Alberta Government Dismisses City of Chestermere Councillors and Senior Staff

Alberta government has dismissed four members of Chestermere city council including all three chief administrative officers (CAOs) due to failure to comply with the demands to fix its mismanagement.

Minister of Municipal Affairs Ric Mclver issued a ministerial order dismissing the staff on Monday. According to a new release by the Alberta Government, Minister Mclver dismissed Mayor Jeff Colvin, Coun. Mel Foat, Coun. Blaine Funk and Coun. Stephen Hanley as well as the three CAOs.

The dismissal reportedly came after the city “failed to comply with the supervision of the official administrator and some of the Minister’s directives that have been in place since Mach 15, 2023.” The release stated that the directives were issued in order to “restore good governance to the City of Chestermere, following a municipal inspection.”

“…After undertaking all reasonable efforts to have the city comply with its obligations, it has failed to do so. I am profoundly disappointed that it has come to this, but the people of Chestermere deserve better. This community should be able to have trust in its local elected government”, said Minister Mclver.

The Minister of Municipal Affairs, under the Municipal Government Act (section 571), had reportedly ordered an inspection in May 2022. The inspection, which concluded in Sept. 2022 had found the City of Chestermere to be managed “in an irregular, improper and improvident manner.”

On March 15, 2023, the then-minister of Municipal affairs, Rebecca Schulz had told the city leaders to comply with 12 binding directives through a ministerial order requiring the councilors to address key issues.

Some of the key issues identified included improper process of handling code-of-conduct complaints, late fillings of audited financial statements, and improper and irregular contact between council members and staff.

The release says the ministerial order dismissing the council members and CAOs is effective Dec. 4. The province says an official administrator and interim CAO are in place to oversee the City of Chestermere’s governance and operations until a by-election is held at a date to be determined next year.

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