Many county residents have been privately grumbling about the direction the current council is taking, but now one residents is putting a face to those complaints.
Former reeve Ken Mead said last week he’s been looking into options for circulating a petition to recall the current council.
Nothing formal has been established yet, he said, because the Municipal Government Act only explicitly allows petitions asking for specific bylaws, an audit, a viability study or a governance inquiry.
“What I have not been able to figure out yet is if we petition for a recall, is it a just and viable petition, using that terminology?” said Mead last week.
“There’s no sense going out there and getting signatures on a piece of paper that the minister looks at and throws in the shredder because it’s not a viable petition.”
Mead said his main concern is that this council appears to be overstepping its authority as a governing body by trying to get involved in the day-to-day operations of the county, which is something the CAO alone is tasked with doing according to the MGA.
“They’re doing things so grotesquely wrong as to what their governance mandate is,” he said. “They’re a board of directors; they shouldn’t be involved in the day-to-day operation of the business. They know that.”
Specifically, he has concerns about the severance offer recently made to all county employees. Reeve Bud Massey has said the matter was discussed in-camera, and council gave CAO Peter Kelly support to make the offer.
“That’s a violation,” Mead said. “There should have been no discussion. Peter Kelly as the CAO should have said, ‘I will be making changes, and I will make you aware of them as they happen.’ He doesn’t need to discuss them with council. That’s his job as the CAO.”
Mead served as county reeve from 2004-2007, and failed to get re-elected in 2007 and 2010. He conceded that past may give the impression he’s getting involved for personal reasons.
“I haven’t been making phone calls to people and asking what we’re going to do. I’ve been getting the phone calls,” he said. “Some people will say he’s just a jaded person who didn’t get re-elected. If I don’t get re-elected, I’m okay with that. I just want this community to do well.”
He said he would not rule out the possibility of another ran at a council seat, if he hears from people in his riding that they want him to represent them.
In the meantime, he said he will continue to do his research and seek legal advice about how best to address what he sees as the problems with this council.
“Yes, there will be a petition going around,” Mead concluded.
