Councillors fire back at colleague over ‘lack of will’ comment
Posted May 11, 2010 05:52:01 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Regional councillor Tim Outhit is under fire today from some of his fellow council members – including the mayor.
Outhit (Bedford) recently quit council’s boundary review committee, which is examining the possibility of a smaller regional council.
Outhit favours a smaller council but says there’s no political will among his fellow committee members to consider downsizing.
Now other committee members – like Coun. Gloria McCluskey (Dartmouth Centre) – are taking exception to his claims.
“He is absolutely wrong. That is totally untrue,” she said. “I’m on that committee and I’m certainly not averse to reducing council if that’s what comes out of it.”
Coun. Barry Dalrymple (Waverley-Fall River-Beaver Bank) also says Outhit is wrong.
“As a result of the information and feedback I have heard, I am willing to, put it point blank, that my position is that council should be cut,” he said.
Coun. Jerry Blumenthal (Halifax North End) says he takes issue with Outhit breaching a gag order imposed on the committee until the end of the review.
“I’m very upset that Tim Outhit went to the press, and Reg Rankin, because they broke the rules of what council had asked, and that makes me kind of angry,” he said.
Mayor Peter Kelly says Outhit’s departure is premature considering the committee only recently completed public meetings on the question of council’s size and hasn’t had a chance yet to make a recommendation.
“We went through a public process,” he said. “During that public process we said we would hear the points of view and listen to the points of view and debate where they go. Right now we’re in that debate stage.”
A final recommendation must go before the UARB by the end of the year.
