Brandon Sun - PRINT EDITION
So that’s how it all ends. Or does it?
Slipped into a comparatively busy news day in Brandon was an email at 3 p.m. from the city’s director of communications.
It was four-paragraph statement that partially lifted the cloud that has been hanging over Mayor Shari Decter Hirst’s head for the past few weeks.
We say partially, as this wasn’t a full exoneration for the mayor, but she has clearly been given the green light by council to continue her mandate.
Here are the key passages from the statement:
• “After careful consideration of legal advice provided by the City of Brandon’s solicitor and all available facts, Brandon City Councillors have decided they will not instruct the city clerk to seek a declaration from a Court of Queen’s Bench Justice regarding recent public concern of conflict of interest.”
• “Council accepts that actions undertaken by the mayor which may have been a breach of The Municipal Councils Conflict of Interest Act were not done with any improper motive and were an honest error in judgment, committed unknowingly or through inadvertence.”
In mid-May, the city clerk’s office sought legal advice with respect to the issue of whether Decter Hirst was in a conflict of interest because she participated in Renaissance Brandon meetings about the Brandon Folk, Music and Arts Society’s Strand Theatre re-development project.
Decter Hirst’s husband, Dr. Derry Decter, is the treasurer with the Brandon Folk, Music and Art Society, the group that is behind the Strand Project. The couple also owns property across from the Strand building, specifically 126 10th St., according to Decter Hirst’s filed declaration of assets at Brandon City Hall.
This is pretty much how we figured the whole matter would shake out.
The mayor was a little too big for her newfound political britches and has been taken down a notch or two.
She received a very firm slap on the wrist. And for such a proud and prominent figure in local and provincial political and social circles, that’s gotta hurt.
This situation could have turned out much worse for her, but over time this incident should amount to no more than a political stumble.
We remain convinced that Shari Decter Hirst is the right mayor at the right time for Brandon. We enjoy her enthusiasm, appreciate her ambition and look forward to one of her many great plans to come to realization (Canada Summer Games, WestJet air service, casino, brew pub, North Hill development, and the list goes on).
And we certainly hope her critics respect the decision of council on this matter and don’t attempt to pursue a legal remedy on their own.
The city clerk’s office is not the only party that can request a legal opinion or court ruling on conflicts of interest allegations involving municipal officials.
Any elector, or person who has the right to vote in the affected municipality, can make a similar request by applying to the Court of Queen’s Bench. They will need to pay the filing fee and provide an affidavit to the court stating their allegation and what the potential issue is.
But Brandon is on a roll and we don’t need that kind of unnecessary speed bump set in motion for cheap political or personal reasons.
We have to clearly understand that any actions by the mayor that “which may have been a breach” were “not done with any improper motive and were an honest error in judgment, committed unknowingly or through inadvertence.”
There was no damage to the city itself, no loss incurred by any group or citizen. There were no pockets lined, no brown envelopes exchanged.
What we do hope comes out of this are some clear guidelines from the City of Brandon on the role that the mayor and city councillors play in their respective appointments to commissions, boards or agencies.
After all, Renaissance Brandon was designed to be run by people with “skin in the game” concerning the future of our historic downtown.
What good will it be if several members — including a councillor who owns a downtown pub and chairs the board — have to recuse themselves from its decision-making process?
Republished from the Brandon Sun print edition June 8, 2012
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So that’s how it all ends. Or does it?
Slipped into a comparatively busy news day in Brandon was an email at 3 p.m. from the city’s director of communications.
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So that’s how it all ends. Or does it?
Slipped into a comparatively busy news day in Brandon was an email at 3 p.m. from the city’s director of communications.
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