LoW councillors declared proper conflicts in hiring spouses

Ken Johnston

Controversy has been swirling around in Lake of the Woods Township over the hiring of new staff members at last month’s council meeting.
Some citizens are concerned over the hiring of three people, Sheila Gate, Mary Anne McCormack and Lawrence Fadden, all of which are spouses to the Town Council there. Fred Gate was also hired for the cemetery position, but is not married to any of the councillors there.
Sheila Gate and Mary Anne McCormack submitted a joint proposal to fulfill the duties of Hall Caretaker for the township. They were chosen over another applicant. The job was previously held by Fred Gate.
Fadden was hired as a general labourer.
Concerns over whether councillors were in conflict of interest in hiring their spouses to work for the municipality have arisen. However, Town Clerk Pat Giles said Monday, “All declared conflicts of interest and did not vote on those particular motions.” He said that all three cases were split up with quorums for each vote being in place, excluding the appropriate councillor that had declared a conflict.
Serving on council in Lake of the Woods is Bill Lundgren, Alf Gate, Colleen Fadden and Ernest McCormack. The Mayor is Valerie Pizey.
Several citizens have challenged council to prove they were not in conflict of interest. Giles said that the proof will be in the minutes from last month’s meeting once they are approved by council on May 4, 2004 (making them public record); the date of their next regular meeting.
A group of concerned citizens will be at that meeting to make a presentation. The public is welcome to attend the meeting at 7 p.m. in the Bergland Town Garage/Council Chambers.