'Down to a skeleton crew': Sussex Corner loses mayor, councillor and 3 staff
Acting mayor says she sees village turning a corner after resignations, retirements
Residents of Sussex Corner are wondering what's happening with their municipal government after a series of resignations and allegations of threats and wrongdoing.
Two of six members — the mayor and deputy mayor — of the Sussex Corner village council have resigned since May.
The clerk-treasurer, one of the village's four full-time employees, resigned, citing his health issues, and died days later.
The village's assistant clerk resigned abruptly.
And Friday, the town's longtime works supervisor, who oversees operation of the water and sewer system, retired.
Residents like Susan MacNichol have been left wondering what is happening at the village hall.
"Nobody wants to stay here and work," said MacNichol. "They just seem to resign and quit and leave and get sick. We're down to a skeleton crew."
Steven Stackhouse hopes the turmoil ends.
"I think council should get their act together and work as a cohesive unit and work for the better of the village," Stackhouse said.
Acting Mayor Patsy Shay said privacy and other restrictions mean the village can't share much with residents.
"I feel bad they don't know everything that's going on," Shay said.
Ex-mayor suggests joining Sussex
The turmoil has prompted calls for provincial action.
Former mayor Mark Flewwelling, who resigned in May, suggested in an interview with the Kings County Record newspaper that the province should step in and force the village to become part of the neighbouring town of Sussex.
Voters in the village of 1,400 narrowly rejected amalgamating with the town in a 2015 plebiscite.
The province is "working with" the village through the resignations, Environment and Local Government spokesman Anthony Doiron said in an email, though he didn't clarify what that means.
"As always the government supports locally led community restructuring projects and would be ready to support that process if the two local governments approached the province with an initial proposal," Doiron said.
Flewwelling resigned as mayor May 9, alleging in his resignation letter that he was threatened by an unnamed councillor.
"After much soul-searching following a confrontation at the end of our committee meetings on May 3rd, the confrontation being both verbal and physical involving a member of Council, I have reached the conclusion that further attempts to move this council as a whole forward is futile," Flewwelling wrote.
Flewwelling would not be interviewed. In an email, he declined to name the councillor and said he did not report the incident to police.
The village's deputy mayor, Catherine MacLeod, resigned July 3, writing in her resignation letter "the Village is basically paralyzed in its day-to-day business operations" following the resignations of the mayor, clerk and pending retirement of works supervisor.
"Since the onset of the term of this council there have been two distinct factions, thus making it impossible to conduct Village business in an orderly fashion," MacLeod wrote. "Finger pointing and fault finding continues. Constant distractions prevail when councillors do not work cooperatively to advance the interests of our community and its residents."
MacLeod declined an interview.
CBC spoke to three of the four remaining members of council: Shay and councillors Doug Bobbitt and Sharon Loder. Coun. Harley Hunt declined an interview.
None would speak about the former mayor's allegation.
Those who spoke said they think the village is now on the right course.
"It's been very rough," Shay said about her early weeks leading the community. "As far as council and that goes, we're moving forward.
"We sit down and chat about everything. Nothing is done without all of council's knowledge, and we all seem to be agreeing on stuff, so I'm keeping a positive outlook."
Village voters can choose a new mayor in a byelection set for Dec. 3.
Until then, if a councillor misses a meeting, council won't have a quorum, and official business can't be conducted.
Troubles started after election
Three of the remaining council members all pointed to the 2016 election as the start of the current problems.
Flewwelling was acclaimed as mayor and three new councillors were elected.
After taking office, the first bylaw passed granted the mayor power to regularly vote instead of only breaking ties.
A further complication was that months later, the assistant clerk resigned suddenly after 16 years with the village.
A hiring committee consisting of Flewwelling, the deputy mayor and Bobbitt as the chair considered her replacement.
The other two councillors who spoke to CBC said they were left out of the decision-making process, whereas hiring was previously something done by all of council.
"I don't think it was properly done," Shay said.
Concerns about mayor's actions
At a special council meeting July 27 to discuss replacing the assistant clerk, Bobbitt raised questions about the earlier hiring process and levelled allegations of wrongdoing against Flewwelling.
After the deadline for applying for the assistant clerk's job, Flewwelling added an application to the pile, Bobbitt said.
"I don't believe this is ethical," he said.
The application was for Debbie Otis, the person who was eventually hired.
Bobbitt said despite his being chair of the hiring committee, he wasn't aware of what happened until after Flewwelling resigned.
Flewwelling confirmed in an email to CBC that he'd put Otis's name in, hours after the deadline.
We don't need Sussex to take us in through annexation because we don't have people to run the show.- Doug Bobbitt, Sussex Corner councillor
Defending the action, he said he "would have no hesitation in making the same decision again, as I believe any prudent business person would do to ensure the best applicants are included in the process."
Flewwelling said he knew Otis at the time, after they were introduced at an event in Sussex, but only well enough to say hello on the street.
Otis resigned from her village job last month and declined to comment for this story.
At the July 27 special meeting, it was announced Otis would be replaced by rehiring the person who had resigned from the assistant clerk's position in 2016.
The village hired a head-hunting company to find a new full-time clerk and treasurer after Don Smith resigned June 29. Smith died July 9.
The village also needs to fill another vacancy.
Rod Holland, the village's works supervisor, retired Friday after 20 years working for the village.
Four and a half years ago, Holland and his wife had a daughter.
Holland, now 61, said the two had agreed he'd retire just before his daughter is old enough to go to school.
"I'm the guy that's going to walk her to the bus," Holland said.
It won't be a complete retirement. He'll continue part-time work for the village until his replacement arrives.
Provoked by ex-mayor's comments
Bobbitt said he spoke up at the special council meeting after Flewwelling's annexation comments because the village "doesn't need to throw in the towel, that we don't need Sussex to take us in through annexation because we don't have people to run the show.
He said there's still more information councillors know that can't be shared with the public but was confident the village is on the right path.
"We can run this village. It just requires effort and working together as a team."
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