Medicine Hat mayor mediation attempts kept quiet to avoid drama, councillor says

Councillors said last week it gave four attempts at mediation with Clark, who was sanctioned by a vote of council earlier this year.

Alberta’s minister of municipal affairs was present for one of those times and there was no resolution from that meeting either, councillors said.

“There was no solution because one of the parties chose not to go down that route,” Sharps told anchor Dan Reynish.

After people at the meeting took turns speaking, Clark said, “I have nothing to say”, according to a source who was at the meeting.

Seven councillors voted to strip Clark of her mayoral powers in March after finding she broke council’s code of conduct by failing to treat City Manager Ann Mitchell with courtesy, dignity and respect.

READ: Medicine Hat’s council divide deeper than one-off act of misconduct

Clark filed for a judicial review the city is still awaiting the results of after a hearing a week ago in a Calgary courtroom.

Sharps, who listened in on the hearing, said the lawyers defending the validity of council’s sanctions were “incredibly professional.”

“They were concise, they were distinct and they didn’t name of throw people under the bus, which I really do appreciate,” Sharps said.

Grant Stepon, Clark’s lawyer called City Manager Ann Mitchell “a liar” during the hearing.

As for if council can continue functioning until an election due next year, Sharps said she remains focused on what she was elected to do.

“Every day, I’m going to do my job, and I believe that the majority of us are in there every day doig our job,” she said.

“we can still disagree vehemently and still go upstairs and have a cup of coffee together. And that is what our citizens expect us to do,” she added.

“The citizens don’t expect that when we don’t agree with each other, or we’re upset with each other, that we’re going to sue each other.”

— with files from Dan Reynish

by Eli J. Ridder