The warden of Richmond Co. says he’s still in shock municipal councillors voted to fire their chief administrative officer.
Councillors voted 3-2 in favour of terminating the contract of CAO Kent MacIntyre following a two-hour in-camera session at a special council meeting Monday night.
Brian Marchand, the municipality’s deputy warden, and councillors Alvin Martell and Gilbert Boucher supported the motion; Jason MacLean, Richmond Co.’s warden, and James Goyetche, another councillor, voted against.
MacLean tells The Hawk he was blindsided, and it still doesn’t make any sense.
“I’m even more and more embarrassed the more that I think about it- to think that any employer, being council, would treat any employee that way is mind-boggling,” he says. “It’s just a really, really gross feeling.”
MacLean says there’s a mistrust within council, and it’s a dysfunctional group right now.
He says he doesn’t know what comes next.
“At this point, I have no idea,” he says. “I’m just at a loss for dealing with what has just happened within the last couple of weeks, and then when you throw on top of that how can we move forward, I honestly don’t know.”
MacLean says some councillors were tired of waiting for MacIntyre to provide them with requested financial information, but that information was set to be provided Wednesday, two days after Monday’s meeting.
He says he expects legal action as a result of the termination, and it will be a huge cost to taxpayers.
