During Wednesday evening's council meeting, Acting Mayor Blair MacKinnon read a statement by Integrity Commissioner Colleen Hannigan of Expertise for Municipalities (E4M) condemning the actions of former Huron Shores Municipal Councillor Roger Mulligan.
Hannigan could not attend the meeting, so she asked that her report be read into the record in its entirety despite Mulligan having resigned a few days prior.
"In light of Councillor Mulligan's resignation, there will no longer be a need to discuss or debate the penalties associated with these recommendations," Hannigan wrote in her report. "However, the findings of the report remain critical in understanding the issues addressed, and we encourage council to reflect on them, to ensure ongoing adherence to the code of conduct and principles of good governance."
The report condemns Mulligan for attempting to "conduct municipal business through email, contravening the Municipal Act's open meeting provisions and undermining the transparency and accountability."
Mulligan was censured for further offences Hannigan called serious.
"These include repeated verbal disrespect towards municipal employees and public criticism of their work which created a toxic and unhealthy work environment," read her report.
He was also criticized for unauthorized disclosure of confidential information from a closed session of council.
In addition to being a violation of Ontario's Municipal Act, this disclosure compromised the integrity of council and undermined its decision-making process as well as public trust, Hannigan wrote.
Mulligan officially resigned on January 13 citing high blood pressure and personal health reasons for his decision to step down. His letter of resignation, council laptop, power cord and slipcase were hand-delivered by Marilla Mulligan, according to the letter in the agenda package for Wednesday's meeting. It is stamped received and a handwritten note appears on it confirming receipt on January 13 at 12:04 p.m.
"I sincerely apologize to all those who voted for me with the hope that change would follow, but have come to realize that change is not what the majority of council (or staff) want, so I have no useful place at the table anyway," Mulligan wrote in the letter.
Council vacancies and how to fill them
Mulligan's resignation came just days after the mayor of Huron Shores resigned leaving a second vacancy at the municipal table.
Consequently, council officially declared the mayor's seat and the Ward 1 (former Township of Thessalon) seat vacant at Wednesday's meeting.
Following a consensus among councillors that the seats should be filled as soon as possible they picked January 22 to hold a meeting to decide how the vacancies should be filled.
Council will have two options to consider: appointments or a by-election.
If it chooses to fill the vacancies on council by appointment, council could call for eligible individuals from the community to apply to be appointed mayor or as the Ward 1 councillor. A current member of council could be appointed mayor, in which case his or her seat would have to be filled by appointment.
Another option council could consider is to appoint a candidate from the 2022 municipal election to fill any or all of the vacancies on council. It could also appoint a member of council as mayor and either call for applications from the public or appoint a willing candidate from the election to fill the council seats left vacant.
In any case, seats filled by appointments must be filled by March 16.
"In order to be considered for appointment," says the CAO/clerk's report to council, "individuals must meet the qualifications as outlined in the Municipal Elections Act, and listed below:
- Reside in or be the owner/tenant of land in the municipality, or spouse
- Canadian Citizen
- At least 18 years of age
- Not be prohibited from voting under section 17(3) of the Municipal Elections Act or otherwise by law."
If council decides to fill the vacancies with a by-election, it will need to pass a by-law to that effect. Nominations for the by-election would have to be completed no more than 60 days after the by-law is passed and the by-election be held within 45 days of nominations.