UPDATE, 10/04: My Bancroft Now has received a statement from Mayor Paul Jenkins: “the town has conducted itself throughout the process as instructed by our legal council,” Jenkins says. He continues, “We await further legal direction as we move forward.”
The former CAO of Bancroft is seeking $600,000 from Mayor Paul Jenkins and the Town.
In the statement of claim filed in the Superior Court of Justice on September 26th Hazel Lambe presents her case for wrongful and constructive dismissal.
The 16-page document accuses members of council of bypassing her office to deal directly with staff. She alleges this led to a decline in staff and council relationships. She states that she had tried to arrange a meeting between an official from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs to outline the role of council and staff, but council declined, and the meeting never happened.
Lambe also says in the statement that Jenkins, Deputy Mayor at the time, reached out to a representative of Progressive Waste Solutions, for information for a presentation to Council about selling the land fill. Lambe alleges the email was sent without consultation with her or with the CAO’s office.
Lambe’s statement also accuses council of circumventing procedural by-law when councillors moved to restructure her position that led to her dismissal. The statement also alleges that Lambe had opposed the reorganization of the Town’s structure because of costs associated with the restructuring.
Also included in the statement Lambe alleges that mayoral candidate and councillor Mary Kavanaugh approached Fire Chief Pat Hoover in early 2017 about the possibility of him taking over the role of CAO and demoting Lambe to Deputy Clerk in two years time.
There are over 80 allegations included in the statement of claim obtained by the My Bancroft Now newsroom from the Superior Court of Justice.
When reached for comment on Saturday Mayor Paul Jenkins said he hasn’t seen the statement of claim. He says, “he has no clue on it.” He added, “this all transpired, I was in the County all day (sic) Thursday and I was tied up on other town business Friday, so I haven’t been into the office yet. So, I just asked the Solicitor to give me a brief on it and I expect I am going to get that early next week.”
When contacted for comment councillor Mary Kavanaugh said she hasn’t seen the statement of claim and did not want to comment.
Fire Chief Pat Hoover would also not offer a comment on the statement of claim.
The town and Mayor Jenkins have 20 days to respond to Lambe’s allegations and Jenkins says they will be seeking the town’s solicitor’s advice on next steps.
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
This story is developing, please check back for more details as they become available.