A Charlottetown city councillor is facing a complaint of harassment and bullying from a member of city staff, The Guardian has learned.
Coun. Eddie Rice, chairman of the water and sewer utility committee, has had a complaint filed against him by Wayne Long, events development officer with the city.
The complaint was filed with the human resources department at City Hall. The Guardian has also learned the basis of the complaint is over the Victoria Row concert series, also called Rock the Row.
Long would not confirm or deny the claim when reached by The Guardian on Friday and said he had no comment to make.
Rice said the formal complaint is news to him.
“There’s a complain filed with HR (human resources) against me? Good God. No, I know nothing about it at all,’’ Rice said on Friday.
City council was deadlocked 4-4 in a vote last month to change the hours of operation for the concert series from 9 p.m. to midnight to 8-11 p.m.
Charlottetown Mayor Clifford Lee, who only votes in the event of a tie, voted to turn the music off at 11 p.m.
The concert series ran a show on July 13 with Two Hours Traffic and Joel Plaskett that ran until midnight. According to senior staff at City Hall, residents complained about the noise.
Rice said at the time the city has to think about 150 people living in the immediate area, saying those living around the site don’t have air conditioning and have to leave their windows open at night.
“They didn’t move there to pay the rent they’re paying along the whole street to have music playing at a concert level,’’ Rice said at the time.
On Friday, Rice said he went to Long to try and get to the bottom of it.
“I tried to get to the bottom of it because there was noise . . . but I dealt with Wayne just once. I have no idea what he filed, no idea in the world.
“I was protecting the residents of Charlottetown that were down in my section phoning and complaining. He claimed he had nothing to do with it at all.
“I told him ‘What do you mean you have nothing to do with it?’ We had two conversations about it. I never saw him after that.’’