Report finds ‘sufficient evidence’ Medicine Hat mayor broke council code of conduct

The 36-page report stated there was “insufficient evidence to establish that [Mayor Clark] violated the code by obtaining a personal legal opinion and disclosing it to council, in public, during the Aug. 21, 2023, Council meeting.”

There were three findings in the Kingsgate Legal report into Medicine Hat Mayor Linnsie Clark. (CHAT News)

The report does not name Clark, referring to her as the “respondent”. Coun. Shila Sharps, who filed the complaint following the Auguest 2023 meeting, is referred to as the “complainant”.

The findings were already described by council when it voted unanimously to take away most of Mayor Linnsie Clark’s powers and cut her salary in half during a brief but consequential special council meeting on March 21.

Beyond the two major findings in the report — one pointing to the mayor breaking the code of conduct and the other not — a third conclusion found the complaint that triggered the investigation was not brought forward in bad faith.

The findings of investigator Michael Solowan are listed on page 34 of the document.

However, the complaint itself, along with a majority of the documents details, were redacted and hidden under gray boxes.

The amount of text redacted from the document have left residents who have asked for more transparency around council’s decision to sanction the mayor still frustrated over a lack of details.

The report includes a date of Feb. 27, meaning council had the findings for just over three weeks before councillors voted to strip Clark of her powers.

Mayor Clark is scheduled to address reporters in front of city hall at 11 a.m. on Wednesday. The press conference will be carried live by CHAT News here.

Clark knew of the reorganization for months

Coun. Sharps told the investigator the strategic reorganization of city hall was in the works for six months and that council was in-the-know.

Mitchell admitted she did not follow the correct process for the reorganization in full as the mayor pushed her on the subject during the public meeting.

Sharps said it was the wrong approach.

“Even if every word of what the mayor says is true, it should have been said in private as a confidential personnel matter,” Sharps told the investigator.

Sharps, echoing what she said during the August 2023 meeting, said council previously gave informal approval to the city manager’s restructuring efforts.

Mayor concerned by layoffs

Mayor Clark, listed in the report as the “respondent”, said council did not appear interested in the layoffs caused by the reorganization.

“In the community it was obvious that layoffs had occurred without Council first passing a resolution, which was Council’s authority to do,” Clark told the investigator.

“I wanted to understand how that happened so it wouldn’t happen again in the future.”

Clark said she was clear with council at a July 4 meeting and an Aug. 16 workshop that a bylaw had been broken and so it should not have been a surprise when she brought it up at the Aug. 21, 2023, meeting.

Next steps

Clark can no longer represent the city as mayor to the media, she’s unable to chair council or committee meetings and her powers to set the agenda have been eliminated, among other sanctions.

Legally, the mayor can appeal the findings of the report to the Court of King’s Bench located downtown Medicine Hat.

Clark said she was exploring her legal options in an initial statement after the sanctions were placed on her.

by Eli J. Ridder | @EliRidder

Report finds ‘sufficient evidence’ Medicine Hat mayor broke council code of conduct

Clark knew of the reorganization for months

Mayor concerned by layoffs

Next steps

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