Social media claims council casualty

By Olivia Bradbury / Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Harbour Grace incumbent councillor Brendan Chafe has withdrawn from the October 2 municipal race.

Chafe, who had been officially nominated along with 13 other candidates, said he has changed his mind after reflecting on the time commitment involved and the stress caused by negativity on social media.

Chafe was first elected to the Harbour Grace council in 2021. During his term, he served as chairman of the housing and zoning committee and said he is pleased the town was busy with permits for construction. Chafe also served on the finance committee. 

While he enjoyed his time on council, Chafe said, he had been unsure whether he would seek re-election. He was not certain he could commit the time necessary to do the job properly. Chafe said to do the job properly you need to dedicate 20-30 hours a week to council work. But as nomination day approached, he said, people reached out to offer support and encouragement for him to run again so he put his name forward in case he concluded he could dedicate himself to another term. However, he ultimately decided he could not take on another four years at this time.

Family time and work opportunities were big factors in the decision, he said.

“It is hard on the family being away,” he said. 

Chafe designs homes for a living and is trying to move into home design. “There’s nothing carved in stone, but there’s some potential there for growth, and I want to leave that bit of time open to be able to focus on that and family,” he said.

Meanwhile, he is looking back fondly at the past term.

“I enjoyed every minute of it, as a councillor, and I want to make sure that I stress that,” he said. “I really, really enjoyed being a part of council, trying to make a difference within the community and, at the bare bones of it, trying to bring in honesty and integrity to it as much as I’m able to do as a person.”

Chafe said negative sentiments towards council on social media is something that also contributed to his decision not to seek re-election. He acknowledged that sometimes council makes decisions that are not favourable for everybody. For the past 18 months, online accusations of bias and breach of conduct have been directed at the council. Chafe said the ordeal has been difficult, and while he was not mentioned specifically be name, accusations against council reflect on all its members. What is more, council members were not able to discuss the issue until the situation was resolved. 

“You’re not able to speak your mind because of your Code of Conduct (regulations),” said Chafe. “You’re held at a higher regard as a councillor.” 

Chafe said he has two adolescent children who use social media and can see negative things said about the town council. 

“And I can’t explain to them right or wrong. I’m not allowed,” he said.

Chafe said some kind of process should be implemented to allow for a public round table where residents and councillors can speak freely with each other. 

“The lines of communication between both parties and Municipal Affairs have to be open and right now, what I’ve seen, it’s closed,” he said. 

Chafe said the Municipal Code of Conduct is good and necessary but has imperfections. 

“I really do think that there was a better solution than council not being able to discuss it ever, ever, ever for 18 months,” he said. “There was a better solution that could have been done, and it wasn’t. And not from a council point of view, either — we did everything that we were told.”

For Chafe, the most rewarding part of being on council was seeing plans come to fruition. He gave the example of the water and sewer project on Harbour Grace’s Southside that will begin next year. 

“I know that a lot of that (money) came from provincial (funding), a lot of that came from our members and stuff, which is great because they had support for the town,” he said. “But we as a council, we were able financially to be able to say, ‘Yes, we can do that right now.’” 

Chafe said he would definitely consider running for council in the future. “In four years time I may be in a different position,” he said.