the case of the prior council the majority of the committees didn’t meet and were not bringing back reports.
Councillor Murray said the mayor had said committees were hogwash but the meeting that evening had not accomplished much and if they continue that way, meeting 12 times a year won’t accomplish much either.