Spaniard’s Bay accepts retraction of councillor’s resignation

Olivia Bradbury / Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

When Spaniard’s Bay council met for a special meeting March 31, councillor Darlene Stamp was present, but not at the council table.
That’s because she was no longer a councillor and her former colleagues were meeting to decide whether to accept her request to retract a resignation letter she had submitted the week before.
Stamp gave her resignation letter to Mayor Paul Brazil on March 26. Later the same day, she decided to retract it.
“Seeing that we didn’t have to action anything, I didn’t see any reason not to grant the request,” said Brazil.
However, he was later contacted by Municipal Affairs.
“I was given instructions that, even though it’s not in the Municipalities Act, there’s nothing there to guide us in our decision-making,” said Brazil. “They told us, due to other resignations that they had to deal with in the past, there was a precedent set that the proper way to do it is to have the councillor who submitted the resignation letter to submit another letter asking to have it retracted, and that would be voted on by council.”
Brazil then gave Stamp an opportunity to address council.
Stamp said she believed Brazil and the other council members knew why she had submitted her resignation, and that she was unsure if there was anything more to add.
“So, I just leave it up to you guys to make the decision,” she said.
Councillor Sherry moved to accept the retraction of Stamp’s resignation. Councillor Eric Jewer seconded it. Brazil then opened the floor for discussion.
“I’m going to be one hundred percent honest and upfront with residents as I said I always would be,” said Deputy Mayor Tammy Oliver. “Putting personal feelings aside, for me this was not an easy decision at all. It’s very unfortunate that council has been put in this position so close to our municipal elections, and that alone is going to cause ramifications for everyone here whether we’re running or not. There’s so many things to consider which made this decision such a difficult one. The resignation was a shock, to my understanding, to most councillors and residents. It didn’t occur in the heat of a moment in chambers with a disagreement. As you know, Your Worship, all councillors have been in the position of feeling frustrated throughout the term. That’s part of what we do here. And unfortunately, this is not the first time Councillor Stamp has spoken about vacating her seat. The fact remains that the resignation was given to council, it was submitted to Municipal Affairs, and, after receiving a lot of feedback from the residents, my vote today is going to be based on those facts.”
Lundrigan saw it differently. “Councillor Stamp’s resignation was not due to an argument or a misunderstanding or anything like that,” she said. “And if Councillor Stamp wants to say why she put in a resignation, that’s entirely up to herself. But I know it was not due to a misunderstanding or an argument.”
Councillor Jewer had some blame for the Department of Municipal Affairs.
“This all stems from the fact that Municipal Affairs, just as well to say it, haven’t got … balls to make a decision of their own,” he said. “They’re putting it back on council, it’s what they’re typically doing ever since I’ve been on council. And they’re wrong.”
Jewer said Stamp had the right to resign and take the resignation back.
“She never committed a felony,” said Jewer. “She never hurt anyone. She never hurt any part of the town.”
Jewer argued that as the residents of Spaniard’s Bay and Tilton put Stamp in her position as councillor, they should also be the ones to remove her from it, not the council.
“Everyone has a right to change their mind,” said Lundrigan. “And it’s due process, unfortunately, that we’ve got to make this decision for changing her mind. But, at the end of the day, like you said, the residents of Spaniard’s Bay and Tilton put her here.”
Jewer noted that no letters came to council petitioning for the approval or rejection of Stamp’s retraction, but that most of the people he had spoken with wanted Stamp removed.
That brought Stamp to interject from her spectator’s seat.
“Your Worship, I’d like to add something,” Stamp said. “I stayed silent, and I do not want the residents of this municipality to think that I resigned due to a misunderstanding, being upset, or causing any conflict in this town. I resigned to protect this town, and I did not want rumours around this town, and I asked council to deal with an issue for six weeks. It went undealt with. I got advice and I was told if I stayed I would be complacent to it, so I resigned on that.” Addressing Mayor Brazil, she added, “You and I discussed it. I had a chat with you. You made several calls, and I said, based on your decision and what the outcome of your call would be, that I would come back on council. And that’s what we decided.”
Mayor Brazil seemed to agree.
“Everybody deserves a chance to change their mind once they ask a few questions and they get a little bit more enlightened on a situation,” said Brazil. “And I think that’s the case here.”
Put to a vote, Lundrigan, Jewer, and Brazil voted in favour of the motion to retract Stamp’s resignation, effectively putting her back on council, while Oliver voted against it.