town of lunenburg investigating alleged incident involving mayor jamie myra
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town of lunenburg mayor jamie myra
town of lunenburg
the town of lunenburg says it’s investigating alleged incidents over the weekend involving mayor jamie myra.
the owner of a local public transportation company posted on facebook on monday that he had an encounter with a group of people including the mayor that led to him permanently banning myra, his family and several other people from using the service.
“the town of lunenburg is aware of an incident this past weekend involving mayor jamie myra. the town is investigating the allegations made on facebook and has no further comment at this time,” the town’s statement monday said.
“we appreciate the public’s understanding and respect for the process.”
town spokesman jamie deans said tuesday that a complaint was submitted to the town and “while not a formal code of conduct complaint, we are reviewing the information. we are following processes that are governed under the (municipal government act).”
social media claims
in the facebook post, saltwind transportation owner simon gordon said he received multiple calls from myra on friday evening requesting a ride for himself and several others, including family and friends.
gordon said the service was fully booked but that after additional calls from the mayor he had some free time for a cross-town trip from the private home. he alleges that when he arrived, myra and the people with him were intoxicated, and there were more people than the four seats available in the vehicle.
at that point, he alleges, myra tossed a $50 bill at him and talked with the other people in his group about putting more people in the car than it could legally hold.
“i explained that we could not put additional passengers in the car and that i would not be able to accommodate multiple cross-town trips at this point as there was a large group of tourists who were left outside of the knot pub (which was now closed) and who had booked service between lunenburg and kingsburg,” gordon said in the post.
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he said myra continued to argue with him after he told him that “it wouldn’t look good for my business offering preferential treatment to the mayor while guests of our tourist community were stranded.”
at one point, gordon said, one of the people got out of the vehicle and went to the driver’s-side window and berated him.
“due to her tone, level of intoxication and aggressive stance i let her know that i would be refusing her service that evening. she then proceeded to escalate until she was screaming and yelling derogatory slurs at me.”
gordon said he decided then that there was a safety concern and that everyone needed to leave the vehicle, but he alleges that myra did not until he called 911.
he also said several people inside the home came outside, including one who threatened him and had to be restrained by others.
gordon said that when everyone was out of the vehicle, he left and picked up his next fare and spoke with rcmp, at which point he felt the event was finished because he didn’t want to take any further action.
he said myra called him the next day to apologize but maintained he had done nothing wrong.
“he warned me that although he does not engage on social media, members of his family and his friends do and that they would likely come after me and my business if anything was made public,” gordon alleges.
“additionally, he suggested that he would like to continue to work with me to bring a transit system to the town, that he would be willing to work with me on anything related to my business and that he would like to sit down next week for a coffee to discuss the future of saltwind including possible changes to bylaws.”
he said he interpreted the call as both a threat and an offer in order to obtain his silence. he alleges myra called back to ask if the situation was settled, and when told that gordon was going to talk to his employees “he threatened me with a defamation lawsuit.”
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calls for statement
messages left with myra and gordon were not answered. in a statement monday on facebook, myra said that he was aware of the post by gordon.
“while i have a much different version of the events than they do i will say this and that’s it,” he wrote. “i support and congratulate simon on his new business venture as it’s certainly needed in our community. safety is paramount to both the driver and their passengers. i wish him all the best moving forward as he grows his business.”
myra said, “i won’t be engaging any further on social media or any other media channels.”
nova scotia municipal affairs spokeswoman heather fairbairn said the department is aware of aware of the allegations and that the town is looking into the matter.
“we expect elected officials to conduct themselves responsibly and maintain professional standards,” fairbairn said. “that is why we provide orientation training for newly elected officials and code of conduct training is mandatory for all municipal elected officials.”
she said municipalities are responsible for addressing matters involving their elected officials through the processes available to them.
“the code of conduct framework is currently under review to ensure it is serving the purpose for which it was intended. formal complaints under the code of conduct may only be initiated by members of council, regarding the conduct of another member of the same council,” fairbairn said.
“members of the public cannot, at this time, make a complaint under the code of conduct, but they can direct complaints or concerns about an elected municipal official directly to their council. they should send the complaint to the clerk, cao or mayor of their municipality, who will share it with all councillors.”
she said members of the public can also make a complaint to the provincial ombudsman if they are unsatisfied with council’s response.
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rcmp spokeswoman cpl. carlie mccann said in an email that officers responded to a report of a dispute between a cab driver and client just before 2 a.m. on saturday on prince street in the town.
“there were no arrests and based on the information available at this time officers do not anticipate any charges,” she said.
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