Councillors reject proposed bylaw to change deputy mayor position

Citing the undermining of voters, a lack of discussion, and a bylaw that was "obviously directly copied" from another municipality, Hawkesbury councillors Johanne Portelance and Michel Thibodeau adamantly shot down a bylaw proposed by Mayor Rene Berthiaume to change the deputy mayor position.

At the meeting held Monday, January 16, council members discussed a bylaw sent to them and clerk Christine Groulx via e-mail for their consideration.

The mayor's bylaw proposed that each member of council be given an opportunity to serve as deputy mayor, on a rotating basis, in the event the mayor became unable or unwilling to fulfill his duties.

The town's existing bylaw, however, which has been in effect since 2006, states the councillor who garners the most votes during a municipal election is appointed the deputy mayor. Currently, Portelance holds the title as she received the most votes of all six councillors in the 2010 municipal election.

Groulx explained that the mayor's proposal would require an amendment to the existing bylaw, but noted a public meeting on the subject was not required as that portion of the Municipal Act was abolished in 2006.

Portelance was the first to speak and noted her comments were being made as a councilllor, not as the deputy mayor.

"Upon seeing this proposed bylaw, I did some research of my own and I must congratulate the former council of the day for coming up with a bylaw that is not only democratic, but transparent as well," she remarked.

"The voters are the ones who decide and the person appointed to the deputy mayor position is elected by voters. We must respect the election process and the decision made by voters. You cannot change the election process and undermine voters and then say it's in the best interest of the town."

Portelance said the town has never had an issue with the mayor carrying out his duties and noted councillors have always changed meetings to accommodate the mayor's schedule.

"If we do this, there won't be any continuity," she stated. "If council passes this bylaw, I will step down from the position and ask that my name be taken off the bylaw."

Thibodeau then said he was "very surprised" to see the e-mail from the mayor, adding the issue should have been discussed before it was even sent.

"We never sat down and talked about this," he said. "There was no discussion on the matter previous to the mayor sending this e-mail. I don't agree with that at all."

Thibodeau was also quick to point out that the bylaw was "obviously directly copied" from the City of Clarence-Rockland.

"When I received this, I did a little research of my own," he commented. "It's amazing what you can learn when you dig around on a computer. I discovered the bylaw was written by the clerk in Clarence-Rockland. We have employees here that are more than capable of writing policies and bylaws. I do not understand why we would copy a bylaw from another municipality."

He continued by stating he felt the town was treading on "extremely treacherous waters" and said he would not support the bylaw.

"If council approves this, you can take my name off of it as well," he concluded.

Berthiaume responded by saying that he submitted the bylaw via e-mail for council's consideration and intended the discussion to take place at Monday's meeting.

Thibodeau reiterated that discussion should have taken place prior to sending the e-mail, to which the mayor replied, "We're discussing it now."

Berthiaume then admitted the bylaw came from the City of Clarence-Rockland but offered no reason as to why he didn't ask staff to come up with a bylaw.

Councillor Marc Tournangeau said he agreed with Portelance and Thibodeau and said he wasn't interested in the deputy mayor position as he works full time and is "too busy."

Councillor Andre Chamaillard said although he thought the mayor's proposed bylaw was well written, there was no reason to change the bylaw currently in place.

"If it's not broken, why fix it?" he concluded.