Greenwood councillor Barry Noll was removed as the city’s representative at the regional district last week. Mayor Nipper Kettle and the other three council members (Noll wasn’t at the meeting) voted unanimously to strip him of the job.
No one will say much in public. What little can be gleaned from what has been released is that Noll stands accused of a failure to keep a confidence about something that had been discussed at an in-camera meeting.
The latest public salvo in this little war came from Noll, who informed council on Monday night that he will no longer be attending in-camera meetings unless he can bring along his attorney.
It is unfortunate that the voters can’t lift the veil on this squabble and see what did or didn’t happen.
Because the way it is going down now very few facts are out in the public record. What little information that has been let out is just enough to smear a member of council as we gear up for another election this November.
But then again, maybe council was justified in their vote to remove Noll from his seat. If that is the case then the ‘smear job’ statement above probably crosses the line—because it infers that the four council members who voted Noll out of the position might have done something wrong.
The problem with all of this happening in-camera is that it leaves the voters unsure whom to believe. Especially when no one is actually saying anything to help explain the situation.
The timing is unfortunate. Because come November, any or all of the current members of council could have their names on a ballot that would see them elected for four years.
Whoopeee! An extra 12 months of dysfunction.