Renfrew Mayor Tom Sidney not resigning, voices disappointment with council

Mayor Tom Sidney at Tuesday's Renfrew town council meeting. (Town of Renfrew/Website)

Mayor of Renfrew Tom Sidney says he’s not going to resign, one day after council approved a motion calling on him to step down from the top political position in the Ottawa Valley town.

In a news release on Wednesday, Sidney expressed disappointment with council, saying the focus was only on two individuals rather than considering the contributing factors that were highlighted by the third party review to investigate and provide answers on the history of the Ma-Te-Way expansion.

“I want to apologise to the residents of Renfrew that the Ma-Te-Way Project was not completed in a manner which was financially acceptable to me and our community," Sidney said in a statement.

"The third-party review showed the need to request good and sound information in all aspects of the town. The Ma-Te-Way Project has shown we did not seek it hard enough and I am sorry for that. The municipal act is very clear in the roles and responsibilities of a councillor and does specifically state a councillor is not permitted to direct staff and the former Senior Management Model made it difficult as they all shared CAO responsibilities there was no one person in-charge."

Mayor Sidney wants the council to focus on establishing processes and templates to complete projects, citing he’s 'committed to working positively with his council as he believes they all have a common goal of learning, correcting and focus on improving the community.'

"I just think it's important that I stand my ground and, you know, the community voted me in, council didn't," he said Wednesday.

Council voted Tuesday 5-1 in support of a motion from Coun. Kyle Cybulski calling on Sidney to "resign immediately." Reeve Peter Emon was the lone vote in opposition to the motion.

In January, members voted 4-3 in favour of a non-confidence motion against Sidney, expressing concerns over the mayor's handling of the expansion to Renfrew's Ma-Te-Way Activity Centre, now known as the myFM Centre. The price tag for the expansion has jumped from $18 million to $35 million.

"I'm disappointed that the mayor's decided to stay on and pursue individual or personal goals at this point," Cybulski said Wednesday. "We've exhausted all our options. We've done what we feel we can do within our rights and our rules that we can. And the town is going to pay the price."

Before being elected mayor, Sidney spearheaded the expansion project for the Ma-Te-Way Activity Centre as chair of the recreation committee.

"Renfrew Town Council call on Mayor Tim Sidney to resign immediately as a way for the Town to move forward and for accountability for the lack of oversight and leadership," Cybulski's motion says.

The motion calling on Sidney to resign came just days after the Town of Renfrew received the findings of the third-party review of the Ma-Te-Way Activity Centre expansion project.

The report from WSCS Consulting says there was a lack of accountability and transparency with the project, a failure to comply with the procedural bylaw, a lack of governance/oversight, "inadequate" financial and project reporting, a toxic work environment, and unrealistic budgets. The report also says there is "ample evidence that suggests" the Parks and Recreation Department engaged in sole/direct source contracts and "questionable tendering incentive practices."

--With files from CTV News Ottawa's Dylan Dyson.