The Gas City Gaslighting Continues - an "Anonymous Source" Blames The Trash Panda For City Clerk Departure
By Kelly Allard
An “anonymous source” is blaming Community TV / The Trash Panda for the departure of City clerk Larry Randle.
“The source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, added Randle’s departure is related to “the amount of abuse they were taking from the public”, specifically from a pair of online commentators and a local resident.”
…
“The source who spoke to CHAT News explained Randle was mimicked and mocked by the two individuals that produce commentary under the local brand “Community TV”.
The former city clerk, according to this individual, was also overwhelmed with emails from Medicine Hat resident Nicole Frey, known for her criticism of city hall over the issue of transparency and for launching an effort to remove the mayor last year.”
This is Merely More Gas City Gaslighting
Community TV / The Trash Panda has mentioned many times that we thought City Clerk Larry Randle was a nice guy, that he seemed well qualified and was always cordial in our interactions with him. We have said that we thought he was between a rock and a hard place and we felt bad for him.
Gaslighting is defined by Merriam Webster as
1 : psychological manipulation of a person usually over an extended period of time that causes the victim to question the validity of their own thoughts, perception of reality, or memories and typically leads to confusion, loss of confidence and self-esteem, uncertainty of one's emotional or mental stability, and a dependency on the perpetrator
2: the act or practice of grossly misleading someone especially for one's own advantage
As part of the Fifth Estate (not the TV show), yes, we do criticize the actions of the other four estates. That is the purpose of the Fifth Estate, to be watchdogs and expose the wrongdoings of others. Because we do not back down, because we cannot be influenced to alter our stories to make people look good, we are often seen as a threat by those with something to hide.
The Issues with City Manager Ann Mitchell Started Early
At Mitchell’s 2nd council meeting, she offered a public apology regarding her improper attempt to disband the Municipal Planning Commission (MPC). Disbanding the MPC was in the Agenda Packet but apparently she neglected to notify the proper people. The MPC members were blindsided.
I have no use for the MPC, I think we could easily do without it like about 50% of municipalities in Alberta. Blindsiding the Commission members was NOT the way to do it.
The apology was shocking - only a few weeks into her reign and she apparently screwed up - big time. MPC Chair Darren Hirsch proffered his feeling of umbrage at how it went down, saying his integrity was attacked.
Transcript from Feb 21 2023 Regular Council Meeting
(ers, uhs and ums removed, a few spelling mistakes corrected.
1:59:40 Mitchell I just want to publicly apologize to Councillor Hirsch as the chair of the committee and also to the members of the MPC because I don't think that we did a good and thorough job of how we engage the committee and we want to apologize for that so we want to make sure that the process going forward if that's council's direction that it's more robust and involves everybody who needs to be involved.
2:00:15 Hirsch Thank you city manager, I appreciate the commentary. I think just because this got into the public sphere it's just important for us to kind of understand really how we got there. I think as the city manager indicated there's just been you a series of missteps and I think the intentionality was there but I think it didn't necessarily landed us to where we wanted to be.
So unfortunately there was a reach out to the community affected parties prematurely which in technical terms means that this is before Council was able to review it which would have been tonight.
So essentially the cart was put in front of the proverbial horse. My personal position on this remains the same. I think or perhaps it may change as we do further review so I appreciate the commentary so I think as we move forward it'll be interesting to see where the position is.
I think one of the things that I really maybe took some umbrage at is that there was a series of emails that was sent back to my attention indicating a little bit of attack on my Integrity in terms that I might have spearheaded this and in fact I was not. It was again well intentioned that I think I don't fault anyone in that regard but I think it's just important to clear the air that that wasn't the case at all. I'm not necessarily impressed with the execution.
I find as we move forward the rationale as it stands right now we're just going to remove that and take it back to Administration. Just the optics for me at this point in time didn't sit well as as far as how the whole process laid out so I think in order for us to to kind of retrace our steps look at this with a renewed understanding of how we move this forward I'm prepared to kind of go that way but I appreciate the fact to clear the air so thank you.
NB - we still have an MPC 17 months later.
What is fascinating in this exchange is that Councillor Hirsch performed a dressing down of the process of “putting the cart before the horse” but by August he was willing to rubber stamp Mitchell’s bypassing of Administrative Organization Bylaw 4662 at the August 21 2023 Shitshow Showdown. This was the third reorganization in 5 years. Reorganization Fatigue is a real thing.
