A month after launching an appeal for help to the Fédération québécoise des municipalities to fill the interim in Sainte-Pétronille, the general director Nathalie Paquet is back from her sick leave, but the municipal council meeting was canceled in the absence of elected officials.
At 7:30 p.m., Mayor Jean Côté appeared with the director to tell the forty citizens that there was no quorum. “I have no explanation. “It’s an exceptional situation,” he said.
The mayor was then alone with Mme Paquet and the six advisors were all conspicuous by their absence. The seats remained vacant and the mayor stormed out, saying that it was imperative to wait an hour.
The long saga therefore continues on Île d’Orléans to the point of paralyzing activities.
Help request
“I’ve been here 54 years and I’ve never seen this,” said a very surprised citizen. Is this a reaction to the return of Director Paquet, who has been contested since her hiring? “No, there is simply no quorum,” added the mayor.
Last spring, three councilors resigned from their positions and three new ones were elected without opposition. Currently, one advisor is on sick leave.
After the deadline expired, Mayor Côté finally canceled the meeting, saying that three councilors could sit, which is insufficient. At the front, only Mathias Brandl was present an hour later.
Last September, the municipality of Sainte-Pétronille asked the Fédération québécoise des municipalities to appoint an interim director general “at least for three months”.
No explanation
Nathalie Paquet left her position for an indefinite period on July 18. The day before, July 17, The Journal reported a $260,000 lawsuit in court in connection with the death of a citizen of the municipality of Val-des-Lacs, his former employer. Mme Paquet had extended his sick leave until at least October 15. Its faster return has not been explained.
“We are taking extraordinary measures to compensate for the future. We need someone. It’s a decision that is necessary,” said deputy mayor Yves-André Beaulé on September 16.
Present Monday evening, the special advisor to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, Mario Caron, who must begin his mandate to “accompany the municipality and support it in its relations with citizens”, left the scene quickly. His presentation, scheduled on the agenda, has been postponed again.
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