Mayor Dennis Fenske announced at council's April 10 meeting that he was recusing himself from further discussions regarding the grant-in-lieu (GIL) agreement between the City of Thompson and Vale to put to rest repeated questions other councillors and members of the public have raised about whether he is in a conflict of interest position as an employee of Vale.
Fenske first announced that he was stepping away from the committee negotiating the new GIL agreement in response to a question during the general inquiries at the outset of the meeting and then addressed the subject again during his mayor's report, the final item on the meeting agenda.
"In regards to the conflict of interest and in regards to the grant-in-lieu I've advised council that I will be recusing myself from any further discussions and moving forward," said Fenske in response to a question about whether he had received legal advice regarding conflict of interest and whether he got it from a company lawyer or his own legal advisor.
He returned to the topic in the mayor's report after detailing some of the events and activities he'd taken part in on behalf of the city in the last couple of weeks.
"This discussion in the grant-in-lieu has been ongoing and has been a distraction to the importance of the grant-in-lieu discussions that will happen with Vale moving forward with the City of Thompson," Fenske said. "This is one of, if not the most, important discussions to be had in the next number of months so with that being said I've made it known to the public and I'll restate that I will recuse myself from further discussions in regards to the GIL. I have every confidence in the committee that has been struck that they will move the process forward to get a satisfactory grant-in-lieu agreement with Vale as we move forward."
Coun. Penny Byer, one of the other members of that negotiating committee along with deputy mayor Kathy Valentino, commented on the mayor's decision.
"I find this very disturbing because I supported Mayor Fenske, because I respect the position of mayor, because our mayor ran on leadership and because he was voted by the city of Thomson and by residents and, even though there was discussion on perceived conflict of interest and conflict of interest, my interpretation is there's no conflict of interest," Byer said. "There may have been a perceived conflict in which case it is the person's responsibility to step down or choice to step down."
Fenske then interrupted Byer.
"The grant-in-lieu is the ultimate discussion that needs to take place," he said.
"Except we're feeling thrown under the bus, Mayor Fenske," Byer responded.
"Whether you feel that way or not I'm thinking of the best interests of the City of Thompson and at this point in time, this has been and continues to be a distraction to one of the most important discussions that we have to have as the City of Thompson moving forward," Fenske said. "So, again, as I stated to council and as I stated publicly, I will recuse myself and I would ask council to focus the discussions on the grant-in-lieu and not on me as the mayor of the City of Thompson. I would like council to move forward with the grant-in-lieu discussions as outlined with the committee that's been designated.
