Strait Shores municipal council is down to three members, after the resignation of Councillor Stacy Jones at the end of March. And with one of those members currently suspended, the council is currently unable to meet or make decisions.
The five person council saw the resignation of Mayor Jason Stokes on February 13, and on Tuesday, CAO Donna Hipditch confirmed to CHMA that Councillor Jones had resigned on March 26.
Jones had previously sent out a resignation letter via email on February 24, but rescinded the letter shortly thereafter.
Jones’s latest resignation leaves just three members–Deputy Mayor Annamarie Boyd, Councillor Tanya Haynes, and Councillor Andy MacGregor–still on council. Local Governance Commission director Mary Oley says via email that with three members, the Strait Shores council still technically has quorum.
But since Councillor Andy MacGregor is currently suspended until an investigation into a code of conduct complaint is complete, council has only two members able to attend meetings, and so cannot meet or make decisions. It’s not clear if or how the council will be able to meet to formally accept Jones’s resignation, or deal with the results of the investigation into the complaint against MacGregor.
Despite the apparent bureaucratic conundrum, Oley says that the Local Governance Commission has no authority to appoint a supervisor to take over governance of the municipality.
CAO Donna Hipditch says Jones’s resignation will not affect council’s April schedule, because this month’s meeting had already been cancelled while staff complete their move into a newly renovated municipal hall, just two doors down from their previous location.
Hipditch also told CHMA she expects the investigation into a code of conduct complaint against MacGregor could be completed in time for a regularly scheduled May meeting.
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