Greater Napanee councillor Bob Norrie took a bold approach when he asked mayor Marg Isbester to resign during Sept. 28’s council meeting.
Norrie’s request is an extreme one and one that countered the advice of the town’s integrity commissioner, Laura Dean, who asserted such a stance would not be in the interest of the taxpayer. Norrie also openly question whether the town could fire the current integrity commissioner and seek a new one if they didn’t agree with the Dean’s suggestion that Isbester not be removed. Though no suggestion was made to do so, seeking a new integrity commissioner is an option that council could have pursued.
Regardless of one’s opinion on Isbester’s actions, the majority of council was wise to follow Dean’s advice.
Rare is it that an integrity commissioner would actually recommend a council pursue removing an elected official. The reasoning being it is almost always against the public’s best interests to incur significant legal costs in taking the matter to court. There’s also absolutely no guarantee a judge would even support such a removal.
Potential cost isn’t the only issue at play here. As the calendar flips to October, council is entering its final year of the term. The next municipal election is scheduled for Oct. 24, 2022.
After seeing much of their term reduced to a stand still due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the last thing this council should want is another freeze on action. If, hypothetically, the mayor were to step down, the next issue would be finding out how to select a replacement. When neighbouring Belleville council was tasked with replacing the late Pat Culhane-granted an entirely different situation-her seat was left empty for four months while council worked on a solution to fill the vacancy. Greater Napanee council doesn’t have that kind of time, especially with pressing matters such as the budget and discussion surrounding the proposed asphalt plant on the horizon.
There are some residents who will support Norrie’s idea that the mayor should step down, but they don’t speak for the entire voting population either. Those who feel another person should be mayor will have their chance to voice their opinion next October.
The results of the integrity commissioner’s report are well known by now. In short, Isbester was found to have contravened the town’s code of conduct following comments she made regarding two separate individuals. Isbester has since issued a formal apology to both.
In both instances there were much better and productive courses the mayor could have taken. Elected officials are held to a higher standard-but at the same time they’re only human. In a statement to council Isbester admits she should have used ‘different words to encourage a let up on my family and the people I work with’. In the era of social media where families of politicians are increasingly attacked through online comments, it’s likely not easy to ignore. It’s often enough to make one wonder how many qualified candidates see what takes place online and then become reluctant to put their name on the ballot.
Adam Prudhomme