This is the second City Clerk to leave office under City Manager Ann MItchell’s reign. We never mentioned the first City Clerk at all, that one was all on Mitchell. The first one to leave left in Spring of 2023. This person came here from Grande Prairie, the City paid for her relocation.
Here’s a timeline of events during Mitchell’s reign since she entered the doors of the Glass Palace. .
Timeline
NB - Much of the following information comes from the Mar 27 2024 Mayor’s document drop on her Facebook page.
Dec 19 2022 Ann Mitchell named as new City Manager after the City hired a headhunting firm. Councillor Shila Sharps was on the search committee for a new City Manager. Sharps has experience in Human Resources (HR) so it was a reasonable choice.
Medicine Hat City Manager Ann Mitchell Background — Community TV - The TrashPanda
Here’s the job posting. Specific demands include
Carries out the City Manager's responsibilities and duties as outlined in the Municipal Government Act (sections 207 and 208), as well as The City of Medicine Hat's Bylaw 4311 (sic - 4311 is the previous version of the Administrative Organization Bylaw 4662).
Ensures that staff adheres to the policies, protocols, bylaws, and resolutions of Council.
Develops and recommends to Council, policies which are necessary to carry out the powers, duties, and functions of the City.
Ability to use tact, patience, and diplomacy in difficult situations to preserve effective, trusting relationships.
Driven by an inner standard of excellence while displaying honesty and integrity in the balance between commitments made and the ability to deliver.
Exhibits and promotes the highest ethical standards, builds credibility, and earns trust.
Feb 2023 According to a statement by Councillor Shila Sharps on page 11 of the Redacted Kingsgate Report, “the City Manager moved the City Clerk from the City Solicitor to report directly to the City Manager.” This gave the City Manager the power to hire and fire the City Clerk. Sharps also opined the City Clerk was “ecstatic” about the change.
Feb 6 2023 City Manager Ann Mitchell’s first council meeting.
Feb 21 2023 City Manager Ann Mitchell’s second council meeting included a public apology to Municipal Planning Commission Chair Darren Hirsch.
Apr 4 2023 Page 13 of the Audit Committee Agenda shows the City Clerk reporting to the City Manager as of Dec 31 2022 which wasn't true.
May 1 2023 City Clerk Arlene Karbashewski’s last Council Meeting. The City had a series of Interim/ Acting City Clerks until Ann Mitchell hired her former coworker Larry Randle as the new City Clerk. Randle seemed well qualified but the optics were bad.
May 5 2023 Managing Director of Energy and Infrastructure Brad Maynes left to take a private sector job.
May 23 2023 New Head of Human Resources (HR) Karla Kochan is hired (that position was vacant before Mitchell arrived). On that day HR starts to report to the City Manager (CM) rather than to Corporate Services. Kochan is a former coworker of Ann Mitchell’s lawyer who had Mayor Clark served with a cease and desist letter at work.
Jun 19 2023 This is the date that CM Mitchell says she sent a memo to Council re the reorganization. The reorg was NOT discussed at the Jun 19 meeting.
At the August 21 2023 Shitshow Showdown she said the memo went out July 19 2023 and the reorganization was done by July 10 2023; I am assuming she meant to say June.
Jun 26 2023 Layoffs occurred. Council was NOT advised but word got out to the community.
Jun 27 2023 Staff advised of reorg after people had already lost their jobs.
Jun and Jul 2024 City Manager Performance Appraisal, Goal and Strategy Setting Session
Council discussed the process and agreed it should have a separate meeting to discuss the CM Performance Appraisal etc. It was also discussed Jul 17 2024 but Mayor Clark was absent that meeting.
Mitchell believed it should be a workshop rather than a meeting. Meetings are advertised to the public, Council is not allowed to hold secret meetings). In the Kingsgate report, Councillor Sharps said she believed it was a meeting advertised to the public. (It was not)
Search showing the meeting advertised during the month of August 2023. The meeting to discuss the City Manager’s Performance Appraisal is not listed.
Jul 4 2023 At the Closed Session of Council, CM MItchell advised Council in closed about the reorg, this is the first time that Council discussed the reorg. At the request of Mitchell, only Council and Mitchell were present; no designated officers were present including the City Solicitor.
