Mayor Green Needs To Offer Explanation On Leslie Rd Vote
Monday, April 22, 2013 @ 3:45 AM
The Haldi Rd Residents have raised an interesting point in their request to the Mayor and Council of Prince George, on how Mayor Shari Green , firstly as a councillor and following that as Mayor, voted in the deliberations of two important issues dealing with land in the city.
Writing to council on behalf of the residents, John Alexander, who is considered by many to be one of the best Municipal lawyers in the province , makes a number of observations and finally concludes that based on the information provided, and if the information is accurate, it is his opinion that Mayor Green improperly participated in virtually all aspects of the Leslie Rd property matter. Those are very strong words.
In his letter which has been turned over to City Council for their consideration, Alexander says ;
"It does not appear from the facts as you have provided them, that Mayor Green has made it clear whether or not she continues to be a friend of Mr. Fehr, or is "an old friend". However, it also appears that Mayor Green has not disclosed the true nature of her relationship with Mr. Fehr. Obviously there is a significant enough relationship that she felt compelled to write a personal letter, arising out of a meeting between her, presumably as the mayor of the City, and a minister of the Crown. Ordinary citizens would assume that confidential or private discussions in such a setting would not result in personal letters to outsiders, unless there was some form of close personal relationship.
Having said that, in this opinion I cannot assume a pecuniary interest exists in that there does not appear to be any facts at this time that indicate Mayor Green has some financial stake in the Leslie road Property project."
Then Alexander went on in his letter to the Haldi Rd Residents to further address the issues faced by the mayor including a legal letter of opinion that she had sought earlier in which she told council that she no longer was in conflict on the Leslie Rd matter and returned to voting .
It may be necessary for Mayor Green to produce that letter of opinion, and what the letter specifically addressed . The fact that the principals involved in part in the Old Rustad mill site , are in part the same as those in the Leslie Rd property and the issue of why Marshall Smith was of such importance in the discussions surrounding the property that he was privileged to a copy of the letter from Canfor to the Mayor raises further questions.
In fairness to the Mayor she deserves her right to be heard on the matter, along with Brian Fehr and Marshall Smith.
If there is a good explanation from Mayor Green into all of the questions that have been raised by the Haldi Rd residents , then the Mayor owes it to the residents of Haldi Rd. Any effort to side step the issue will be met with strong opposition from the Haldi Rd group who seek answers , and tonight’s City Council meeting would be a good place to start.
I’m Meisner and that’s one man’s opinion.
Comments
I concur, Mr Meisner.
Will council give this matter any attention? We will see tonight!
She once again proven that she does not belong in politics. We are paying dearly for incompetance
I think the people of Prince George have had it with this city council and this mayor. And for them to keep making important decisions for tax payers of this city when thy have lost all credibility is criminal. Thy are adding more taxes user fees and any other means of getting more money out of the paying public. Worst part is when the people of Prince George stand up to them and say no it is not herd. It is starting to look like a lot of side deals are being made in this city at the cost to the tax paying public. City council should call for a civic election now and see if thy have support of the citizens of Prince George if thy want to run till end of there term them. I would hope the new mayor would have a complete review of the old council and see if any laws have bin broken.
Thanks for exposing some very interesting and disturbing information Mr. Meisner!
I agree with all of the above postings, side deals, incompetence, disregarding voices from the public, possible conflict of interest…this is not what the community charter or the OCP outline. So what does that suggest…..we need a new council who will carry out their duties according to charter and OCP and those who voted them in. So, let the culprits defend themselves and face the music.
Here is a novel suggestion. If city council truly believes that they can win in court let them put up their own money not the tax payers. If they win it costs them nothing, if they lose suck it up buttercups. Money talks and bullshit walks. Back your so called convictions with your cash, not mine. The people of Haldi are, they are sticking to their convictions and they are backing it.
I agree Mayor Green needs to justify why she was not in a conflict or percieved conflict of interest on the Haldi Rd matter. All the facts to date certainly suggest she should have stepped aside.
There is now an opportunity for the rest of council to challenge the Mayor if they feel, as many do, that she was indeed in a position of conflict and should have stepped aside on the Haldi Rd issue. It is highly unlikely we will see any speaking up from the rest of council on this… on most issues this council seems to take their lead from Mayor Green and Councillor Stoltz and follow accordingly, with the exception of Councilor Skakun.
I disagree “the Mayor owes it to the residents of Haldi Rd”. She owes an explanation to the TAXPAYERS and RESIDENTS OF PRINCE GEORGE!
If she can’t provide proof that she wasn’t and does not continue to be in conflict then she should be removed from office.
Perhaps Councillor Wilbur will try and knock down this lawyer the way he did the Haldi lawyer – Roy Stewart – who is also highly notable on Municipal laws. This council did not take head the first go around..nor have they since then from Stewart…The Haldi people won that Supreme court battle.
Why is Craig Woods never mentioned – he owns half of the property and was a major contributor to one of the current member of council’s campaign. How well do these two know each other?
Will any of the council that knows either party declare a conflict of interest? It still is a small town… Could be a lot more there than one knows…
I’m starting to think “Quebec” for some reason over this. Give me a reason to stop.
Green and her puppet Stoltz should resign immediately. We as taxpayer cannot afford any more of their incompetence.
Harbinger….posted this a while ago…still fits:-/
Prince George is nothing like Montreal! In Montreal corruption is rampant with under the table payments on civic contracts, shady land deals and greasy people involved.
Further,in Montreal the roads are crumbling and the contractors overcharge because they can! Montreal is a city up to it’s ears in debt and still held a big sporting event!
….on second thought forget what I said in the first sentence, it’s like we have a TWIN:P
Greasy Green. Sounds Good on her!
The general principles that address conflict of interest are set out in numerous cases through out Canada and are clearly defined in the community charter. It is the responsibility of the councillor to remove themselves if there is a conflict of interest.
While Mayor Green has said her legal council cleared her to participate in the discussions for the Haldi Road recovery centre, the question is who was this legal council? It took a lawyer from out of town to take a look and see that this was not the case. Haldi produced this opinion to City council. What was Mayor Greenâs reason not to do the same for the public? IMO maybe there was no legal advice to the Mayor.
Funny that I see canfor s name mentioned now in the mayor green scandal. Just so happens that her spouse(significant other) is a high ranking executive with canfor. I am not suggesting anything wrong is going on here but the plot does thicken.
apester you are so very wrong! “the plot does thicken” in actual fact “the plot does sicken”
lonesome sparrow…..yes Prince George does have a twin in Quebec. YXS is trying to recreate the Mirabel airport.
I must correct my last post. He was an executive at canfor until a year or so ago. I had forgotten that he jumped ship for chem trade logistics which used to be bc chem which was owned by canfor until the sale to chem trade logistics. Sorry for the miss information.
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