Both former councillors hurl allegations toward City council before leaving behind empty seat
Next week’s council meeting in Mount Pearl will look different.
That’s because the city’s council has, as of Tuesday June 30, been reduced by two seats due to the eviction of Andrea Power and Andrew Ledwell in the latest installment involving Chief Administrative Officer Steve Kent, whose $200,000 a year position was also terminated last month.
The decision to evict Power and Ledwell was not made lightly, according to Deputy Mayor Jim Locke, but it was necessary.
“The evidence suggested that they were colluding via facebook messenger on a regular basis to find ways to influence other councillors, there was evidence of coaching by Mr. Kent with respect to these two councillors on what to say to the investigator, and what questions or issues to raise in these privileged or private meetings of council,” said Locke. “There was evidence that some of the information that was discussed at privileged meetings of council had been shared with Mr. Kent by Mrs. Power and Mr. Ledwell.”
Locke described the messages as strategizing to get Kent back into his job as CAO.
“It was a clear violation of the responsibility of a member of council to remain unbiased in any decision making, and it was clearly a breach of our policy,” Locke said.
At the June 30 where they were evicted, both Power and Ledwell took the opportunity to respond to the charges with prepared statements.
Ledwell said that he would be getting the police involved, while Power stated she planned to file a Supreme Court appeal.
The two also aired other allegations involving the City, none of which have been proven in court.
Ledwell raised the matter of a separate investigation into an approximate $100,000 that he said had gone unaccounted for, as well as millions in unpaid business taxes.
To that, Locke told The Pearl he could not go into detail since the matter is currently an RNC issue.
“I love this city and it breaks my heart to have to do this, but someone needs to stand up to the bullying and intimidation happening behind closed doors, and do the right thing. I cannot allow the cover ups to continue by people who we have put in positions of responsibility,” Ledwell wrote in a press release. “This council is failing this city.”
Power, meanwhile, denied the conflict of interest allegations, but levelled an allegation of her own, accusing Mayor Dave Aker of having made an unflattering remark about a woman.
“At a community event, open to the public and attended by many members of council, the Mayor clearly made an oinking noise at her when she reached for a cookie, which were available to everyone in attendance,” claimed Power. “This woman reached out to me shortly after the event, clearly upset by this behaviour, and wanted to discuss it. She ultimately decided at that time to not pursue it and did not file a complaint with the City of Mount Pearl, as I had suggested. This behaviour was quite obviously disturbing to me. I have struggled to keep silent. However, until recently, I was not in a position to share it.”
Given the allegation made against him by Power, Mayor Aker absented himself from the vote on whether to declare her seat vacant because of the alleged conflict of interest communications with Kent.
The motions against Power and Ledwell carried unanimously.
“If this were to all become public, people will know the evidence that council was presented with, and the evidence from which we based our decision … I think that would bring clarity to people as to why council felt obligated to take the actions they had to take,” Locke said Tuesday.
The legal counsel and investigations come with a hefty cost, but Locke said that is unavoidable. The initial workplace investigation into Kent still underway as well.
“We are an employer here. We have close to 300 employees with the City of Mount Pearl, and have respectful workplace policies in place, we have a harassment free workplace policy in place, and so we’re obligated to ensure these policies are followed,” said Locke. “Anytime an allegation is brought forward, we treat it extremely seriously, and there’s a cost to protecting our workers.”
In her statement on June 30, Power cited the City as having already spent around $50,000 on the investigation into Kent.
As for filling the two vacant seats, Locke said it is too early to say for certain when or if a by-election will be held. The outcome of the threatened legal procedures by Power and Ledwell, if they proceed, would likely determine whether they can regain their positions, or even be allowed to seek election. The next municipal general election is set for next fall. Under current municipal legislation, a councillor whose seat is vacated because of a conflict of interest, is barred from seeking election for two years.
