MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY - County council has decided keep councillor Gord Krebs from sitting on council committees, continuing a sanction imposed on the first-term elected official last November.
Council found Krebs to be in violation of two sections of the Council Code of Conduct Bylaw 09/22 and sanctioned him on Nov. 30, 2022.
The sanction called for his removal from all council committees until at least the Oct. 25, 2023 organizational meeting.
As part of the sanction, Krebs was required to complete an in-person training course approved by the chief administrative officer that addresses respect in the workforce.
During last week’s organizational meeting, council made the decision not to appoint Krebs to any council committees. The decision came following in-camera deliberations.
“This decision was based on the determination that the requirements set forth in the councillor code of conduct, as established by council on November 30, 2022, have not been satisfied,” reeve Angela Aalbers said in a statement provided to the Albertan.
“Mountain View County council wishes to emphasize that should councillor Krebs meet the code of conduct requirements as previously approved by council, the possibility of re-evaluating committee appointments will be considered at that time.”
For his part, Krebs told the Albertan he was surprised council decided to keep the sanction in place.
“Nobody told me anything until I went this morning (Oct. 25) expecting to be on committees and I was told that they don’t think that I met my sanctions,” Krebs said. “They kept repeating that I had not met the sanctions. I met (earlier) in person with the CAO and to me that was the in-person training that I was required to do.
“I went there thinking that I’d done my penance and tried to take the high road and it didn’t work out. As far as I’m concerned, I’ve paid my sanction and it was done and I was going to move on.
“I’ve sat through the in-person training, what I thought was in-person training, that I thought was approved by the CAO. Apparently, somebody else didn’t think that.”
As for the sanctions themselves, he said, “Personally to me it’s insulting that they think I need it, but that is their prerogative. There’s six people there that decided that I do.”
Going forward, Krebs said said plans to attend some meetings, including the agricultural service board meetings, as a casual observer.
“They can’t stop that, and I’ve done that in the past,” he said. “I’m going to continue to do my job as best I can and that is what I was elected to do. Someone else is stopping me from doing a big part of that job, but it doesn’t mean I can’t be informed.”
Mountain View County CAO Jeff Homes said the county will not be releasing details of the Code of Conduct violations that led to Krebs being sanctioned.
Krebs said earlier that the sanctions stem from advice he gave to a county staff member.
“Essentially what it was is I have been a mentor my entire life and my entire career as a veterinarian, so when I see somebody who I see needs support I reach out to help someone and it was just taken the wrong way,” said Krebs.
“(The individual) thought I was abusing my authority and trying to tell them how to do their job. That its absolutely a thousand per cent not what my intentions were.”
