Dauphin City Council had its regular meeting Monday evening, where several items were discussed, including the resignation of Councillor Kerri Riehl.
Kerri says that the decision to step down wasn't about the council's recent decision to not have a by-election after the passing of Mayor Allen Dowhan, but about upholding her integrity.
"Over the past three years, at times I've seen the decision of a few outweigh what I believe to be the greater good of the community as a whole. I believe that the City of Dauphin council is in a state of unrest, and I think we need honest and transparent municipal governance especially now. During my years on council, I have never forgotten that I was elected by our citizens, and meant to be a voice for all of our community."
Riehl was elected in 2018.
A motion was passed to request ministerial approval to not hold a by-election to fill the vacancy caused by her resignation. Deputy Mayor Christian Laughland said the council could request this because of health concerns from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Whereas section 105-1 of the Municipal Act states in part that when a vacancy on council occurs greater than 12 months before a general election a council must hold a by-election to fill the vacancy on the council. Whereas on or about September 16th 2021 Manitoba Municipal Relations issued bulletin 2021-49, Temporary Suspension of local election provisions.”
Also in the meeting, Fire Chief Cam Abrey gave a presentation, where he presented the department's emergency response review.
“Our emergency response review from January 1st to September 30th, well we are over that 149 now, but that was to the end of September, and that same time period last year was 120 response, so we’ve had a 24 percent increase in our call volume.”
Cam says 116 of these calls were from the city, and 30 from rural areas.
The next City Council meeting takes place on November 1st.
