Renfrew town councilors are saying the disappointment expressed by Mayor Tom Sidney last week is mutual.
Sidney had released a statement following last week’s council meeting, responding to a second call from council to resign following the results of the third-party review into the Ma-te-Way Expansion Project by apologizing to Renfrew residents that the project “was not completed in a manner which was financially acceptable to me and our community.”
However, Sidney would also indicate his disappointment, believing that the council “dismissed the many reasons the report highlighted as contributing factors to focus on only two individuals” while also confirming that we would not be stepping down.
Councilor Kyle Cybulski says that written statement only responds to select issues, and while the town’s old senior management system was responsible for some of the headaches experienced at Ma-te-Way Park, the mayor needs to take full responsibility for his role in the project rather than use it to deflect.
Fellow Councilor Andrew Dick is also expressing his displeasure with the statement, both for its impersonal, “interview-style” tone and the fact that it comes well after they forced the issue on the matter.
Both councilors would note that Mayor Sidney’s insistence that Renfrew had struggled with projects under the previous Senior Management leadership model was strange, as major projects such as Connecting Link road projects and the Waste Water Treatment Facility were performed without issue leading up to Ma-te-Way.
Council would ultimately discipline Sidney beyond the request for resignation by taking both him and Reeve Peter Emon, who they also felt was responsible as the head of the town’s Human Resources Committee, off their current external committee, working group, and board responsibilities.
Cybulski says that, while he was not privy to the specific construction of the motions that made it possible, that punishment will likely last until the next election.
So, what’s next? There are still some details that the council can’t divulge, but there are a few possible options.
Ultimately, Tuesday nights at Town Hall will likely be awkward for the next two and a-half years, as both Cybulski and Dick say that Council will work with the Mayor, but not with ease.
Cybulski would reiterate that the mayor taking full responsibility would help him return as a successful council member for the remainder of the term.
(written by Kasey Egan)
