Chestermere City Council held a special meeting of council on April 17 to review the investigation and report stemming from accusations of unprofessional conduct made against Councillor Laurie Bold in January.
The complaints of conduct contravening the Elected Officials Code of Conduct bylaw were made by all five of the other city councilors.
An investigation was undertaken and council reviewed the report and deliberated on what actions or sanctions to take against Bold.
As written in the minutes of the meeting, Bold was found to have contravened the code of conduct bylaw through, “inappropriate behaviour in Council meetings; exhibiting behaviour that created an unproductive or poisoned work environment; inappropriate use of social media; and, failure to treat staff with courtesy and respect.”
The minutes also showed that council determined that Bold had contravened the bylaw with the, “publication of libelous statements on social media.”
Upon review of the report, which was done in camera, council decided that city council would demand a written apology from Bold for both contraventions of the bylaw.
The apology was to be presented to council by May 1 and recorded in the minutes of the following council meeting May 7.
“As a result of the report and her response council deliberated and felt that it was appropriate than an apology be given by Councillor Bold, which she has,” said Chestermere’s Mayor Marshall Chalmers.
The written apology as well as the minutes of the special meeting of city council where the demand for apology was passed by council were printed in the public agenda for the May 7 council meeting that was released on May 3.
The agenda shows that one letter of apology was received on April 30 prior to the May 1 deadline.
At the time that the agenda was published, neither the letter nor minutes had been officially approved by or deliberated on by city council.
Mayor Chalmers said that he expected both to happen during the May 7 council meeting which occurred after The Anchor’s print deadline.
“The matter’s been dealt with,” he said, “we’re all human we welcome Councillor Bold’s input on the committees and meetings.”
Chalmers said that the city has followed the procedures outlined in the code of conduct bylaw.
“The citizens of Chestermere expect each and every one of us on council to conduct our affairs with decorum and professionalism and that’s exactly why we have the code of conduct in place,” he said.
Chalmers said that regardless of who it is, council will be held accountable for their actions.
“The citizens of Chestermere can rest assured that we’re going to be held accountable each and every one of us,” he said.
