Alleged attempts to remove the city’s chief administrative officer from an interim position, including “threats to dissolve council,” are among reasons seven councillors have called for Mayor Bill McKay’s resignation, a statement shows.
Seven city council members released a statement through the City of Nanaimo after press time Wednesday, on their reasons behind a call for the mayor’s resignation.
It comes on the heels of Monday’s open council meeting where it was revealed the majority of council has given the mayor a letter of non-confidence. It was hand delivered on March 8.
According to the statement, councillors Jim Kipp, Bill Bestwick, Jerry Hong, Wendy Pratt, Ian Thorpe, Bill Yoachim and Gord Fuller signed the document because of alleged “poor attendance” by McKay at council meetings of which he’s attended 18 of 29 in the past three months and the failure by the mayor to respond to questions posed to him by council and the CAO for nearly three months. It also claims McKay failed to carry forward the wishes of the majority of council on a number of key issues, “thereby undermining the majority council vote.”
“There are seven councillors who are enjoying working together and it is most unfortunate that the mayor has chosen to follow his own agenda, which undermines council as a whole,” seven councillors jointly said.
McKay would not respond to the statement nor comment on the specific allegation that he made repeated attempts to remove the CAO from an interim position, including threats to dissolve council. He said he will be issuing a statement in the next 48 hours.
“Thereís two sides to every story,” he said.
