Former Mayor Reacts to Code of Conduct Complaints Being Dismissed by Parkland County Council

Parkland County, AB

The former mayor of Parkland County, Rod Shaigec is concerned about the actions of the current county council. He has filed several code of conduct complaints against current mayor Allan Gamble, and members of council in the past few months. Last week, during a special meeting held mostly in closed session, council separated the complaints and ultimately found his complaints invalid. 

"They've demonstrated a complete disregard for the sanctity of public office and I'd also say the oath that they took to serve the residents of the  County," Shaigec told the One during an exclusive interview. "I believe Parkland County residents deserve better, so I will contemplate how I can proceed and hold them accountable."

Shaigec believes by splitting the complaints, council may have violated it's meeting procedure bylaw, violated clauses in the MGA dealing with pecuniary interest provisions which thereby disqualifies them from council and breached the county's code of conduct bylaw. 

The complaints originate over allegations of financial improprieties, transparency and oversight. Shaigec says he is disappointed, but not surprised with the dismissal of the complaints, and the way they were handled.

"They didn't provide and defensible or reasonable arguments to establish why," Shaigec said. "To me it was evident, looking at the policy, that there were contraventions of the code of conduct and failure to comply with council policies. The Renumeration Policy. Yet, they dismissed it."

For now, Shaigec thinks council believes the matter is closed with the dismissal, but he says there a couple of complaints that were deferred and tabled until August. 

"I don't know what those are. This is one of the other issues that I have, the manner that it was dealt with. The complaints were dealt (with) in a manner that the public didn't even know what the complaints were based on."

Shaigec is contemplating his next step in the process. His options include filing another complaint with the ombudsperson's office or writing a letter to the Minister of Municipal Affairs, Ric McIvor asking for an inquiry or an investigation.