Earlier in the day, Mayor Clifford Lee issued a statement saying Kelly would be staying on as CAO because any change to his status with the city would not be supported by a court challenge.
Coady said the selection process to hire Kelly "lacked transparency and due diligence from the beginning."
RELATED: Peter Kelly staying as CAO of Charlottetown
Below is Coady's statement in its entirety.
STATEMENT REGARDING CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER
The Mayor has stated that a majority of City Council has decided to retain Peter Kelly as the Chief Administrative Officer of the City of Charlottetown.
The selection process chosen by the Mayor in this matter has lacked transparency and due diligence from the very beginning. An unnecessary risk was taken, and the resulting distractions have not been in the best interests of our City. All of this could have been avoided.
While the Mayor has now suggested that legal expenses are somehow a justification for this decision, questions remain unanswered. Who approved these terms of employment? What are those terms? How did those terms impact the legal position of our City? Why couldn’t legal expenses be minimized through reasonable notice or negotiation? At the end of the day, the fact of the matter is that any legal expenses were entirely preventable.
I am unable to support this decision.
Jason Coady
Councillor, Ward 8 – Highfield
City of Charlottetown
