Defending Peter Kelly
Alberta reeve puts it in writing, Charlottetown’s new CAO did not violate municipal act, he claims
Charlottetown Mayor Clifford Lee says he has been assured his chief administrative officer did nothing wrong during his tenure in Alberta.
Lee said Tuesday when news broke last week alleging that Peter Kelly violated the Municipal Government Act in Alberta during his job as CAO in Westlock County, he contacted the county reeve.
A reeve is the equivalent of a mayor. The reeve in Westlock County is Bud Massey.
“I reached out to the reeve . . . and spoke to him at length last Friday afternoon and received assurances that as far as he is concerned Mr. Kelly was not in violation of any act,’’ Lee told The Guardian. Massey also emailed Lee. The City of Charlottetown provided a copy of the email to The Guardian.
In the email, Massey says Kelly worked tirelessly for Westlock County, often working 60 to 70 hours a week.
“Several questionable comments have been made publicly about him and by a councillor by the name of Dennis Primeau,’’ Massey says, referring to Westlock County Coun. Dennis Primeau. “Several allegations have been made by this councillor, his opinion, not factual, in my opinion.’’
It should also be noted that after the issue became public in April, Primeau was charged with assault following a physical altercation with Massey in council chambers.
According to the newspaper in Westlock County, Kelly left his job in the Alberta town with an outstanding $200,000 bill when he moved to P.E.I. earlier this year to take the job as CAO in Charlottetown.
The municipal council in Westlock County has petitioned the Alberta government to conduct an organizational review of its operations.
The matter involves the cost to develop an eight-acre industrial park lot for a developer known as Horizon North. The Westlock News reported that an auditor says the county would never recoup the $395,000 it spent to prepare the land. Based on market trends, the county stands to lose more than $200,000 on the deal due to cost overruns.
The article says Kelly never brought the expenditure to council for approval, breaching the Municipal Government Act, an accusation Kelly denied in an interview with The Guardian.
Massey says two motions were made – one on July 28, 2015 and another Dec. 16, 2015.
“We were advised by the director of infrastructure that the cost would be $55,000. His error, not (Kelly’s). Allegedly, the costs have escalated. We as a council have no details of the almost $400,000 but did receive a detailed account from CAO Peter Kelly for $190,000 which was in the form of a hand note from the transportation supervisor.’’
The Guardian has reached out to Massey for an interview but has not heard back yet.
Massey added that the allegation regarding the alleged breach of the Municipal Government Act is also opinion and not fact.
“It is unfortunate the councillor has taken it upon himself to attempt to destroy the character of Mr. Kelly,’’ Massey wrote in the email.
The Charlottetown mayor says he is taking the allegations against Kelly very seriously.
Kelly is currently on probation with the City of Charlottetown. The probation is in effect from his official start date, May 1, and will remain in effect until Nov. 1.
“If the review shows anything but what is being suggested to me by the mayor of Westlock County, then you can be assured that the council of the City of Charlottetown will be meeting to discuss the situation,’’ Lee said.