Statements from officials need clarification
Recently, The Outlook published letters from Mayor Ross Derdall and Councillor Maureen Applin in response to an earlier letter from Justin Turton. A number of statements were made in these two letters that need to be analyzed and challenged. Both of these individuals are our representatives on Town Council; they are answerable for their statements and accountable to the citizens of Outlook, not just at elections but daily throughout their term in office.
The Mayor called Mr. Turton’s questions concerning a meeting involving a debate by Councillor Grotheim and Mr. Turton’s comment that the Mayor appeared angry to be based on hearsay. It was not: Mr. Turton clearly stated he had watched the proceeding through Facebook and it was his personal observation he was stating. The Mayor went on to indicate the accomplishments of this council and I thank him for the list. This is the type of open communication we need from our elected officials. I do not understand why our representatives cannot bring concerns from the citizens to council because they are “hearsay.” Councillors are elected to represent us; why do we have to write letters and attend meetings to represent ourselves? We need our Councillors to be available and ready to relay our concerns to the Council.
Councillor Applin’s letter has several statements that need clarification. As presented, they are filled with vague claims and innuendo. Here are several:
1. “Twelve years of work piled up during which at least 3 of those Mr. Turton himself was on council.” What work? I need facts, not vague claims. I too was on those councils, as was Mayor Derdall. Besides, Mr Turton was on council for 4 years.
2. “Mayor Derdall and I were elected largely to clean up the mess created by previous councils.” What mess? I do not remember this mentioned in the all-candidates meeting in 2016. Was this an agenda no one was told?
3. “Projects were not Tendered out, they were given to friends and family.” Which projects? Who are the friends and family?
4. “A significant Contract was illegally signed by a former Council member and the legislation for major projects was ignored?” Which contract? Which legislation? Who was the former Council member?
5. “A Multi-Million dollar deal was done with a “great” professional firm on a handshake with no contract in place leaving the Town at the mercy of that firm.” Which deal? Which firm? How has Our Town been impacted?
6. “A previous employee managed to jeopardize the entire Town of Outlook water supply for over ten years through a critical omission that was never dealt with?” Who is this employee? What was the omission? How was the water jeopardized? Has it been rectified?
7. “It is imperative that we continue to encourage growth and investment rather than funding pet projects for special interest groups?” Which pet projects? Which special interest groups?
We need the facts. Will you give them to us? I suspect not because much of this is confidential. If so, it should not have been mentioned in the first place. My concern is that wide brush strokes were made touching many people who have little or no recourse.
Just two more points. Mr Turton came in second in the mayoral race, not a distant third. In the September 3 paper it was reported that Councillor Grotheim relayed concerns about the new fire hall to which Councillor Applin commented “where was that nervousness when we were building the new pool?” Why did you ask this question? Are we to infer you were nervous about a project for which the people raised $1.56 million?
Nominations for Town Council must be in the Town Office by October 7 before 4:00 PM with elections on November 9. We have less than a month to find candidates.
Tony Peter
Outlook, SK
