Medicine Hat council ‘blindsided’ by mayor’s actions, councillor says in unredacted report

That report was trigged by a code of conduct complaint against the mayor after a tense exchange between Clark and the city manager.

Due to Clark filing for a judicial review in an effort to undo the sanctions she has called unreasonable, the full report is available through a Calgary court, giving a deeper glimpse into a council that was thrown into disarray.

Clark earlier this year publicly released her correspondence with the third-party Kingsgate Legal investigator.

Many of the now revealed redactions show what Coun. Shila Sharps, who filed the code of conduct complaint against Clark, told the investigator. It provides a fuller picture of what took place from her point of view.

Over the course of last year, newly-minted City Manager Ann Mitchell carried out a strategic reorganization of city hall.

During an August 2023 public meeting, Clark questioned Mitchell’s authority to make those decisions and implied she did so without council permission.

The unredacted report further reveals that, according to Sharps, the mayor did not raise any complaints about Mitchell’s changes ahead of the August meeting.

Then, at the 2023 meeting, Mayor Clark said she had gathered an outside legal opinion that she used to support her assertion that Mitchell had broken the law and the code of conduct.

It shocked and embarrassed council, according to Sharps.

Sharps, who through the unredacted report is further verified as the complainant, told the investigator in a letter that Clark spread incorrect information at the August meeting.

“It is evident that our chief elected official continued to make statements with the intention of misleading the public,” Sharps wrote in the letter that was initially redacted.

“She created a false narrative that our city manager had intentionally made erroneous decisions that cost the taxpayers dollars. Furthermore, her statements implied that we were now in a litigious position as a result of these decisions,” Sharps added.

“This blindsided us during the open meeting. These actions by [Clark] are clear violations of the code of conduct specifically in terms of integrity, transparency and diligent participation. I urge the council to address these violations and take appropriate action.”

Sharps described Clark’s exchange with Mitchell “absolutely reprehensible”.

The unredacted report provides some relief, Sharps said.

“Without a doubt, I feel vindicated, but not happy as we’re still in the same situation,” Sharps said in a statement to CHAT News on Monday.

“Council is not trying to win anything, we just want to move forward, we have tried so many different way to have conversations and there is zero interest,” Sharps added.

“So vindicated, yes, happy, no.”

The report was released in a redacted form on March 26 in accordance with Alberta’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and the city’s legal obligations.

But the city since provided an unredacted version of the report to the Court of King’s Bench in Calgary as required by the judicial review.

“Given the current court proceedings, further comment will not be made at this time,” the city told CHAT News in a statement Monday.

“Our primary focus remains on the provision of municipal service delivery to the community.”

A hearing in the judicial review has a hearing in court on Aug. 13.

Clark has not yet responded to a request for comment.

What the full report reveals

The full, unredacted report from the Kingsgate Legal investigator Michael Solowyn provides a broader picture of the weeks after the August 2023 meeting where the mayor’s misconduct occurred.

Mitchell, the city manager, was keeping council appraised on the changes she was making to city hall in the months leading up to the meeting.

Several councillors have confirmed to CHAT News that they were well aware of the restructuring leading up to passing a resolution.

Clark did not take any opportunities to dispute the revamp previous, according to Sharps’ account.

“If there was an issue regarding the city manager’s reorganization and the Administrative Organization Bylaw we should have known in advance,” Sharps said.

Instead, Clark put Mitchell into a corner it would be hard for her to get out of, according to now unredacted parts of a letter to the investigator from Sharps.

“We wanted to do it behind closed doors. There was opportunity to do that,” Sharps wrote.

“The mayor wanted to do it in public intentionally knowing it would be insubordinate for the city manager to defend herself,” she added.

The mayor, for her part, said in her responses that she felt the city manager was not listening to her concerns.

by Eli J. Ridder

Medicine Hat council ‘blindsided’ by mayor’s actions, councillor says in unredacted report

What the full report reveals

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