Medicine Hat mayor says questions to city manager were ‘needed’, continues transparency push

“I felt I had a duty to bring this to light. I felt like my tone was gentle and I was just asking questions that I felt needed to be asked in my duty as mayor,” she added.

It was Clark’s first interview since she was stripped of her mayoral powers and had her salary cut in half in an unanimous vote of council two weeks ago.

Anchor Dan Reynish interviewed Mayor Linnsie Clark on CHAT News at Noon.

Clark, who said she was probably at her house when the sanctions were imposed, expected her colleagues to find a breach in council’s code of conduct based on a report from a third-party inspector that stated there was “substantive” cause for misconduct.

“But certainly, I was quite surprised by the extreme nature of the sanctions,” Clark said.

Clark is no longer the default spokesperson for council, is prohibited from entering the administration area of city hall and from direct contact with city staff, is barred from the powerful administration committee meetings and is unable to chair council, among other limitations.

The mayor’s hoping to overturn the sanctions through a judicial review and maintained she would abide the results.

Coun. Andy McGrogan on Tuesday cast doubt on if Clark would indeed follow through on accepting the review’s findings, a statement the mayor brushed off.

“If the court says that the sanctions are reasonable, than that is what it is,” she said.

McGrogan said council will respect the findings of the review.

Clark said she was grateful of the support she’s received from Medicine Hat residents after getting a standing ovation at the last council meeting and those who celebrated as she announced plans for a judicial review of the sanctions.

“I feel very blessed to have so much support in the community,” Clark said, adding that municipal leaders from across Alberta and Canada have reached out in encouragement and to share advice.

“There’s certainly been a lot of wind in my sails from the immense support.”

While she no longer has many mayoral powers left, Clark said she still intends to continue chasing the objectives she was elected on as she awaits the results of the judicial review.

“I ran on transparency and accountability and good governance and, even when it’s difficult, I’ve shown that’s what I intend to pursue and continue pursuing,” she said.

“[It] clearly isn’t about me, it’s about the position and the people of Medicine Hat.”

— with files from Dan Reynish

by Eli J. Ridder | @EliRidder

Medicine Hat mayor says questions to city manager were ‘needed’, continues transparency push

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