"I'm not going to take this lying down: " Verhaeghe

The Town of Athabasca's council voted 4-0 to go to the Court of Queen's Bench in a push to disqualify Mayor Roger Morrill and Coun. Tim Verhaeghe.

At council's regular meeting on Feb. 16, Councillors Nichole Adams, Shelly Gurba, Joanne Peckham and Tanu Tyszka-Evans voted for town administration to prepare and execute an application to take Morrill and Verhaeghe to the Court of Queen's Bench. The court would then decide whether disqualification was warranted.

Coun. Steven Schafer was absent from the meeting. Both Morrill and Verhaeghe stepped out of council chambers for ìpossible pecuniary interest î when the motion was brought to the table.

ìYour motion says I'm liable - to who? How much? When? If you want to accuse me of liability, these are important questions, î Verhaeghe said before the motion was on the table.

He also said if the application goes to court, these kinds of cases are rarely successful.

ìI'm not going to take this lying down, î he said.

Adams said she did not think anyone at the council table was making the decision to disqualify them lightly and stated that the information as to why they were doing this was not public.

ìI know it must look very strange on the outside looking in, and that we can't necessarily disclose all of our thought processes because there is so much in camera or covered by FOIP that we are not at liberty to make public, î she said.

Tyszka-Evans asked Verhaeghe if he wanted to go in camera to discuss the liability, saying Verhaeghe knew ìperfectly well î the councillors could not speak of the issue publicly.

ìNo, I don't want to go in camera, î Verhaeghe said. ìWe have a gallery full of people who are tired of in camera sessions. î

Prior to the disqualification motion Feb. 16, town council also voted 4-2 to remove Morrill and Verhaeghe from all boards, committees, societies and commissions unless they were specifically referenced in the Municipal Government Act or procedural bylaw.

Town chief administrative officer Josh Pyrcz noted before the vote there is a procedural bylaw stating the mayor is an ex officio member of all committees.

Gurba made the motion, which was supported by Peckham, Tyszka-Evans and Adams.

ìYou're relying on the first motion to support this motion, î Morrill said, referring to a disqualification motion passed on Feb. 8. ìWhat is our liability? î

Feb. 8 special meeting

At a special meeting held Feb. 8, council voted to disqualify Morrill and Verhaeghe, even though council lacks the authority to do so - only a Court of Queen's Bench can disqualify a councillor or mayor.

The motion stated that it found Morrill and Verhaeghe ìliable to the Town of Athabasca î and called for their disqualification under the Municipal Government Act.

Morrill said in an interview on Feb. 15 that ìthe events of this past week are the culmination of almost two years of attacks by certain members on Coun. Verhaeghe and myself. î

ìThere has been no contravention of the MGA (Municipal Government Act) by Councillor Verhaeghe or myself, î he said.

Complaint against CAO

The Feb. 8 disqualification vote came on the heels of a motion by Verhaeghe to call the town's lawyer regarding a statement made by the former assistant chief administrative officer, that CAO Pyrcz was intimidating staff.

The former assistant CAO, Melody Wolansky, said in an interview that there is still a lot that she still cannot discuss, as it seems likely by council's actions - or inaction - these issues may presently be in front of the courts, or will be in the future.

ìI'm very disappointed by the actions taken against Mayor Roger Morrill and Councillor Verhaeghe, which are the experienced elected officials of our community, î she said, adding that though the items of the discussions are not public, the reasons for the motions should have been released.

ìThis is not conducive to doing business - this is putting hurdles in front of the business that council needs to be doing, î she said.

ìI'm not on anybody's side. For me, it's the interests of the entire organization and the community. î

Community speaks

Athabasca-Sturgeon-Redwater MLA Colin Piquette spoke to council on Feb. 16. He said he strongly encouraged council to give mediation a chance.

ìYou're not going to know unless you try, î he said. ìI would strongly encourage that people don't take a step that can't be revoked later. î

Community member Harmony Lamoreaux also spoke. She said she would love nothing more than to see council go to mediation.

ìYou want everybody's idea to be brought to the table, and not everybody to have the same opinion, î she said. ìYou have a hard job, to bring all of what you hear from different community members together, to sit at a table together and to make it work for us. î

ìYou're absolutely right, î Verhaeghe said. ìIt's going to cost tens of thousands of dollars of taxpayers' money. I know, because I'm in court weekly. I know what court applications cost. This one will be very expensive for the community. î

Calls to the offices of Morrill and Verhaeghe were not returned by deadline.