EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been amended from its initial publishing.The City of Chestermere is looking into going after its former mayor and councillors for spending over two years as it prepares to hold a byelection in June. The Calgary Herald reported Tuesday Chestermere residents in the council chambers cheered on Monday as the city announced it would attempt to recover an undefined sum of money spent under former mayor Jeff Colvin’s leadership. The Alberta government confirmed on Friday the inspection into the City of Chestermere’s financial issues has finished — in one case finding that out of 565 council expense claims, only one was properly documented.READ MORE: Alberta government issues directives for City of Chestermere after financial inspection reveals flawsThe inspector reviewed more than 10,000 correspondences, conducted more than 1,000 tests of financial transactions, and did 30 interviews. “It was certainly a robust and thorough inspection, and the findings make it clear that during the time period for the last municipal election to the dismissal on December 4th, the city’s finances were managed in an irregular, improper, and improvident manner,” said Alberta Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver. The financial inspection was the second Alberta government-ordered probe of Chestermere since 2022 — the first being a governance investigation finding it was being mismanaged and led McIver to dismiss Colvin, three city councillors, and three city officials in December. Deloitte found he spent $53,000 in two years on his credit card — much of it on food and booze and outpacing mayors in similar municipalities two to one. It said the City of Chestermere made multiple transactions without proper council authorization, including a $120,000 purchase of American trolley buses that never made it over the border, legal fees related to its court battles against the Alberta government, and several other instances of cash flowing out of its coffers without approval from council.Now it is planning to explore legal and legislative avenues to get its money back from all parties involved. City of Chestermere officials pointed to a section of the Municipal Government Act stating councillors are liable for unauthorized spending, but the exact amount it plans to seek is to be determined. “Our CAO (chief administrative officer) is in the process of determining the scale and scope of this motion to determine our next steps, including determining the specific amounts which could be pursued,” said the City of Chestermere in a statement to the Calgary Herald. “This includes whether it will be for just expenses or include the misallocated unauthorized funds.”In the coming weeks, it will send all Chestermere households a brochure outlining the report’s findings. City of Chestermere Official Administrator Doug Lagore, who came into the position after the city council was terminated and will be in it until the byelection concludes, said this will end the “embarrassment to the City of Chestermere.”“Despite what you might read online, the Deloitte report speaks for itself,” said Lagore to the Calgary Herald. “Many knew what was going on and were afraid to speak up — it meant their jobs.”If these staffers had spoken up, Lagore predicted the number of terminations would have been higher than 110. He thanked them for their diligence. Deloitte noted a high turnover rate at the city, with 110 people having left or been fired from their jobs and more than 150 being hired during the last council’s term. He pointed to a recommendation in the report suggesting it prioritize the development of a staff culture supporting the accountability of elected officials and transparency of the use of public funds. “We will continue to move in this direction, and I want to assure all staff that they will be safe in ensuring the accountability of elected officials through the CAO office, and I would encourage you to do that,” he said. The City of Chestermere confirmed residents will head to the polls on June 24 for a byelection. The byelection will fill six vacancies on the seven-seat Chestermere city council — the mayor and five councillors — after Coun. Shannon Dean stepped down from his position to run for mayor. Dean and Chestermere city councillors Ritesh Narayan and Sandy Johal-Watt were the three councillors who were not removed by McIver. Johal-Watt has resigned and taken a job with city administration.Colvin has said he and the other former councillors — Stephen Hanley, Mel Foat and Blaine Funk — would run in the byelection. These politicians have an ongoing lawsuit against their removals, saying they want to return to their positions. Narayan is the only council member remaining from the 2021 election. People can apply to run in the byelection until May 27 at noon. Colvin said in an interview with the Western Standard the truth matters. “In this day and age with media not telling the truth, how do the residents hope to find out the truth?” he said. “And so what we came in there for is to specifically clean up the corruption in the city as well as ensure that the city’s tax dollars are being spent properly.”
