Nanaimo mayor Bill McKay has no plans to resign, despite a letter of non-confidence and calls for his resignation by the majority of council.
Seven of eight elected city councillors signed a letter expressing non-confidence in the first-term mayor and it was hand-delivered to him last week.
The action was revealed in an open council meeting Monday as council fielded questions and concerns from the public tied to alleged workplace bullying, but the letter itself has not been released. Some politicians are telling the News Bulletin it’s confidential or private correspondence.
Councillors have laid out concerns for their lack of confidence in the mayor’s leadership, including claims there’s no communication with council and staff, poor attendance at meetings and instances of speaking against the will of council.
While several elected officials report the letter calls for the resignation of the mayor, councillors also refer to it as a wake-up call.
Coun. Ian Thorpe said there have been issues for some time, it’s been getting worse and “we felt we needed to take some strong action.” He is sorry he felt he had to sign the letter, but wanted to signal to the mayor that things cannot continue as they have, adding that McKay has not been talking to councillors or responding to their requests through motions or messages and hasn’t shown a willingness to work with council or the new chief administrative officer.
Thorpe hoped there would be a response or a willingness to sit down and discuss issues, but that hasn’t happened.
In an interview with the News Bulletin, McKay said he will not respond to the letter, signed by all except Diane Brennan. Nor will he resign.
He doesn’t feel he’s been involved in bullying at city hall, as a councillor has alleged. He claims he’s not allowed to communicate with staff and only with city manager Tracy Samra by e-mail, and questions what values it brings if there’s an attempt to communicate with certain people and you get nothing but “full frontal attacks” that are completely off-topic.
If he’s missed council meetings in excess of what’s required by law it means he can be expelled from office and he has not done that, he said, and McKay argues that while he must follow through and support the will of council, he also has the right to express his opinion.
“You can’t silence an individual member of council just because they’re the mayor,” he said.
According to McKay, there is nothing in the letter about moving forward, a willingness to communicate or repair relationships. It was a demand for his resignation.
“I am not responding,” he said. “I made it clear at the meeting (Monday) I am not intending to resign. I was elected by the people to represent the people. I was not appointed by council.”
Coun. Gord Fuller told the Nanaimo Bulletin an e-mail was sent Monday on behalf of seven councillors calling for a response.
The mayor doesn’t have to resign, but council can look at other means of censure which could include removing him from committees, limiting what he says to the public and governing what he says to the press, said Fuller, who says the mayor has had every opportunity to change his behavior and has chosen not to do so.
Coun. Wendy Pratt calls the letter a wake-up call. A motion had already been passed with required actions from the mayor to which he did not respond.
“We sent that letter as a way of trying to get his attention, I guess…” Pratt said.
“I have worked collaboratively with the mayor in the past, I would like to do so again, but right now we’re not, and to me that [letter] was a way of saying, come on, let’s do something different than we’re doing.”
Heavy lifting and good work is being done behind the scenes, said Pratt, who says this is not the primary issue in terms of work at the council table. The hope is the mayor will respond and “we can come back to the table together,” she said.
McKay sees the letter as “serious,” but said he’s not the first mayor to receive such a letter and won’t be the last.
“The sooner we all realize we have to work together for the next two and a half years, the better off we’re all going to be. I’m prepared to do that,” he said.
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