Medicine Hat city council will consider procedural changes. (CHAT News)

By Eli J. Ridder | @EliRidder

Medicine Hat council motions prepare for logistics of post-mayor governing

Apr 8, 2024 | 11:00 AM

Medicine Hat city council’s recent moves to take Mayor Linnsie Clark’s powers away will loom large at its Monday meeting as it considers procedural changes made necessary by the sanctions.

A group of seven councillors voted unanimously last month to eliminate most of Clark’s duties after finding she broke council’s provincially-mandated code of conduct in an interaction with the city manager in August 2023.

Now, council is required to fill the logistical gaps left by having what is essentially a mayor-in-name only.

Council will first consider a procedural change that will allow the deputy or acting mayor to partake in the process of setting the agenda, a crucial part of municipal governance.

Currently, the mayor, city manager and city clerk as the Administrative Committee decide the agenda — a power that Mayor Clark no longer possesses following the March 21 sanctions.

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The change, proposed by that committee — likely without mayoral support — proposes formally creating a Council Agenda Review Committee.

The proposal received review and approval by the city’s top lawyer Ben Bullock and acting city manager Brian Stauth on March 15, six days before the mayor was sanctioned.

Also up for consideration is formalizing a rotating chair for council meetings, a role typically filled by Clark now left empty by her new limitations.

Councillors during the March 21 special meeting passed a motion to address the appointment of a rotating chair at its next regularly scheduled council meeting on April 8.

The recommendation from City Clerk Larry Randle proposes the duties be performed by the coucillors who occupy the deputy mayor or acting mayor roles.

The councillor who occupies the deputy mayor role switches every 45 days.

These two changes are expected to pass with support from the councillors that voted unanimously to take away Clark’s powers.

Clark requests expense numbers

A written request for information from Mayor Clark is also on Monday’s agenda.

In the request, Clark lists different pieces of information related to expenditures and living expenses.

For 2020-2023, Clark asked for the number of city employees paid or reimbursed for living expenses and the basic terms of all severance agreements, including precise sums.

In the request, the mayor asks for a detailed accounting of all funds reallocated by the city manager in 2023 and the top staffer’s itemized expense and “P-Card” statements.

Clark also requests itemized expenses and “P-Card” statements from each managing director, the staff in charge of the city’s different divisions.

The mayor is seeking the staff turnover statistics from 2020 to 2023, by month, as well.

In the written statement, Clark does not outline why she is asking for the information but she has consistently called for more transparency

She also criticized the procedure used by City Manager Ann Mitchell in a reorganization of city hall last year, a tense exchange that led to an investigation and Clark’s powers being stripped away.

The statement is dated Feb. 20 and asks for it to be included in the March 4 meeting. CHAT News has reached out for comment from the city for more information on why the statement’s inclusion at a council meeting was delayed until April 8.

The Monday council agenda is the longest one in several weeks and could result in a lengthy meeting.