At no time did the CM ask for Council’s opinion, nor did she inform Council that the decision was theirs to make. Mayor Clark says she brought up the issue with the CM in front of all of Council about the decision to amend the Bylaw being under the purview of Council. CM held up the AO Bylaw and said she did have the power, also that she had a legal opinion from the City Solicitor that backed up her interpretation (he was not present).
No vote was taken, Council had merely received information.
At the Open Session of Council, Procedure Bylaw 4725 is added at the last minute to the public agenda. The public does not get to see it beforehand; it is added later. They had first reading; discussion only happens after 2nd reading.
Jul 6 2023 Mayor Clark had a one on one meeting with the City Manager, they disagreed about whether the City Manager Performance Appraisal, Goal and Strategy Setting Session should be a meeting or a workshop.
Jul 7 2023 Public advised of reorg
Mayor Clark received an e-mail from Mitchell’s Exec Asst re meeting or workshop. Clark replied she thought that it was to be scheduled as a Council Committee of the Whole.
Jul 10 2023 The reorganization is complete in advance of amending the appropriate bylaw/ resolution.
Jul 14 2023 Mayor Clark reached out to Guy Giorno for a legal opinion
Jul 17 2023 Procedure Bylaw 4725 2nd and 3rd reading on the agenda; the Mayor is absent. Starts at 2:11:26 of the July 17 2023 Council meeting
Council passes 14 amendments to Procedure Bylaw 4725, many of which strip powers from the position of mayor. Mayor Clark was not in attendance, Councillor Sharps presided as Deputy Mayor. None of the amendments were in the Agenda Packet previously but all council members present at the meeting had stacks of papers in front of them. Not one of them suggested that they get the mayor’s input. Councillor Hirsch seemed especially worried about a Mayor weaponizing bio-breaks to stop debate.
2nd reading of Procedure Bylaw 4725 is sent back to Administration to add the amendments. CM Mitchell wanted the 2nd reading without Council having all of the amendments. The City Solicitor said it would be better to have staff do the amendments then bring it back. Sharps wanted to make sure that 2nd and 3rd reading could be done at the next meeting, to be done by the end of summer.
Aug 10 2023 Admin Committee Meeting
Aug 15 2023 Mayor Clark emailed the rest of council about her concerns.
Aug 16 2023 Councillor Sharps responded to Mayor Clark’s Aug 15 e-mail saying
“I appreciate your summary but it does not align with my recollection of the closed council meeting when she brought up the issue. I distinctly remember you stating exactly what you mentioned above, and she did respond. However, there was no further discussion at that point. If you were opposed, shouldn’t you have made a motion and opened it up for discussion in open council?”
Aug 16 2023 City Manager Performance Appraisal, Goal and Strategy Setting Session.
Council agreed it should have a separate meeting to discuss the CM Performance Appraisal etc. They disagreed over whether it was to be a meeting or a workshop. In the Kingsgate report, Councillor Sharps said she believed it was advertised to the public. (It was not )
The reorg was discussed as part of the performance appraisal but Mitchell was NOT in the room at that time. At no time was a vote taken on the issue. It would not have been appropriate to do so as this was not an advertised meeting.
Aug 21 2023 The Shitshow Showdown. Council rubber stamps Mitchell’s bypassing of the Administrative Organization Bylaw 4662, Councillor Sharps wags her finger at the mayor, says to Mitchell, “don’t worry, I’m more offended than you are” when Mitchell refuses to answer questions posed by the mayor about the reorganization.
Councillors Sharps and Hider approach the Mayor during a recess. Sharps thought the Mayor should leave the meeting, Hider concurred. The Mayor said she was not leaving, Sharps said she was not going to let this go, Hider accused the Mayor of being unstable. They wanted Mayor Clark that this was serious and it was going to get personal.
Aug 22 2023 Councillor Shila Sharps storms into the Councillor Lounge outside the Mayor’s office and demands a copy of the legal opinion the Mayor received from Guy Giorno. After not get what she came for, Sharps filed a Code of Conduct Complaint against the mayor regarding the exchange with the CM during the Shitshow Showdown. The Mayor told Sharps she felt she was being threatened, Sharps admitted that she was, just being honest.
