Council won’t be going through an inspection by the province’s Ministry of Municipal Affairs.
The motion put forward by Mayor Blake needed a majority to pass, but was defeated with a 5-5 tie.
Blake says she thinks the review would have gone hand-in-hand with an external audit council approved last meeting.
“I thought that it would make sense that at the same time as we’re going through the organization review that we’d take a look at ourselves, despite the components that are included in that audit that we’ve approved,” she adds, ” What I’m looking for is just how we carry out our business as elected officials.”
Councillor Tyran Ault says it would have been a benefit if it was passed.
“Speaking for myself, it would have been good to know that I was doing the right thing and I guess now as we go forward we’ll have to continue with team building through some of the stuff that we’ve done and build upon what we’ve had at the retreat,” he continues, “and so I don’t think it’s opportunity lost by any means. We have a lot of smart people on council that we can continue moving forward and working as a team.”
Blake says she thinks her fellow council colleagues stood to gain with the inspection.
“I am personally observant about my own conduct. I can see what other folks are doing and when I try to offer advice, I don’t seem to get anywhere with the advice that I’m giving,” she explains, “so I don’t know how to help people be better in the rules and responsibilities that we have to serve.”
Councillors Germain, McGrath, Boutilier, Bussieres, and Cardinal all voted against the motion, calling it unnecessary in light of the audit.
Council also voted to donate $125,000 to the Sustainival green carnival, which is about 19% of it’s $650,000 budget.
Last year, Sustainival’s budget was $354,000 and council donated about $70,000.
This year, Sustainival organizers almost doubled last year’s budget and this year council approved giving it about $50,000 more than last year.
