ATHABASCA – Precisely one year to the day of the 2021 municipal elections, one of the victors for an Athabasca town council seat has handed in her resignation, with a byelection to fill that seat to be set in the coming weeks.
Town council accepted Loretta Prosser’s resignation letter during the Oct. 18 regular meeting after it was received by administration earlier that day. Council voted not to excuse an August absence by Prosser following an in-camera discussion during the Oct. 4 meeting, which disqualified the rookie councillor as per the Municipal Government Act.
Sct. 174(1)b of the MGA disqualifies an elected official if “the councillor is absent from all regular council meetings held during any period of 8 consecutive weeks, starting with the date that the first meeting is missed,” barring a council resolution. The first absence in question occurred Aug. 16, exactly eight weeks prior to the Oct. 4 meeting.
Sct. 175(1) of the MGA states “a councillor that is disqualified must resign immediately.” Processes to have the case heard and decided by a judge and then a potential appeal are laid out further, but Prosser says she is “numb” with the whole situation and is moving on to take care of her family and herself.
“It is with mixed feelings that I submit to you today my resignation from my position of Councillor with the Town of Athabasca Council, a position that I have held since this same time last year,” her 1,600-word resignation letter, which she provided to the Advocate, begins.
“I want to start off by sharing my gratitude for members of our local community who chose to elect me to represent them on the Town Council. My excitement of being able to help serve my community brought me such pride and joy from the first second of my campaign. From the get-go, I had such high hopes and positivity around what I could help to achieve taking part in the collaborative efforts of Council.”
Prosser goes on to point out some of the high points of the last year, including serving on the Communities in Bloom and Transportation committees, and said she took particular pride in being a part of Community Futures’ Lemonade Day and being a part of tri-council meetings with town council and officials from Athabasca County and Village of Boyle to discuss regional issues.
“I will miss the opportunities to take part in Committees such as the one’s above and to continue to share in conversation, and to continue to assist in the voices of our community members to be shared at various tables I was privileged to sit at,” Prosser’s letter continued.
In the second half of the letter, Prosser continued to plead her case regarding her recent absences. Prosser also laid out that case in a previous interview with the Advocate, showing she had a note from a local doctor saying she was seen Oct. 4 and should be “considered unfit for work” from Aug. 10 to Oct. 5.
“I never thought that things would come to this moment of me being disqualified and I continue to feel numb over all of this since being made aware of this on October 4, 2022. Perhaps this is something I will never fully understand, as the MGA Act had no absolute in this situation. I will always believe that there was resolution available as said law states,” her resignation letter goes on to say.
“In closing, I have shared a few of my thoughts on how it feels to live out your choice to disqualify me from my role on Council. My hope in this moment is that if by chance in the future a Council member brings forward the need to take a Medical Leave of Absence, or the need to discuss ways to help address their mental health and wellness - that their needs are not tossed aside and have them left to sort through all that they are going through in isolation and with no communication by the powers that be.”
Byelection
CAO Rachel Ramey told council she would bring forward options for a byelection at an upcoming meeting.
“Within the next couple of meetings, I will bring forward all the information on a byelection. It has to be held within 120 days of receiving the resignation and so that puts us into February,” she said. “I would lean toward having the byelection in February and nomination day in January sometime. We’ll get all of our ducks in a row and bring it forward.”
Policy changes in the works
Also on the agenda, earlier in the Oct. 18 meeting, was a request for decision from administration regarding proposed amendments to the Council Remuneration and Expenses Reimbursement policy (C‐COU‐REM‐1), as had been requested by council at the Sept. 19 meeting.
While the situation that led to Prosser’s resignation was not referred to directly, the proposed amendments to the policy were clearly written with the experience of the last two months in mind. To be abundantly clear, no one has accused Prosser of any impropriety or acting against any policy that was in place during her time on council.
Ramey noted three specific changes under the Standards heading:
“3. Councillors with unexcused absences for thirty (30) days or more will not be compensated their monthly remuneration expense;
“9. Registration Fees – Councillors will be reimbursed the cost of registration fees for duly authorized attendance at conventions, seminars, workshops upon submission of receipts. Where the Town pays the registration fees and the Council member does not attend, reimbursement will be taken from the next scheduled pay;
“14. Councillors with unexcused absences, and no communication, for thirty (30) days or more will not be compensated their monthly communication allowance.”
Coun. Sara Graling wondered if verbiage noting that councillor stipends could be prorated depending on when meetings are held, would make the policy clearer.
“I think the clearer we can make it in policy, the less grey area there is to handle when that comes up,” said Balay, adding that elected officials are not included in the labour standard but are expected to adhere to the municipality’s policies.
“This really hasn't been an issue until recently. I don't remember this being an issue of any council in the past but unfortunately, it did fall during our first year and so I think that necessitated us bringing forward something like this to facilitate councils in the future.”
To note, monthly time sheets that are shared as part of the meeting agenda package show that for August, Prosser collected the $1,000 base pay afforded to every councillor, along with an additional $420 for a Communities in Bloom meet and greet on Aug. 10 and a Communities in Bloom tour the next day. She did not submit a payroll sheet for September.
Council agreed to further think on the changes before making a motion and will further discuss at an upcoming council retreat.
