Linnsie Clark looks on during a Southeast Alberta Chamber of Commerce event on Thursday. (Eli J. Ridder/CHAT News)

By Eli J. Ridder | @EliRidder

Medicine Hat mayor posts council document explaining her ask for city employee expense statements

May 2, 2024 | 3:00 PM

Mayor Linnsie Clark says there’s no reason a series of city employee expense statements can’t come before a public Medicine Hat council meeting and released a document explaining why she wanted the information.

“I have a duty to enquire and obtain information about the operation and administration of the city from the city manager,” Clark told reporters at a business event Thursday.

“That entitles me to receive the information,” she said.

The file she released on social media is a version of what she sent to councillors after they implored her to explain why she wanted the financial data in April.

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Clark earlier this year requested a detailed accounting of all finds reallocated by the city manager in 2023, staff turnover statistics from recent years and several other financial items.

The mayor has maintained there shouldn’t be any opposition to the information being provided in a public council meeting since she is legally entitled to request it under the Municipal Government Act.

“My intention in marking the Written Inquiry was not to ask for Council’s permission to receive the Information,” she wrote in an email to council that was part of the files she released Thursday.

“Rather, I made the Written Inquiry so the Information would be provided for discussion during an Open Council Meeting.”

When Clark’s request first appeared before public council on April 8, the meeting ran long and no discussion on the item took place. However, councillors asked the mayor to submit a document explaining the reasoning behind her ask.

Clark sent the explanation to councillors’ inboxes just minutes before the April 22 meeting. Councillors then voted unanimously to push back Clark’s item to the next regular meeting, against Clark’s wishes.

The next council meeting is on May 6 and it’s expected Clark’s request will be up for debate.

Asking for the numbers

In the written 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.