Kincardine council

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Kincardine councillor Gordon Campbell wants to know why the mayor cut off his comments on two separate occasions at the April 22 meeting about the stranded debt of the lakeshore water pipeline.

Campbell brought the matter up for discussion in committee-of-the-whole Wednesday night (May 5).

He said cutting off a speaker is not proper for the chairman of the meeting and a fellow member of council.

Campbell is also upset that he believes the two councillors who are seated closest to the mayor receive preferential treatment during discussion, compared to the councillors seated furthest away.

As for the April 22 meeting, Campbell said mayor Larry Kraemer had no business cutting off his comments because he was saying nothing derogatory about the public works manager. In fact, he was quoting the public works manager's own remarks about the pipeline costs.

Kraemer said Campbell was cut off because a point-of-order was called by another councillor, and the mayor had to respond to that to maintain order and decorum at the council table.

"You can't speak rude words here," he said, "and I allowed no further comment if you continued to breach protocol. "

He said the point-of-order was raised and had to be discussed, and then he had to rule on it, which he did.

Kraemer also referred to council's code of conduct which dictates that the chairman, members, and staff will be treated with courtesy and good faith.

"You can disagree all you want on issues, but you can't make derogatory comments about others at this table or of staff," he said. "I have to follow these rules when chairing a meeting."

He told Campbell that if he feels that the ruling was incorrect, he should have appealed to the rest of council to have it changed.

"I think you should read and understand the procedural bylaw which contains the formal process in place for council meetings," said Kraemer.

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Thursday, May 06, 2010