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Editorial: Election debacle

Shock waves rippled through the community last week as word started to spread that Mayor Stewart Alsgard had suspended two senior city staff members.

Shock waves rippled through the community last week as word started to spread that Mayor Stewart Alsgard had suspended two senior city staff members. Many people could not believe that he would take such action in his bid to be re-elected for a fifth consecutive term in office.

Alsgard suspended Stan Westby, chief administrative officer, and Marie Claxton, city clerk, for what he claimed, in a widely circulated statement over the weekend, was a “strong appearance of political bias.”

Alsgard also stated that he subsequently agreed the suspension should be lifted “since I felt it had achieved its purpose in sending a strong cautionary message to staff that any appearance of political bias should be avoided.”

Yet, the City of Powell River’s press release about the suspensions stated the mayor and council unanimously reinstated the two senior staff and “further decided that there was no basis for confirming the earlier action taken by the mayor.”

The risk Alsgard has placed the city in lies in the vast gap between those two statements.

In suspending Westby and Claxton, Alsgard has damaged their reputations and inflicted personal distress on both of them. He also placed the city in a position of liability. If either of them successfully sues, the taxpayers will ultimately pick up the legal bill and any damages that may be awarded.

It’s widely believed that Alsgard suspended Westby and Claxton not because of any “appearance of political bias,” but because he was prepared to sacrifice them in his strategy of increasing his support in the November 19 civic election.

Some people have tried to make this campaign about one issue, co-treatment, the proposal to treat the city’s sewage at Catalyst Paper Corporation’s Powell River division. However, the liquid waste issue is only one on a list of serious decisions that will have to be made during the next three years.

Alsgard has adopted the phrase, “we are a city in transition,” as his campaign mantra. Yet, we’ve been a community in transition for all of the 12 years he has been in office. During that time, the city began a process of shifting taxes away from major industry to residents and businesses, yet failed to initiate any substantial cost reductions. The current council had to fight to bring in a third-party service review and the delay has resulted in voters not being privy to the report or the recommendations before they cast their ballots.

When residents do cast their ballots this Saturday, they need to decide who are the best people to lead the community for the next three years and deal with all of the issues facing our community, not just one.