Fiery meeting signals split on Midland council

By Nicole Million Midland Mirror Feb 16, 2011 

MIDLAND – Four members of Midland council walked out of a meeting last week, raising questions about whether the group will ever be able to get its act together.

What started the fireworks, according to Coun. Bob Jeffery, was the topic of emails circulated amongst members of council.

“We were having a great meeting and getting to the point where we were going to get together and have a strategic planning meeting,” he said. “Then good ol’ Deputy Mayor (Stephan) Kramp brought up some emails that he didn’t like and began to, I thought, chastise people. He literally spoiled the meeting.

“He’d taken the whole idea of trust building and flushed it down the toilet.”

Jeffery acknowledged some of the contentious emails involved Coun. Mike Ross, but refused to go into detail.

Kramp told The Mirror he did not want to rehash the events of the Feb. 9 meeting.

“I said what I said on Wednesday night and I am going to leave it at that,” he said.

Ross also declined to comment on the emails discussed at the meeting.

Despite the drama, Kramp said he is confident council will be able to come together to make decisions on issues facing the town.

“I am really optimistic that we are going to be able to do that. I think Wednesday night was a really positive thing because quite a number of people were able to express their feelings about how things were going. I saw that as a positive and we’re already seeing progress,” he said. “We have such an incredible potential, and we are already beginning to move in the right direction.”

He added the “fireworks” might be exactly what council needs to finally move forward: “In order to communicate effectively, you have to get things out on the table.”

Mayor Gord McKay said the meeting started off with good conversations about where they should be headed as a council, but a conversation about communication ultimately derailed the session, culminating with four councillors – Jeffery, Jack Charlebois, Jim Attwood and Zena Pendlebury – leaving the meeting before it was adjourned.

“Some stronger views were expressed and I think council took them under advisement,” McKay said. “We should be a better council now, in my opinion.”

The mayor added despite a seemingly cavernous divide on council – they were not even able to agree on a friendly wager with Penetanguishene council over the Junior C playoff series between the two towns’ teams – he believes they will be able to iron things out.

“We’re having a couple of rough spots here,” he said, “but we are learning to talk to each other and respect each other’s positions, so I’m quite hopeful we will come together as a council.”

McKay said he doesn’t believe any members of council are intentionally “blocking” items merely because of who brought them forward.

“I hope that is not case,” he said. “We were put in office to do the work of the people of Midland and, obviously, if you leave the table, you can’t do that, so that part is unfortunate.”

Pendlebury said she left the meeting because she didn’t like the comments made by Kramp.

“I will leave it at that,” she said, adding she has since discussed it with him personally. “I believe he just adds fuel to the fire with some of his comments, and I don’t think that’s constructive or helpful.”

Jeffery said he left because he didn’t want to stay in the presence of someone who he believed ruined the night: “Positive steps were being made and he, true to form, spoiled it.”

Like his fellow councillors, however, Jeffery said even a divided council can get things done.

“We’re not there to hug and kiss each other, but, at same time, we’re not there to bring forward personal agendas,” he said. “Is this council going to work? Sure, it’s going to work. The only thing we have to do is ensure that personal agendas are set aside.”

When asked whether he and other councillors are vetoing items based merely on who presented them, Jeffery has a short reply: “Poppycock.”

“This isn’t the first council that’s been fractious,” he said. “A lot of people want to use the word dysfunctional, but it’s not. It’s actually just the way things work. The bottom line is, ‘Is work going to get done?’ And yes it is, because I am more interested in making sure the roads are plowed, the water gets to your door and basic services are offered.”