As a longtime Innisfail resident, community volunteer and current second-term Innisfail town councillor, I feel I must respond to the allegations made by former councillor Glen Carritt. Other members of council may or may not agree with my opinions.
He claims he resigned from council because we bullied him into it and we didn’t support him in his latest endeavour. If the former councillor wanted support he should have reached out to the rest of council and put the item on the council agenda for debate.
Council has supported writing letters advocating for community members in the past after an open debate.
We have a code of conduct, a public document available on the Town of Innisfail website, that in part states:
4.1 Members shall arrange their private affairs and conduct themselves in a manner that promotes public confidence and will bear close public scrutiny.
7.1 Members shall uphold the law established by the Parliament of Canada and the Legislature of Alberta and the bylaws, policies and procedures adopted by council.
19.1 Members shall uphold the letter and spirit and intent of this bylaw.
Former councillor Carritt has struggled with compliance with these and other parts of the code of conduct in the past and we as a council have tried to advise him in the past, only to be stonewalled in response. For him to claim we didn’t try team building is ridiculous.
In response to allegations of town council being dysfunctional, I would agree and state that the remaining six members of council will have no problem going forward. We will focus on local issues, stay positive and work as a team.
Danny Rieberger
Innisfail
