Medicine Hat city council meeting for the first time since sanctioning Mayor Linnsie Clark. (City of Medicine Hat)

By Eli J. Ridder | @EliRidder

Medicine Hat council holding first meeting since sanctioning mayor, residents plan rally outside city hall

Mar 25, 2024 | 2:00 PM

Medicine Hat city council on Monday is scheduled to meet for the first time since stripping Mayor Linnsie Clark of her powers, duties and half her salary as residents plan to rally against the sanctions outside city hall.

The unprecedented sanctions were voted into place last week after councillors found she broke its code of conduct in a tense exchange with the city manager during a public meeting last August.

READ MORE: Here’s the exchange that resulted in sanctions on Clark

Clark felt City Manager Ann Mitchell did not follow proper process when the top staffer carried out an extensive reorganization of city hall during the summer of 2023 and pushed her on it at an Aug. 21, 2023, meeting.

Political observers and the media continue to request a report from a third-party investigation into the August 2023 incident.

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The full investigation report by Kingsgate Legal will be release on Wednesday or Thursday of this week after redactions of the document are completed, a spokesperson told CHAT News on Monday.

READ MORE: The list of sanctions placed on Clark

The actions by council have had a mixed reception, with some saying the sanctions were too drastic, others in support and many left in confusion.

Clark labeled sanctioning “absolutely disproportionate” and said last week she was looking into her legal options. The mayor previously worked as a lawyer in the city solicitor’s office.

Council meets Monday night — the first time since the special meeting last Thursday when Clark’s powers were restricted — for a committee-of-the-whole meeting related to a tax incentive bylaw and the city’s upcoming environmental framework.

Clark has not yet confirmed if she will be in attendance. The mayor is able to attend the committee-of-the-whole and continue to have one vote on the horseshoe.

READ MORE: Former Alberta speaker says Medicine Hat council ‘an embarrassment to the whole province’

However, Clark will not be able to the chair the meeting, a job now left to the rotating deputy mayor position currently held by Coun. Allison Knodel.

Meanwhile, Medicine Hat resident Catherine MacKenzie has organized a rally outside city hall for 6:30 p.m. — the same time the meeting will get underway — with the aim of sending a message to council.

“We want open, transparent, honest and accountable leadership,” MacKenzie wrote in a description of the Facebook event page.

“Rescind the sanctions imposed on Mayor Clark and start working together for the betterment of Medicine Hat.”