Province dismisses Chestermere councillors and managers, citing failure to fix dysfunction
The Alberta government has dismissed the City of Chestermere's mayor, several municipal councillors and all three of its chief administrative officers, citing the city's failure to act on demands to fix its mismanagement.
On Monday, Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver issued a ministerial order dismissing the staff.
Speaking to reporters at the legislature, McIver alleged the city failed to comply with the supervision of the official administrator and some of the minister's directives that have been in place since March 15.
Chestermere is home to more than 20,000 residents. It's located immediately east of Calgary.
McIver has dismissed Mayor Jeff Colvin, Coun. Mel Foat, Coun. Blaine Funk and Coun. Stephen Hanley, as well as the three chief administrative officers.
"Enough is enough," said McIver.
"Every municipality in Alberta must comply with their legal obligations, and those who choose not to will be held accountable."
McIver said the province had gone out of its way to help Chestermere comply with its legal requirements, but that the city still fell short.
McIver said the remaining three councillors — Shannon Dean, Sandy Johal-Watt and Ritesh Narayan — were not fired because they have worked to try to hold council to account and to move it in a more positive direction.
With the firings, Chestermere council does not have enough elected leaders to legally meet, meaning the three remaining councillors will not govern until byelections can be held next year to fill the vacant seats.
Administrator appointed to run city
In the meantime, McIver said the city will be run by an administrator, Douglas Lagore, who was appointed by the province more than a year ago to supervise and sign off on council's actions.
An interim chief administrative officer has also been appointed.
McIver said there will also be a third-party review of Chestermere's finances.
Coun. Johal-Watt said she felt vindicated hearing the news, and believes the province's decision is in the best interest of the people of Chestermere.
"I feel quite relieved hearing the news," she said. "I never could have in my wildest dreams imagined that Minister McIver would essentially boot the four members of council plus the three CEO's and keep us three."
The Chestermere city council. Left column from top: Mel Foat, Blaine Funk, Sandy Johal-Watt. Centre: Mayor Jeff Colvin. Right column from top: Shannon Dean, Stephen Hanley, Ritesh Narayan. (City of Chestermere)
Mayor Jeff Colvin, Coun. Mel Foat, Coun. Blaine Funk and Coun. Stephen Hanley did not respond to CBC's requests for comments.
CBC News reported in March that following a months-long investigation into allegations of inappropriate conduct by Chestermere council — which then-minister of municipal affairs Rebecca Schulz said was managed in an "irregular, improper and improvident manner" — its leaders were told to comply with 12 binding directives.
In the 215-page inspection report, municipal governance consultant George Cuff analyzed Chestermere's governance from when council was elected in October 2021 to when the report was submitted in September 2022.
Cuff highlighted a strong division between council members, where there was perceived to be a "block of three councillors." He said some councillors reported feeling bullied and demeaned by the mayor and other members of council.
During the time of the review, Cuff said 62 employees had left the organization — four retired, 19 left involuntarily and 39 left on their own terms.
Some other key concerns identified in the report included:
Irregular chief administrative officer (CAO) model, with administrative duties completed by some council members.
Improper process of handling code-of-conduct complaints.
Improper and irregular contact between council members and staff.
Improper and irregular treatment of staff by members of council.
Late filings of audited financial statements.
The report also made 16 recommendations aimed at improving local governance.
Included among the directives were hiring a consultant to review the effectiveness of the city's three-CAO structure as well as a consultant to address conflict among council members.
Schulz said in March that if the directives weren't fulfilled, further sanctions could be taken, including the dismissal of councillors and CAOs.
