Former city clerk says sanctions on mayor are embarrassing, should be reversed

“I found it staggering, I found it embarrassing — particularly for Medicine Hat — and I thought it was overkill,” Godin told CHAT News.

Larry Godin says the moves by council go too far. (Adrian St.Onge/CHAT News)

“They should put it on a shelf and let it resolve itself and get back to serving the people of Medicine Hat.”

A petition launched by Clark supporter Kym Porter earlier this week demands councillors overturn the sanctions and restore Clark’s mayoral powers.

While the total number of signatures is not yet known, Medicine Hat residents shared their concerns.

“I believe there is corruption going on in Medicine Hat, and I think there’s more to blame here than pointing the finger at one individual ,” one Hatter said after signing the petition.

“They should learn how to get along and start serving this community properly and go back to the fundamentals and the basics and start co-operating to make this city a better place for us.”

Another resident shared their opinion.

“I just feel really unhappy with the current state of affairs with the council,” he said.

“I followed with great interest the situation that saw her [the mayor] penalized very heavily.”

“I took the time to look at the video on that meeting, didn’t think it was at all justified [the sanctions] and I’m really unhappy that council seems to be losing their effectiveness.”

Kym Porter, a petition organizer, said that there’s more work to do even if the sanctions are lifted.

“Beyond the sanctions dropped, the best possible outcome is council, including the mayor, including the city manager, are able to come together with some sort of mediation process to use their collective skills to work for what’s in the best interests of their citizens,” Porter said.

“That’s why they ran in the first place,” she said.

“I think it’s going to be extremely tough for them to do that, there needs to be some healing, but in my mind that would be the best possible solution.”

Petition signing will be available at the college Sunday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. and will also be available in the Legion Room in the Medicine Hat Public Library on Thursday.

People looking to sign the petition can do so in person or, alternatively, can reach out to organizers directly.

by Adrian St.Onge, Eli J. Ridder

Former city clerk says sanctions on mayor are embarrassing, should be reversed

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