By the end of May, the Village of Clyde could have a new mayor, a new CAO, or possibly both.
On March 28, CAO Melanie Beastall submitted her letter of resignation, effective May 20. She wouldn’t tell the Westlock News specifically why she tendered her resignation, saying it was a council matter.
“There are issues at the moment that the Village of Clyde is trying to resolve, and those issues are why I put my resignation in,” she said.
The issue is related to a conflict between Beastall and mayor Doug Nyal, several councillors have said.
The matter was discussed briefly at the village’s April 19 council meeting. Coun. Wayne Wilcox tried to put forward a motion to reopen the village’s organizational meeting to choose a new mayor, deputy mayor and membership on various committees. Nyal would not allow that motion to be debated because he did not want the other councillors to make a mockery of the institution of council. “I told him, ‘That’s fine, I can understand your request, but you can’t just do that, it’s not in the law,’” he said.
That law referred to is the village’s procedural bylaw, which sets out guidelines council as a whole must follow to prevent rash decisions from being made, Nyal said.
He said he wants that process to be followed no matter what the other councillors ultimately decide.
“If at the end of the day they remove me as mayor, then the process is going to be followed and they’re going to do it properly,” he said.
Wilcox said Beastall’s resignation is the result of problems between her and Nyal.
“There has been a problem between Doug and Melanie for quite a while now,” he said. “Doug has been dealing with Melanie on his own and trying to discipline Melanie without council’s knowledge or council being there, and he has accused her of doing things that she hasn’t done.”
Nyal, however, said he is not aware of the specifics of the allegations being made against him.
“I’m not aware of anything I allegedly have done or have not done,” he said, adding Beastall’s letter came down to the assertion that “she doesn’t feel she can do her job in the way she’s being requested to do it.”
Council voted 4-1 against accepting Beastall’s resignation, with councillors in instead expressing an interest in removing Nyal as mayor.
Beastall said if things change, she could be open to staying on as CAO.
Since council received Beastall’s letter of resignation, there have been two meetings held to discuss the issue and sort out how to move forward.
The first took place March 28, Wilcox said. At this meeting, Wilcox said Nyal explained his side of the story, and offered that if the choice came down to between him or Beastall staying, Nyal would step down as mayor. This meeting was held without Beastall present, he said.
The second meeting was on March 30, and Beastall was present. It was at this meeting where Wilcox said Nyal denied everything he had said at the previous meeting, and said he had no plans to step down.
It was the results of those two meetings that led Wilcox and the other three councillors to contact Municipal Affairs to see what steps they could take to remove Nyal from the mayor’s chair in order to keep Beastall as village CAO.
Coun. Diana Vosseler emphasized the united front the four councillors have established.
“All four of us councillors are united in the decision that Melanie, our CAO, is indispensable,” she said. “We needed to vote out the person on council who’s not working as a team player so hopefully things will change and we can get back to doing what’s good for Clyde,” she said.
As things work their way out, Nyal said he’s going to continue to look at the big picture — the well being of the entire village, as it’s been what drove him to first run for council and it continues to be the driving force in the decisions he makes as a councillor and as mayor.
It’s also what he wants the other councillors to be thinking about as they move forward.
“If you think me being removed for the mayor’s job is the right thing to do, then go about it,” he said, stressing that regardless of the outcome, the proper channels will need to be followed.
Moving forward, Coun. Bob Gault said there is a special meeting scheduled for May 3, after which he said Nyal “will be out of his position as mayor because we’ll have people there that know all the laws and rules.”
As of April 21, Nyal said he was unaware of the meeting Gault mentioned.
Gault said he recognizes that Nyal has experience that is beneficial to council, and that “if he acts sensible sitting as a councillor he’d be good.”
He added part of the reason for seeking the removal of Nyal as mayor came down to complaints about Nyal’s attitude and mannerisms when talking to people, including Beastall.
“It’s a general thing, except that people were used to it before and this council won’t take it,” he said.
As it is, Nyal said if the councillors choose to remove him as mayor, that is their option. But he doesn’t mince words about what he thinks of the whole episode.
“I’m disappointed with council’s actions and their professionalism,” he said.
