Letter: Mayor Clark was doing just the job she was elected to do
By Letter to the Editor on March 26, 2024.
Dear editor, After watching the video of the council meeting on Aug. 21, 2023, this is what I understand: Mayor Clark was asking questions to the city manager. At no time did Mayor Clark raise her voice or act in a disrespectful manner. towards the city manager. She was simply asking questions. The city manager recognized she did not follow the proper procedures back in July regarding changes to the various divisions of the city, but decided to just keep on going thinking a memo from her to council would suffice. After a couple more questions, the city manager stated, she no longer wanted to answer questions from Mayor Clark. Then Coun. Sharps interrupted with a point of order and, subsequently, shut Mayor Clark down for doing her job. It looks to me that Coun. Sharps gave permission to the city manager to do whatever she wanted. It doesn’t matter that Couns. Hirsch and Dumanowski had told her this is the way it’s been done in the past. That’s exactly what we voted to change in the last election. We don’t want things to be done ‘willy nilly’ without following proper procedure. At no time was Mayor Clark disrespectful or rude to the city manager, nor to council members. To me, it looks like the councilors and the city manager are all incompetent. The city manager did not read the bylaws and the council members did not think it was important. Mayor Clark was pointing out the city had been functioning illegally for the past number of months and it seemed council was not concerned. In my view, this does not justify her removal. I encourage you to watch the video on Youtube. Bill Cooper Medicine Hat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxe7LSQqLe4&list=PLPNhxLWNLvNfRONmsbvlavz3FkNVD-5Rg&index=14 22-21
Excellent letter. Most people I have talked to agree that the Mayor was not disrespectful as you suggested. Great suggestion to encourage them to watch the video.