Clark Drama Only Inflamed Further by Release of One Sided Documents
Clark’s release of redacted documents questions her integrity as far as the “whole truth”, transparency regarding her behaviours and actions beyond the August 21st council meeting at the centre of the code of conduct breach.
Medicine Hat - The ongoing saga of Mayor Clark and council got a little more dramatic this week as Clark took to the steps of city hall and in front of supporters and media made her statement on the sanctions.
After her press conference she released documents on social media from her side of the argument and shed some light on what may be at the core of the conflict with the CAO.
In an email that was part of her document release there were questions regarding CAO Mitchell’s authority to eliminate the Chief of Staff and Public Relations positions from the Mayor’s team. In Clark’s email to Mitchell dated October 23, 2023, she referenced a closed council meeting of July 4, 2024 in which she stated Mitchell had told Clark that Mitchell had unilateral authority to eliminate the two positions in question.
Clark redacted parts of the email and one could only assume the info redacted would reflect badly on Clark. So much for the transparency she stated should stood for in her press conference.
No Mayor in the history of Medicine Hat has ever needed a Chief of Staff or a Public Relations position to assist in their execution of duties. The Mayor is a full time job paid $154k and these positions were costing taxpayers approximately $200k a year and were deemed not beneficial to the role when it was decided to eliminate them.
Since any items discussed in closed council are not to be disclosed in public, it could be argued that Clark has now further violated all of section 9 of the Code of Conduct bylaw as she has now disclosed information from an in camera meeting. Read the Code of Conduct bylaw here. https://www.medicinehat.ca/en/government-and-city-hall/resources/Documents/Bylaws/4492.pdf
So even though she is seeking a judicial review of the sanctions against her, council and administration is now reviewing further breaches as a result of her release of documents on Facebook.
Clearly this will not come to a quick conclusion and with council united against Clark her continual actions will only alienate council further. Her handful of vocal supporters may not find satisfaction they wish in the outcome.
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