The Village of Clyde has a new mayor and deputy mayor after Doug Nyal submitted his letter of resignation May 3.
At a special council meeting May 3, which Nyal did not attend, the four other councillors voted unanimously to install Coun. Wayne Wilcox as the village’s new mayor. Coun. Bob Gault will assume the title of deputy mayor, replacing Coun. Diana Vosseler.
Nyal said he never recognized the validity of the meeting, which is why he did not attend.
This meeting, and the replacement of Nyal as mayor, is the culmination of a series of events that started March 28 when village CAO Melanie Beastall submitted her resignation, which other councillors said had to do with troubles between her and Nyal.
At the April 19 council meeting, the four other councillors tried to reopen the village’s organizational meeting to replace Nyal and name a new deputy mayor as well. However, Nyal would not allow that to happen because the councillors were not following the village’s procedural bylaw with regards to special meetings. In his resignation letter, dated April 2, 2011, but not submitted until May 3, Nyal wrote: “This is my letter of resignation as Mayor for the Village of Clyde. Effective immediately.”
He said his decision to step down ultimately rested with what he felt would be best for the village.
“With what’s transpired between the mayor’s chair and the council and the CAO (Melanie Beastall) in the last 60 days or so, I didn’t really know if there was an upside, no matter what happened, for the village,” he said.
Nyal added that he felt, for the village to move forward, he needed to step down and let a new council leadership take charge.
“The best thing for me to do is step aside and let this council try to run this village and for the CAO to do whatever it is that she thinks is the right thing to be doing,” he said, adding he questions some of what that is while recognizing that Beastall has done many good things for the village.
However, he was very pointed in his thoughts on how the entire episode turned out.
“My confidence and loyalties for the CAO have diminished greatly in the last two months,” he said. “In the last two months, her loyalty and professionalism towards me is, in my mind, not there.”
Thirty village residents attended the meeting, according to village administrative assistant Annette Schwab.
The majority simply took in the proceedings, but a few chose to make their feelings about the entire event known to the new mayor and councillors.
Jim Rau was the most vocal, expressing concern that the four “rookie” members of council had removed Nyal, a man who, like him or hate him, had the experience that the other councillors did not.
At that point Rau walked out of the meeting.
Dennis Hampshire stated that he hoped the councillors did what they did for the betterment of the community. He added that although Nyal may have been abrasive, that’s politics, and he was always looking out for the village as a whole.
Wilcox responded to this by saying the council has the betterment of Clyde in mind and will continue to work to that end.
He also admitted that the four councillors did not want to oust Nyal completely, just to remove him from the mayor’s chair.
Hampshire was the last resident to speak to the council, giving them kudos for stepping up to run initially, but reminding them they still have a big job ahead of them.
After the meeting, Wilcox said he hopes things will settle down now that Nyal is no longer in the mayor’s chair.
“We want to get back to the stability we had and get back on the business we can of trying to run the village,” he said.
“I’d like to carry on with what was implemented when we started on council here.”
Asked his thoughts on Rau and Hampshire speaking up with their concerns about council’s actions, Wilcox said it was expected.
“We knew there was going to be people who were for it and we knew there was people going to be against it,” he said. “Everybody has their opinion, and right now council has to move forward, and so do the people who were here.”
As the new deputy mayor, Gault’s duties will primarily be taking over for Wilcox when he is unable to attend council meetings.
Gault also nominated Wilcox for the mayor’s position, saying that he has been in Clyde longer and so knows the area and its nuances better.
Coun. Christa Clausing nominated Gault for the deputy mayor position.
“He’s got past experience in Saskatchewan and Yukon, and he will do good for the village,” she said.
The entire council was put in an unfortunate position, she said, but the councillors need Beastall, and Wilcox and Gault will do a good job in their new roles.
“Plus, it’s not like Doug (Nyal) is off of council,” she said. “He’s still there, he’s still giving his input and he still has a voice.”
As for how long he will remain on council as a councillor, Nyal said that’s up in the air.
“I will remain on council for as long as I think I can be effective,” he said.
