Administration's Been Watching Me and Trying to Shut Me Up Since 2021

April 2024 I made a personal FOIP request with the City of Medicine Hat and discovered they had been acting like Big Brother during the last election. Apparently I was so scary that they gave me my own category. You don't have to take my word for it - I brought all the receipts.

For the last four years, I’ve been covering council and committee meetings at City Hall remotely if not in person. I’ve been shining a bright light into the dank halls of bureaucracy with significant pushback from City administration. Administration even called police to have me removed from Council Chambers and trespassed me from City hall for a day for observing my Charter Rights at a public hearing.

​​​​April 2025 I filed another personal FOIP request. The only document that came back with my name attached to it was my own nomination papers - there was nothing documenting me being removed from Council Chambers on May 16 2024. They tried to say the other documents were not included because of privacy concerns. Administration knows that any complaint I file with the Office of Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta (OIPC ) will take at least 6 months. There's no way I would get the results before the election.

This is a disturbing pattern of behaviour. Administration has a culture of unprofessionalism which predates our current city manager Ann Mitchell. However, Mitchell has not put a stop to the unprofessional use of official City communication channels to gossip about residents in her 2-½ years with our fair city. Instead they've doubled down, closed ranks and refused to release information citing “privacy” issues. 

I call BS!

In 2024 the City of Medicine Hat filed no less than FOUR Requests to Disregard (FOIP Requests). All four were denied wasting a lot of time and staff resources in fighting the FOIP requests. The OIPC was so frustrated that they said on page ten of their decision posted on August 27 2024 -

1. [33]  As a final note, this is the fourth application the Public Body (the City of Medicine Hat) has brought to me this year requesting authorization to disregard access requests (resulting in three decisions: F2024- RTD-03, F2024-RTD-05, and this decision). I have dismissed all of these applications on the basis that the Public Body did not provide sufficient evidence to meet its burden. These decisions should provide guidance to the Public Body as to the evidence required for these types of cases and I encourage the Public Body to ensure it has evidence to support its application before it considers bringing another one in the future.

The City of Medicine Hat was effectively publicly spanked by the OIPC. Administration has spent far more time in fighting FOIP requests than fulfilling them. Adminstration has blamed the public for these increased costs instead of admitting they were wrong.

Because of this administration's obstructionist behaviour, the level of trust in the City has decreased. As a result of the decreased trust FOIP requests have understandably increased resulting in increased costs for information that should be freely available on the City's website. That financial burden falls upon the residents of Medicine Hat to pay for the obstructionist culture at City Hall.

We cannot fix problems unless we know they exist. Ann Mitchell's administration has spent most of their tenure fighting transparency, insisting that all is well. Council members are apologizing for asking questions for fear that they will be seen as mistrusting administration.

This has a chilling effect on debate and information requests.

Within months of starting work at City Hall, Mitchell illegally bypassed our own 8 page Administrative Organizational Bylaw. She was able to BS most of Council by claiming she had a legal opinion that authorized her to do it. -This legal opinion has never been released; it is doubtful it even existed. Once Council voted to ratify those changes at the embarrassing August 21 2023 Shitshow Showdown , they became legal retroactively. Later, Mitchell threatened to sue our mayor for defamation. This creates uncertainty and distrust - who wants to get sued by a City Manager who can apparently rely on the deep pockets of the City? If the City Manager lied about having a legal opinion, how can anybody trust what she says? This has a chilling effect of new investment in our city.

Mitchell has refused to admit any responsibility for her behaviour, choosing instead to blame others for wanting answers.

This has a chilling effect on any criticism.

In my opinion, City Administration has used Council as a rubber stamp for far too long. They expect Council to blindly trust their work and some get their backs up when they are questioned; with the effect of chilling discussion. Those who have earned their seat on Council represent the Residents of our fair city; they have the right as well as the obligation to ask questions of Administration.

I have not backed down from asking questions over the past four years. If elected, I do not intend to back down at the horseshoe.