Probe into allegations made by former Charlottetown deputy CAO delayed

CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — The Metropolis of Charlottetown’s probe into allegations made by two former staff goes to pull out somewhat longer.

A particular assembly of council was initially presupposed to happen previous to the common assembly of council on Aug. 8 however it was introduced that Donna Waddell, the interim chief administrative officer (CAO), had examined constructive for COVID-19 and wasn’t capable of make it.

Waddell was to have disclosed the id of the impartial third-party agency that can conduct an investigation into accusations of Scott Messervey, who was fired as deputy CAO in 2019, after he levelled 18 accusations towards the town company, saying the town of committing monetary irregularities, failed to stick to its personal bylaws and probably breached provincial legal guidelines in some circumstances.

These considerations have been echoed by his successor, Tina Lococo, after she, too, was fired by former CAO Peter Kelly this previous April.

Mayor Philip Brown mentioned the particular assembly will now happen as quickly as Waddell is effectively sufficient to attend.

Nevertheless, Coun. Bob Doiron remains to be questioning the method the investigation will take.

The town’s accounting agency, MRSB, is to show over all recordsdata to the impartial investigator.

Doiron doesn’t assume MRSB needs to be concerned in any respect and he desires a authorized opinion.

“They introduced considerations that they thought have been points with the monetary well-being of the town company,” Doiron mentioned following the common public assembly of council on Aug. 8. “Within the means of attempting to maneuver this course of ahead, I’ve been asking for a authorized opinion to see if our accounting agency (needs to be) concerned within the course of.’’

Doiron was additionally important of the actual fact this investigation comes three years after Messervey raised his considerations.

Waddell changed Kelly in Could and was requested by council on June 27 to conduct a radical assessment of the allegations.

Brown spoke to the delay, saying it hasn’t been simple discovering an impartial investigator but additionally confused that it isn’t MRSB that will probably be doing the audit.

“MRSB, the auditors for the town, will current the data to a 3rd occasion,” the mayor mentioned on the Aug. 8 council assembly. “Hopefully we’ll discover out extra info on (who the third occasion) is subsequent week.”

Brown mentioned the audit will handle every of the 18 allegations made by Messervey.

Doiron mentioned he’s pushing arduous for solutions as a result of council has already waited three years to do something about it and there’s a municipal election in November.

“We’re attempting to get this investigated, these 18 considerations, earlier than there’s a change of council and it’s pushed apart,” the Ward 6 councillor mentioned. “This council needs to be accountable and I’d prefer to see this accomplished earlier than this council strikes on. This can be a cloud that’s hanging over us.”

Must know

• Donna Waddell, interim chief administrative officer, has introduced in auditor Michelle Burge and former P.E.I. lawyer common Colin Younker to assist conduct an organizational assessment of the town’s operations.
• The assessment will have a look at every of the 18 accusations levelled in 2019 by Scott Messervey, shortly after he was fired in 2019 as the town’s deputy chief administrative officer.
• An impartial third occasion was presupposed to have been introduced on Aug. 8 however has been delayed for one more week or so.
• The assessment is predicted to take a couple of months.
• An inside governance assessment will even be performed that can see the town study issues like its company construction.
• The town will assessment the position of the chief administrative officer earlier than the place goes out to competitors.

Dave Stewart is a reporter with the SaltWire Community in Prince Edward Island. He will be reached by e mail at [email protected] and adopted on Twitter @DveStewart.