Councillor reveals pre-lockdown Caribbean trip
Kim Zanko was surprised when she checked her inbox and found an email forwarded to her by Fort Erie Mayor Wayne Redekop.
The missive was from someone who expressed anger over a two-week trip the Ward 3 town councillor took to the Dominican Republic in late November.
“It was upsetting. I would never want to do anything to upset any of my constituents,” Zanko said.
The trip in question took place Nov. 21 and Zanko and her husband were back in Fort Erie by Dec. 5, well before the provincewide lockdown began on Dec. 26.
“We weren’t in a lockdown,” Zanko said. “Yes, there were travel advisories but we followed the protocols.”
She and her husband quarantined for 14 days upon their return, she said.
In the email, the writer, who Zanko declined to name, said the councillor should be removed from council and if that did not happen the writer would go to the media.
“I didn’t like the tone of the email,” Zanko said, adding the email in question is the only criticism that has arisen over her trip south.
The email author has not contacted the Fort Erie Post. Zanko disclosed the trip and that she had received the message at the Jan. 18 council meeting.
Zanko’s trip occurred at a time when the council schedule is light and it did not stop her from participating in town business.
Redekop, who had touted at the meeting that honesty and transparency are important for members of council, said Zanko did the right thing by tackling the issue head on.
“You can’t get any more public than a council meeting,” the mayor said.
Zanko, meanwhile, said she will not be seeking re-election in 2022 but that the criticism she received over her trip is not the reason why.