Hobbled Lakeland Ridge councillors say province has cut off communication

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The six remaining suspended council members in Lakeland Ridges say they’ve yet to have any communication from the province or the municipality’s new supervisor since he was appointed several weeks ago. 

And now they’re threatening to host more public meetings to “help taxpayers to be better informed,” despite repeated requests from the province to not speak publicly about the situation. 

This latest in the ongoing saga of the troubled western New Brunswick municipality comes in a letter to the community, signed by deputy mayor Ross Stairs and councillors Patricia Budd, Randy Stairs, Linda Porter, Perry Bull and Chris Yerx on March 11. 

Mayor Tanya Cloutier and the two ward 4 councilors – Mark Grant and Michael Furrow – resigned from the council in February citing frustration with the process and ongoing infighting. 

In the letter, the remaining councillors say they are “very concerned” they’ve been cut off from any communication with the Department of Environment and Local Government or the new supervisor, Stephen Manue, who was appointed on Feb. 16 to oversee the day-to-day operations of Lakeland Ridges. 

Manuel is the third supervisor appointed since the province took over the governance of the municipality last summer due to the infighting, as well as allegations of bullying and general dysfunction. 

The transition plan laid out in the fall to reinstall council included several meetings with councillors that had been held over the last few months.  

In the letter to the community, the remaining councillors said they believed they were only a couple meetings away from the end of the process when the new supervisor was appointed and have not had any communication since. 

“Over three weeks have gone by since this happened with no communication from the new supervisor and no explanation from DELG (Department of Environment and Local Government) despite repeated attempts to get information,” they wrote. “Apparently DELG does not think that it is necessary to explain its actions to the people who democratically elected councillors and a mayor to represent them.” 

The province did not comment on the letter, but the department earlier pointed to delays due to ongoing trouble with council. 

“While the transition plan under the former supervisor was nearing its completion, there is evidence of continued dysfunction within the Lakeland Ridges council,” spokesperson Clarissa Andersen wrote in a previous correspondence.  

In their letter, the councillors also offered an apology to constituents for the ongoing problems. 

“We are sorry we were not able to make a smooth transition to an effective council,” they wrote. “There were situations that were not handled properly, and we would like to assure our residents that steps have been taken and will continue to be put in place to continue moving us forward.”