Bud Massey’s reign as Westlock County reeve is over.
His nearly three years as council chairman has seen its fair share of ups, but far more downs of late with the Horizon North land-deal fiasco, his close ties to former CAO Peter Kelly, the pending Municipal Affairs review, the never-ending Tawatinaw Valley Ski Hill saga, the steady stream of employees jumping ship and an assault in council chambers … over the past two months calls for his resignation have come from within council and repeatedly from ratepayers at large.
Although great for headlines, the circus-like atmosphere surrounding the municipality has been a major distraction and the good news is that Massey’s resignation should quench some of the fires.
Kudos to him for doing the right thing.
Finally.
That said, it would be completely unfair to lay all the blame — real, imagined, alleged or otherwise — squarely at his feet.
Yes, Massey and Kelly are the central figures in all that’s gone wrong at Westlock County for much of the last two years, but council as a whole is equally culpable.
First, it bears repeating that it was council’s decision to hire Kelly in 2014. They were made fully aware of his checkered past in Halifax and knew he had zero experience in municipal administration, or even a grasp of the province’s Municipal Government Act.
The majority of council also signed off on the deal to unload the Tawatinaw Valley Ski Hill and new chalet to DK Consulting for a mere $2.2 million.
And as for the Horizon North deal, it didn’t seem like they were too concerned with what was going on at the industrial park until it was far too late. The county’s lawyers have chimed in with their opinion on the deal (see Page 1) and the news isn’t good.
Although the sideshow appears closed, a big mess remains. We can only hope that Municipal Affairs accepts the county’s plea for a review to get the municipality back on to the right path.
