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'Councillor should work within the system'

Re: Citizen seeks unedited video (The News, July 19).

Editor, The News:

Okay, enough already. For weeks now I’ve read with interest, and occasional amusement, about this mystery video and the ongoing dispute between a particular councilor and the administration at our municipal hall.

The letters and stories finally seemed to abate, then, there it was again – front page. The entire debacle has taken on a life of its own, pitting one lonely council member against the rest of council, and the entire district – lawyers and all. Citizens are appalled at her treatment, past council candidates have rushed to her defense, and, yet, no one really gets what happened in the first place. There was a meeting, the councilor asked questions, she didn’t get answers, apparently a senior administrator made a comment to her at some point, a comment that upset her, and subsequently, she asked for his suspension. Now, any reasonable person who has ever been on a committee, involved in anything remotely official or political, or been responsible for tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars, would recognize this as a game changer. Comments made to an elected official by a paid official at a meeting or soon after that cause the elected official to demand a suspension is the kind of thing that makes all the lawyers on the city’s payroll shudder and shuffle and loosen their ties. Come on, people, this became a serious situation the moment things were said and demands were made, and, only those directly affected should be involved. Our mayor made it clear in his comments a couple of weeks ago, this is an internal matter, must be dealt with properly and with due diligence, and that’s that, period. The councilor involved is irresponsible in taking her case to the streets so quickly.

Her next action should have been to consult a lawyer, follow procedure internally, and work within the system. If whatever was said to her is truly actionable, then she has a legal case to work with. We, the voting public, as she is obviously aware, have no need or right to access this information at this time.

Morgan Jensen

Maple Ridge