Rocky Mountain House Mayor Debbie Baich will be facing a six month period of sanctions stemming from a November 7, 2023 Code of Conduct complaint.
The sanctions follow a subsequent, third-party investigation by Kingsgate Legal, said Councillor Len Phillips.
The proposed sanctions on the mayor were read aloud by Phillips during the July 16, 2024 regular council meeting.
Those include the mayor not chairing town council meetings, the mayor is not the spokesperson for the Town of Rocky Mountain House or Council, the mayor is removed from the Central Alberta Economic Development Partnership (CAEP) committee, and the Central Alberta Mayors & Reeves committee.
The motion to impose the sanctions, which would begin August 1, 2024, was passed by those present at town council, with the mayor abstaining.
Baich allegedly breached section 9.1 of the Councillor Code of Conduct which reads:
9.1. Members must keep in confidence matters discussed in private at a Council or Council committee meeting until the matter is discussed at a meeting held in public.
Councillor Tina Hutchinson then made a motion to have a summary of the complaint posted online under the heading ‘Code of Conduct Complaint Regarding Breach of Council Closed Session Confidence Received, December 18, 2023’.
Baich said she disagreed with the motion until she had a chance to read the statement.
Further discussion of the complaint and the motion to impose sanctions was redacted in closed session, with one agenda item titled 16.2 FOIP Section 17 – Disclosure Harmful to personal privacy – Code of Conduct.
According to the Government of Alberta website, the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIP) aims to strike a balance between the public’s right to know and an individual’s right to privacy.
Baich previously received a Code of Conduct complaint in 2022 regarding section 11.1 which reads: ‘No member shall use the influence of the member’s office for any purpose other than for the exercise of the member’s official duties.”
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