Emma Van Rooyen quits Kings County council with scathing letter

A councillor with the Municipality of the County of Kings has resigned, and in a scathing letter describes what she sees as back-room decision making, aggression and personal vendettas.

Emma Van Rooyen, who was elected in 2012, says it's been a privilege to represent residents of her district, but her resignation is effective immediately.

"I have chosen to leave my position because of what I see as the deep dysfunction in Kings County council's leadership," she writes.

"I feel the current leadership jeopardizes this council's ability to represent the citizens of Kings County, and make responsible decisions on behalf of the electorate." 

Van Rooyen says many senior councillors have referred to politics as a blood sport, but she says that term is used as an excuse for "manipulative and irresponsible behavior, including back-room decision making, aggression in in-camera meetings, block voting, and personal vendettas."

There was an atmosphere of co-operation when she was first elected, Van Rooyen says, but that has since deteriorated. She says council is ineffective.

"The minimum requirements means inadequate, tokenistic citizen engagement, secrecy, and limited public debate," she writes.

In an interview with CBC News, Kings County Warden Diana Brothers says she's not clear what Van Rooyen means when she writes that council is ineffective and leadership lacking.

"The only way at this point that I can respond to that is that I'm not sure what she means by that," Brothers says.

Brothers says in 2010 she was part of a committee that proposed council hire an external consultant to review operations and highlight strengths and weaknesses. She says that was done and council has been working through the recommendations ever since.

"From my perspective, this county has a lot to be proud of," Brothers says. "Our people in our county deserve to have councillors that want to work hard and want to do the best thing, represent them to the best of their abilities." 

Brothers says Kings County has invested a lot in Van Rooyen over the last two and half years and council "values her service." The warden suggests part of the reason the councillor is stepping down is because she has "other ambitions in life" and wants to return to university.

Van Rooyen says in an interview that she never intended to leave council when she went back to school. It was her plan to do both, and university did not factor into her decision to resign.

Council's problems have been "well documented" in the local newspaper for years, Van Rooyen says, and she finds it difficult to understand that Brothers doesn't "know where this is coming from." 

She says the resignation letter went through many drafts. At one point she says she considered handing in a standard letter, but decided against it.

"That would have been cowardly, I feel," Van Rooyen said. "I think there is a very important lesson for us to be learning from the situation that is happening at Kings County council."

Municipal Affairs Minister Zach Churchill says he's aware some have concerns with the conduct and decisions being made in Kings County, but the province will not get involved in the day-to-day operations.

In an email, the minister says municipal politicians are elected and have the authority to make decisions. He adds that officials from his department have put on workshops with Kings County on council-staff relations, in-camera meetings and rules of order

In her resignation letter, Van Rooyen also takes aim at the warden position itself, criticising the current political system in which councillors elect the warden from their own ranks on the first night of their term. She says the time has come to abandon that system in favour of a mayor elected by citizens.

"Moving to the mayoral system is the first step to a more cohesive and effective council, and the kind of leadership this county so desperately needs," she writes.

Van Rooyen's letter is gaining support from at least one other member of council. District 3 Coun. Pauline Raven says she's not surprised by the resignation.

"I knew Emma felt that way," Raven wrote in an email. "I have tried to persuade her to not be hasty, and she hasn't been. This has been a decision she has considered from every angle."

Raven says she agrees with much of what was in the letter. She says council is split and councillors vote along predictable lines.

"Emma's description of how things work under the political leadership is accurate," she said. "I feel so sad that this council's leadership couldn't make sufficient room for a new councillor with fresh ideas ... for her to feel that continued involvement was worthwhile."