Aug 25 2024 Mayor Clark provided the Gioro opinion to Council.
Sep 8 2023 Tom and Kelly went into City hall and asked City Clerk Larry Randle about filing a FOIP request. This information was shared with the Acting City Manager. This document was sent to a 3rd party, Kelly’s name was NOT redacted.
We wanted to pick up the form; we were told they didn't have any but we could file online.)
Oct 23 2023 Email from Mayor Clark to CM Mitchell regarding the timeline for Mitchell to provide proof that she had a legal opinion that gave Mitchell the right to bypass the Administrative Organization Bylaw 4662.
According to Mayor Clark, Mitchell refused to provide the legal opinion and e-mailed all of Council telling them the mayor's communication was “inappropriate”.
Nov 2023 The City tells Nicole Frey they will no longer respond to her e-mails, that she must file FOIPs for information.
Nov 21 2023 Queen Ann’s lawyer, Craig Floden (former coworker of Karla Kochan who was hired by Mitchell as head of HR on May 23 2023), had Mayor Clark served with a Cease and Desist letter at City Hall. The letter accused Mayor Clark of defaming Mitchell on at least 2 occasions - first by sending the Aug 15 e-mail and again at the Aug 21 public council meeting. The letter threatened to sue Mayor Clark.
Nov 2023 The Chief of Staff Position is gone. This position reported to the Mayor, not the CM. The position for a Public Relations Advisor to the Mayor and Council was approved by council in 2022, they were to report to the Chief of Staff. The PR Advisor started in June 2022, the Chief of Staff started in Oct 2022.
Later on the PR Advisor would be gone too. (they could surely use one right now.
Feb 12 2024 The City submitted its application for authorization to disregard the five access requests filed by Nicole Frey.
Feb 20 2024 Mayor Clark’s request for info (the Mayor’s Ask) is sent to City Clerk Randle and Council, Mitchell was cc’d. She requested that it be put on the Mar 4 meeting agenda.
Feb 27 2024 Decision handed down in Kingsgate Report. City says it will be released when it is redacted.
Mar 4 2024 City Council Meeting - The Mayor’s Ask is not on the agenda.
Mar 18 2024 City Council Meeting - The Mayor’s Ask is not on the agenda.
Mar 20 2024 7:00 pm The City posts about a Special Meeting for the next day at noon, violating the bylaw that says the public is to get 24 hrs notice.
Acting Mayor McGrogan said the next day that they "followed procedure" and a "technical hiccup" was responsible for the lack of notice.
Mar 21 2024 Black Thursday - The Municipal Mutiny when The Mutinous Seven Of Council (TMSOC) impose the most severe sanctions possible on the mayor for "disrespecting" Queen Ann without even putting a clock on it. The public is stunned, many are outraged and feel the council has overstepped. McGrogan did not want to answer Kellys questions.
Mar 26 2024 The Kingsgate Report is released but it is so heavily redacted it is pretty much useless. We hear very little of Councillor Sharp’s accusations against Mayor Clark.
Mar 27 2024 Mayor Clark holds a press conference and releases 47 pages, very little was redacted.
Apr 1 2024 Not an April Fools joke - TMSOC put out a Press Release in an unusual manner trying to defend their decision. It was not received well by the public who were demanding answers and explanations.
NB - until Apr 5 the public had no idea of what the Mayor’s Ask consisted of.
Apr 5 2024 The release of the April Council Agenda which finally revealed the Mayor’s Ask which should have been put on the March 4 Agenda. It was also not on the March 18 agenda.
Apr 8 2024 City Council Meeting The Mayor’s Ask is on the agenda but they run out the clock before they can get to it. Nobody will second Mayor Clark’s motion to extend the meeting. The City Manager did say that part of the reason the mayor did not get that info earlier is because it is under administration.
Apr 11 2024 City Manager Ann Mitchell posts on Linked IN about the current incivility in local politics.
Apr 12 2024 Former mayor Ted Clugston did an interview with CHAT News and Medicine Hat News. Here’s my article Monday Morning Musings on the Medicine Hat Municipal Mutiny
Apr 13 2024 I filed a FOIP for my personal information
Apr 15 2024 Community TV /The Trash Panda filed a FOIPP for the Mayor’s Ask.
