As Medicine Hat council division continues, councillor says no way to regain trust

It’s not the council experience that Hider expected or wanted, she said, echoing what many of her colleagues have said over the past year.

“It saddens me that we wasted so much time on personality conflicts and things that don’t really help the city, so it’s a sad, sad topic for me,” she said.

“I wanted so much more. And when you run, you put your name on the ballot and you have ideas for the community. And this was not what any of us had envisioned.”

Hider said the recent often-divided votes speak for themselves.

“It’s eight to one a lot of times. And I think that says enough.”

Political consultant Jim Groom said in a recent interview that hopes that members of council “would go back to their neutral corners and have more cooperation” after the judicial review and the mayor’s apology to the city manager have not materialized.

“They don’t seem to be able to see each other’s views and I think they’ve entrenched themselves,” Groom said.

“They’ve dug in their heels on both sides and as a result, there’s not going to be any compromise.”

Mayor Clark, for her part, has given reasons every time she votes against am item. Many of those have been related to financial transparency.

Clark said she skipped council’s strategic planning meetings earlier this month because she didn’t know the cost.

“I think that that was the appropriate thing. We should know how much we’re spending on things before we do them,” Clark said.

The mayor changed her mind and supported the strategic priorities at Monday’s meeting after being reassured that business plans for different objectives would return to council for approval in November.

Clark said council doesn’t seem to be on-board with her effort for transparency.

“I’m not a 100 per cent sure you’d have to talk to them about it,” she said in response to a question from reporters.

The mayor said it’s not just Medicine Hat that has an issue with transparency.

“Generally, over the course of time, it’s not just a municipal government issue. It’s a, it’s a broader issue where over time we’ve kind of forgotten those crucial democratic principles that make us the country that we are in and the province that we are,” she said.

“I don’t know why they’re not interested in having that come forward, but you would have to talk to them.”

At council’s Sept. 16 meeting, Clark was alone in opposition to an updated code of conduct that also launched the search for an integrity commissioner.

The mayor at council’s first October meeting voted against reimbursing chief administrator Ann Mitchell for her legal fees in serving Clark with a cease and desist letter in 2023. She was joined by Coun. Alison Van Dyke in that case.

At the same Oct. 7 meeting, Clark said council was working to “thwart” access to information, becoming visibly frustrated over its handling of her request for a list of staff expense documents.

The mayor also skipped a pair of private sessions in early October meant to narrow down council’s priorities for the year that remains in its term.

While she ended up voting in favour of the “focused” strategic plan update earlier this week, Clark raised concerns over the cost and if council would have final approval.

While council does find unanimous support for many of the items it passes, this fall its often been the mayor as a sole “nay” when there is a divided vote.

Medicine Hat city council meets next on Nov. 4. The next election is scheduled for October 2025.

Clarification: “Recent” was added to the eighth paragraph to give added clarity that Coun. Cassi Hider was speaking about recent council votes.

by Olivia Thorington

As Medicine Hat council division continues, councillor says no way to regain trust

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