Sunbury-York South mayor temporarily suspended by council, unnamed employee to be fired

As more challenges have come to the council of a rural community just outside Fredericton, local officials are being tight-lipped about major personnel changes they voted on. 

During a seven-hour meeting that began Tuesday night and stretched to 2 a.m. Wednesday, the Sunbury-York South council voted to both temporarily suspend Mayor David Hayward for violating the code of conduct and to move to fire an unnamed employee.

CBC made numerous attempts to verify which employee is being fired, but officials in the municipality have not answered.

Created under the province's 2023 municipal amalgamations, Sunbury-York South includes Nasonworth, Rusagonis, Waasis, Charters Settlement, Sunpoke and Beaver Dam. 

Hayward's suspension relates to how the municipality approved the lease for an office without going through a council vote.

CBC News requested a copy of the meeting minutes but was told by acting clerk Leslie Morrell that they would not be made public until they are approved at the next council meeting in July. 

However, the day after the meeting, Coun. Cory Allen and Coun.Hajnalka Hartwick held their own public meeting to go over details of what was decided for interested members of the public.

In a video shared with CBC News, Hartwick told the crowd that "a member" had been reprimanded, suspended for 90 days, and asked for a letter of apology after council decided in closed session that the member had violated the code of conduct.

Hartwick said the vote had happened at about 2:10 a.m. toward the end of the meeting. 

While Hartwick did not name the person on council who was reprimanded, municipality resident Mac Burns told CBC News it was Mayor David Hayward, following a complaint he had made against the mayor.

In the complaint, Burns said Hayward had signed a two-year lease for the municipality's office space in Oromocto without having it done as an official decision of council.

Allen said in the meeting that the lease had been for $343,000 for a two-year term. 

Last month, CBC News asked the clerk for council minutes that showed a vote on the office lease. The package of meeting minutes that the clerk provided did not show the council taking any vote on the lease.

Minutes from last Sept. 5 say that "council agreed to direct the CAO to move forward with rental negotiations," and minutes from Nov. 19 show that council moved for a presentation from the CAO "on details of the new lease." But nowhere in the minutes provided was a vote ever taken.

In their Wednesday night meeting,  Allen and Hartwick also said there was a closed session, followed by a motion in an open session for the mayor to "carry out the steps to facilitate the termination of the staff member effective immediately."

Neither of the councillors gave a reason for why the employee was to be fired or who it was. 

Despite holding a public meeting, both Hartwick and Allen declined requests to confirm what they said, with both saying they were not spokespersons for the municipality. The two councillors directed all questions to Larry Delong, the acting mayor.

The municipal clerk also would not confirm who was to be fired and directed questions to Delong.

Delong did not answer any of the requests the CBC made by email and phone.

As of Friday afternoon, no changes had been made to the municipality's website or social media page to announce Hayward's sanctions or which employee is going to be fired. 

CAO faces court charges, pleads not guilty

Sunbury-York South is the same municipality whose chief administrative office is facing charges in court under the Local Governance Act  The charges against Marjorie Turner relate to two separate instances where she allegedly called the police on residents asking for public documents they were legally entitled to. 

A clerk for the Fredericton provincial court confirmed to CBC News on Thursday that Turner's next appearance is on Aug. 10, and that she has entered a not guilty plea.

When the charges were first announced, Hayward had said in an interview that Turner's employment with the municipality would be a "human resources matter" for the municipality to discuss. 

It's unclear if Turner is the employee who has been terminated by the municipality. CBC News tried to reach Hayward by phone and email for comment but did not get a response.

CBC News also tried the lawyer representing Turner to confirm if she is still employed by the municipality but has not received a response.