Apr 22 2024 Council again delayed addressing the Mayor’s Ask. They also removed media from the Media Table, banishing them to the cheap seats in the nosebleed section.
Apr 23 2024 The last time Randle is seen at a council meeting. A series of Acting City Clerks take on the role.
Apr 29 2024 Tom calls Larry Randle asking about the media table. Randle said it was CM Mitchell that ordered the change to the media table; he said it was his understanding the media table would be restored.
Apr 30 2024 Tom posts the Larry Randle phone call
May 2 2024 Mayor Clark releases the documents she gave to Council Members. Here’s my article called
Gas City Gaslighting of Medicine Hat Mayor Linnsie Clark
May 2 2024 Community TV /The Trash Panda receives notice that the City has filed for an Authorization to Disregard our FOIPP request for the Mayor’s Ask, they also wanted Authorization to Disregard Tom’s request for his personal information.
May 6 2024 Larry Randle is absent from the Council meeting, he is due back May 21.
May 14 2024 Tom and Kelly are removed from the 3rd floor by police. They were sitting at a table having a work meeting while enjoying the view.
May 15 2024 Kelly received a notice that the City requires another 30 days to fulfill her personal FOIP request, the delay was because the search came back with 3437 items. Kelly was not told that she could file a complaint to the Commissioner according to Section 14(4)(c) to the FOIP Act.
May 16 2024 Subdivision and Development Appeal Board (SDAB) meeting. Kelly is removed from the meeting by police because she refused to stop recording a public meeting in a public place. She offered to stop recording if the SDAB recording would be made available to the public.
Silence.
Kelly is removed from the building and told she is not permitted back for the rest of the day.
The OIPC denies the City’s application for authorization to disregard Nicole Frey’s requests. They MUST respond to all 5 FOIP requests.
May 22 2024 The City announces new security measures at City Hall to start Jun 3.
May 29 2024 The City posts an ad for an Interim City Clerk
Council Committee of the Whole - Speaker George Cuff. CM Mitchell hired Management Consultant George Cuff to come and give a public lecture about how the mayor needs to do better.
Jun 3 2024 New security measures take effect. The public is no longer allowed to tarry in City Hall, they must do their business and leave.
The elevators to the 2nd and 3rd floors are restricted to key card holders.
The plaza doors are closed to the public but City staff are permitted to use them.
The Legislative Hallway is off limits as is the Helen Beny Gibson Lounge.
Media is not permitted on the floor of Council Chambers. Members of Council and City Staff are easily able to avoid media questions.
The media table is removed completely, security guards are installed to make sure nobody accesses the power outlets.
Jun 9 2024 Kelly received an e-mail from Nicole Frey with a document that shows that the City released her personal information to Frey in Frey’s own FOIP request.
Jun 11 2024 Kelly received her FOIP documents. The documents were outside of the requested timeline and documents were missing, many redactions.
Kelly sent an E-mail to Larry Randle asking questions The auto-reply said he was due back July 8 2024.
July 2 2024 Kelly injures her ankle on the way to the Council Meeting. When she left, she asked if she could leave by the plaza doors as it would be a shorter walk to her car parked by Riverside Veterans Memorial park; security said no. (It turns out that Kelly’s ankle was broken.)
July 8 2024 Larry Randle is still not back, people answering the phone at City hall are evasive when asked when he would be back.
Jul 13 2024 News breaks that City Clerk Larry Randle has left permanently. CHAT News publishes a story citing an “anonymous source” blaming Community TV and a resident for Randle’s departure saying
“The source who spoke to CHAT News explained Randle was mimicked and mocked by the two individuals that produce commentary under the local brand “Community TV”.”
To that we say, show us the receipts, show us the clips.
Jul 15 2024 CHAT News again reiterates the statement from the “anonymous source” blaming Community TV /The Trash Panda for Randle’s departure.
Jul 16 2024 Community TV/ The Trash Panda interviews Mayor Clark for over an hour. Tom and his assistant were not permitted to use the stairs. Everybody was taken up in the elevator.
Jul 17 2024 Tom has still not received any word about his FOIP request. When the City requested Authorization to Disregard Tom’s request, that stopped the clock. The Office of Information and Privacy Commissioner is backlogged. It took over 3 months for them to rule on another of the City’s requests for Authorization to Disregard.
