Councillor Chris Mayne took to Facebook this afternoon to demand an apology from fellow councillor Mark King over remarks made by Don Rennick, the treasurer of the Taxpayers Association at Monday night's council meeting.
King is president of the group.
"As City Councillors, name calling and being targeted for remarks is nothing new and indeed goes with the territory. But, to say that City staff are 'deliberately misleading" is inappropriate, and as the Chair of Community Services who should appreciate the time and effort that staff bring to the budget process, and particularly as President of the North Bay Tax Payers Association that made the remarks, I believe Councillor Mark King should apologize for the Association remarks," wrote Mayne.
Mayne's concern is a comment about staff misleading council regarding how much the budget increase actually is.
"I felt that was very inappropriate. I think it would be appropriate for the president of the North Bay Taxpayers Association, who is also a chair of the Community Services department who works closely with staff and who should have a sense of how strongly, how hard they work at budget time, that derogatory remarks that are directed at staff, I think there should be an apology from the president not by the treasurer, to the community"
But that appears highly unlikely.
"I can tell you quite honestly that's not going to happen," King told Cogeco North Bay News.
"If Chris actually remembers the presentation Don (Rennick) actually asked questions. The questions were "Did staff mislead council and the public or was it a mistake?' and that's the simple, short of that presentation."
"In my mind what we need to do is move forward from it."
Council meets again tonight in a series of budget meetings trying to come to some consensus.
