The Penhold councillor who was skipped over for deputy mayor and is not allowed to sit on any committees is speaking out after declining to comment previously.
Chad Hoffman, who made it clear his views and comments don't represent official council comments, said he disagrees with Mayor Dennis Cooper's comments in the Dec. 4 edition of the Innisfail Province saying Hoffman's actions have shown the councillor is not a team player.
“I don't know how I'm not a team player,” he said. He said council hasn't done team-building exercises.
He said the only action he could think of that could have resulted in him being suspended from serving on committees as a council representative was forwarding a report he did on the fire department to the Province last year.
Hoffman was denied the opportunity to sit on council committees during the organizational meetings in 2011 and 2012. At the Oct. 29, 2012 meeting, council voted to appoint Coun. Wendy Dodman as deputy mayor for the term that Hoffman had originally been scheduled for the task.
He said it's “unfair to the people of Penhold” for a councillor to be shut out of committees.
“I'm trying everything I can (to be a team player),” he said. “They just shut me out.”
Cooper, responding to Hoffman's comment about team building, noted just after the election when council wanted to go on retreat to produce the three-year strategic plan Hoffman said it was a waste of time and money.
“The report on the fire department was not the reason he was removed from committees,” Cooper said. “I think Chad knows the actions that he did.”
He said council has voted for some of Hoffman's ideas while voting down others – just like other items councillors bring forward.
“Everybody has ideas that are either accepted or rejected by council,” he said.
He said he hopes Hoffman and council can continue to move forward.
“I'm happy to hear he's trying to move forward to work with council,” Cooper said.
As for whether or not Hoffman would get the chance to be deputy mayor for the final six months of the current council term, Cooper said it'd be up to council when they vote on it in the spring.
“I can't really speak on that,” he said.
