A group of Longview residents is demanding a judicial review after a petition signed by more than a third of the village’s population – requesting the bylaw appointing Dale Harrison as chief administrative officer be revoked - was declared insufficient.
Petition representative Kathie Selbee stated in a press release that residents have applied to the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta for a judicial review of how the petition was handled by the Village. Selbee told the Western Wheel in an email that she’s not willing to speak on the subject.
During a special council meeting on March 27, Harrison declared the petition insufficient based on section 233(2) of the Municipal Government Act because the petition was filed outside of the required timeframe.
The Municipal Government Act requires any amendment or repeal of a bylaw or resolution be filed within 60 days after the day it was passed. The bylaw was passed Feb. 21, 2017.
Mayor Kathie Wight said the petition caught her by surprise.
“Other than the fact that they want us to make a new bylaw to revoke Dale’s appointment I don’t know what the concerns are,” she said.
The Village received the petition, which contains 100 signatures, on March 10, said Wight, adding no one approached her regarding concerns about Harrison. Harrison declined to comment and asked that all questions be directed to Wight.
Wight said the Village consulted a lawyer, who determined the petition doesn’t meet the Municipal Government Act.
“We have complete confidence in our lawyer and in his area of expertise,” she said. “If they take it further we’ll just deal with that when it happens.”
Longview Deputy Mayor Christina Weir said she’s received complaints from residents regarding the CAO, but that she couldn’t discuss the nature of the complaints.
“I work very hard to resolve and get residents the answers and help they need and will continue to do so through this process,” she said.
Weir said she’s working with Harrison to address the concerns and that she’s hopeful for a resolution, “but in my opinion we are not there yet.”
Concerns expressed in Selbee’s press release address the Village not having an emergency management plan and its failure to adopt the 2017 Alberta Fire Smart Program despite concerns over the possibility of grass fires from adjacent lands.
“These concerns, verifiable in public documents, along with many additional concerns raised by petitioners day to day, compelled residents to ask council for a tangible remedy in the best interests of residents and the ratepayer,” the release reads.. “The petition has since been declared ‘insufficient’ by the CAO. The residents have now turned to the courts for a legal remedy.”
It also states that the Alberta Solicitor General conducted an audit of the peace officer program and reported seven key areas of concern, as listed in the Oct. 2, 2019 agenda package.
“Shortly after the Minister of Municipal Affairs concluded the operational review, January 13, 2020, the Village of Longview Peace Officer Program appears to be in disarray,” it reads.
In 2018, the Village underwent a provincial review after inspection team Sage Analytics spent a year researching documents and conducting interviews in response to a petition submitted to Municipal Affairs in 2016, signed by almost half of the village’s voting population, calling for the review.
Inspector Shari-Ann Doolaege described the village as being managed in an “irregular, improper and improvident manner,” said management was weak and that the Village operated in an environment of criticism and harsh treatment from a “shadow council” consisting of former staff and council.
She identified irregularities in Village bylaws, inconsistent performance evaluations of former CAOs, described council meetings as lacking formality and proper decorum with interruptions from the gallery and said decisions were made contrary to the Municipal Government Act.
In January, Minister of Municipal Affairs Kaycee Madu announced that Longview adequately addressed concerns in the provincial review inspection report and that the inspection is now concluded.
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