McKay threatens to quit job as mayor

The usually active City Hall hive turned into a regular hornet's nest Jan. 25.
Seems Miramichi mayor John McKay is upset over deputy mayor Rupert Bernard's failed attempt to be paid $5,000 a month for three months for consulting work on the Miramichi Open River Museum project.
So much so McKay basically threatened to quit his job.
McKay made the declaration at the Jan. 25 city council meeting, after a proposed policy discussion got feathers flying all around.
The policy would bar councillors from drawing salaries from money for projects approved by council.
At the centre of this dispute is who should be allowed to work for the museum project.
Last year, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency gave the museum $3.1 million for the first phase of construction and the city threw in $188,000 for salaries for administrators plus other funds for construction.
Bernard said delays in the early part of the project raised concerns about construction deadlines.
As a result, he presented a proposal for consulting services to the board for three months to get things off the ground. If approved, Bernard would have gotten $5,000 per month.
Bernard said he didn't feel there was any problem with his proposal because he would be paid with ACOA money, not city money.
The museum board approved Bernard's proposal, but when ACOA declined the $15,000 in additional funding to pay Bernard, he withdrew his offer.
McKay said all councillors must ensure they don't create jobs for themselves with taxpayers money, stating councillors are elected to protect the public interest and not to line their own pockets. McKay said the fact there's any question about the necessity of such a policy is shameful. Both McKay and Bernard sit on the museum's board of directors, by the way.
I think it's shameful it took 11 years as a city to put such a basic policy in place. Kind of makes you wonder how many times the chicken coop's been raided by foxes in the last decade the door's been left open, doesn't it?
The whole thing is disgraceful.
Every time you turn around on this river, people are flocking out west cause there aren't any jobs here and the best idea council can come up with is to burn up $3.1 million of your money and mine on a few gazebos? And now they're arging over who gets the job or two the project created?
It seems a little too much like arguing over what colour the drapes in the sitting room should be while the roof is on fire.
I'm sorry. His Worship wasn't finished.
"I certainly am going to very strongly consider whether I intend to remain as the mayor," McKay said in a report.
Well, Mr. Mayor, if you really feel that way, don't let us stop you.
New faces around the table might be the only way to save what little of Miramichi we have left.
Problem is the same people keep stepping up to the plate year after year, decade after decade with the same old ideas and the same old grudges.
The seats change, but the faces stay the same, more or less.
Well, folks, you get what you pay for.
Remember that when the next election rolls around.