Plan to recoup legal fees for Nenshi's defamation case should involve council, member says

A Calgary councillor says she and her colleagues should be consulted aboutMayor Naheed Nenshi's plan to repay the city for covering his legal fees.

The city has paid the mayor's lawyer almost $300,000 for defending him against a defamation lawsuit brought by homebuilder Cal Wenzel almost three years ago.

The dispute, which was sparked by comments Nenshi made on CBC Radio, was settled out of court late last year. The terms of the settlement were not made public.

• Nenshi's legal bill for Cal Wenzel fight is $299,728.59

City council voted to pay the legal fee, but it also required that Nenshi repay the money, a position he advocated.

Nenshi has now submitted a proposal to the ethics advisor to do a fundraising campaign. The mayor is proposing an independent committee collect the donations to repay the money to the city.

But Coun. Diane Colley-Urquhart says all council members should have a say on that plan.

"It may appear it just involves the mayor but it ultimately he's setting us on a course for precedent-setting for future, you know for current and future elected officials at the municipal level," she said.

"So I think we're going to have to, asa council,seek our own legal advice on how to proceed with this."

Colley-Urquhart says Nenshi's proposal also makes no mention of who is eligible to donate nor is there a maximum limit to donations.

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