From Gananoque Reporter
It was 42 days ago that Mary Ellen Moulton made a presentation to the Township of Leeds and the Thousand Islands council regarding the termination of CAO Malcolm Morris.
At Tuesday night’s meeting, Moulton received answers to those questions but said she was less than pleased with the response from council. She said several times she had been in contact with the clerk and Mayor Bruce Bryan to ask when she would receive a response. “The answer varied depending on who and when I asked.”
Monday night the answers were provided. “Following tonight’s (Monday) council meeting, I asked again,” Moulton said in an email to The Reporter. “The mayor said the clerk, Vanessa Latimer, had it with her and would get it for me when she was no longer busy with some other people. When Vanessa came to me, she had a piece of paper in her hand, with no envelope, and handed it to me. I was astounded that they didn’t at least have the courtesy to print the answers on letterhead, address it to me and have it signed by the mayor and clerk.”
Here are the questions and answers (the answers received from the township are printed in bold):
1, Were minutes taken at the in camera meeting of Feb. 24? Yes, minutes were taken at the in camera meeting on Feb. 24.
2. Are the minutes of the Feb. 24 in camera meeting available to me? Please provide them in your response to this request. No, the in camera minutes are not available to the public.
3. Does the Township of Leeds and the Thousand Islands have a procedure bylaw rule concerning closed meetings? What is the procedure bylaw rule? Was it followed for the meeting on Feb. 24? Yes, the township has a procedural by-law rule concerning closed meetings Section 2.07 of By-law #15-004, which is exactly the same as Section 239 (2) of the Municipal Act. Yes, it was followed for the meeting on February 24, Section 2.07 (b) “personal matters……”
4. Did Council as a whole have any discussions about the CAO’s performance or duties prior to Feb. 24? Best way to determine this is to review the minutes online.
5. Did council as a whole request a legal opinion for the meeting of Feb. 24? No.
6. Who received the legal opinion from the lawyer? Confidential – in camera matter.
7. Who was the lawyer? How was this opinion delivered to the Feb. 24 meeting? Confidential – in camera matter.
8. When was the agenda for the meeting of Feb. 24 posted on the website? The agenda was posted on the website Thursday morning February 24.
9. Was any other means used to inform the public of this special meeting? The notice of the public meeting was posted on the website under breaking news on Feb. 23 as well as the information board outside the office at the road.
10. Was the vote unanimous? If not, what was the vote, in numbers? Not a recorded vote.