Special Meeting of Council 11/03/2025

A Special Meeting of Council was held on March 11th, lasted almost an hour, and consisted of a privileged session, with members of the public barred from the Council Chambers.

We think the topic of conversation was about a possible conflict of interest with Councilor Brenda Howell with regards to an organization that she is known to volunteer with, known as the Ray of Hope, a group trying to provide services for people who are affected by addictions.  (If that is incorrect, please let us know)

If that is what the topic was, then what makes it a private issue?  It doesn't seem like something that would lead to a problem for the community to know what's happening.  This is an example of the decisions made by council that make us wonder why there are so many privileged meetings.

Do you have answers about this?  Please leave us a comment sharing information to let us better understand.

Here are the minutes from that meeting:

M I N U T E S 

SPECIAL MEETING OF COUNCIL 

Tuesday March 11th , 2025 at 1:00p.m. 

Members Present: 

Mayor: Michael Tiller 

Deputy Mayor: Dawn Stagg 

Councillors: 

Kenneth Hoyles
Barry Tucker
Cheryl Smith
Paul Vincent
Andy Best
Terry Gill

Members Absent: Councillor Brenda Howell

Also Present: CAO Bryttyne Stokes, Town Clerk Natasha Bragg

CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Tiller called the meeting to order at 1:00pm and welcomed everyone.

RESOLUTION 25/110 - CHERYL SMITH/BARRY TUCKER
Be it resolved to enter closed meeting.
In Favour: 8 Mayor Tiller, Deputy Mayor Stagg, Councillors C. Smith, B. Tucker, T. Gill, A. Best, K. Hoyles, P. Vincent
Opposed: 0
Abstaining: 0  

RESOLUTION CARRIED

Council entered closed meeting at 1:01pm. 

RESOLUTION 25/111 - PAUL VINCENT/TERRY GILL
Be it resolved to exit closed meeting.
In Favour: 8
Mayor Tiller, Deputy Mayor Stagg, Councillors C. Smith, B. Tucker, T. Gill, A. Best, K. Hoyles, P. Vincent
Opposed: 0
Abstaining: 0  

RESOLUTION CARRIED

Council exited closed meeting at 1:48pm 

RESOLUTION 25/112 - PAUL VINCENT/TERRY GILL
Be it resolved to proceed with third party investigation related to conflict of Interest that has been filed.
In Favour 8: Mayor Tiller, Deputy Mayor Stagg, Councillors C. Smith, B. Tucker, T. Gill, A. Best, K. Hoyles, P. Vincent
Opposed 0
Abstaining 0

RESOLUTION CARRIED 

RESOLUTION 25/113 - DAWN STAGG/TERRY GILL
Be it resolved to adjourn meeting.
In Favour 8: Mayor Tiller, Deputy Mayor Stagg, Councillors C. Smith, B. Tucker, T. Gill, A. Best, K. Hoyles, P. Vincent
Opposed: 0
Abstaining: 0

RESOLUTION CARRIED 

Meeting adjourned at 1:50p.m. 


X     BRYTTYNE BROWNE CAO***    

X     MICHAEL TILLER MAYOR


 ***Why does our CAO use two different names within the same document?   Isn't this a legal document that real names only should be used?

Location: New-Wes-Valley, NL, Canada

Comments

  1. AnonymousApril 6, 2025 at 7:48 PM

    Seems like a bit of an extreme if it is just over the Ray of Hope? Who doesn't pay taxes? I wouldn't say councillor howell has a momentary gain in the organization.

    Interesting. Will keep an eye out in the minutes for more information on this.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousApril 11, 2025 at 7:20 AM

    Wow a privileged session where only ONE councillor was absent- gee I wonder who they were discussing in the meeting? Seems to me that this is a personal attack as how could someone being a volunteer with such a group be a conflict of interest?? So, you can’t be a councillor AND a volunteer with a group that helps support addicts, their families and spreading awareness about it?? Come on! 🙄. If this is what it’s actually about, then that’s bullying of Councillor Howell imo!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. New-Wes-Valley CitizensApril 11, 2025 at 3:48 PM

    We certainly would like to see some clarity on this type of meeting. It probably doesn't need to be privileged, and we want to see our Council follow the rules- they do have to tell us what it's about.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Keep it friendly! Have your say without the use of name-calling and negativity. Words matter- we are all real people trying to make New-Wes-Valley a better place. ♥

Popular posts from this blog

Questions from Resident

Image
As a concerned citizen of NWV I have questions around th e qualifications of the current CAO, as seen below in a post from the town of NWV   in   May of 2024 it is stated that she is a project manager. According to the Gardner Centre "Fundamentals of Project Management" is a 2 day course and is only one small part of becoming a "Project Manager" with many more requirements to get your Project Management Professional (PMP) designation and be considered a Project Manager. Next is the statement that she is "currently completing her MSc in leadership for Sustainable Rural Development through MUN". I decided to reach out to MUN for some clarification-  this is a copy of the response.     This raises a couple of questions for me. •   Are these the qualifications that were used to promote from the inte rim   CAO position to the full time CAO position? •   Is this individual the one we want representing our town as we are goin...
Read more

In Response to the CAO's Response to the 1st Concerned Citizens Newsletter

Image
We've been asked many times about the slides that the Chief Administrative Officer spoke about at the beginning of the March 18th 2025 Council meeting, and we'd like to explain what that was all about. For those of us who know the previous CAO, it was obvious immediately that an attack was being made against her without an opportunity for her to respond.  For those of you who are still in the dark, prepare yourself with a cuppa and read on.  The first set of bullet points blames the previous CAO for mismanaging the town office and the budget, hoodwinking the Council into doing things they didn't want to do, overspending, and even hiring a family member without the Council's approval. The second set of bullet points boasts of savings and underspending, a CAO tough on rules and procedure, and a better qualified office staff in general since the resignation of the previous CAO.  It also makes the Council look guilty of not taking their jobs seriously. Look at the heading d...
Read more