Charles Lger demands 'consequences' for costly Wildcats error

Moncton Coun. Charles Lgerwants to make sure someone is held accountable after a recentdouble booking at the MonctonColiseum cost taxpayers$125,000.

• Moncton taxpayers to pay $125K to move Wildcats game to Fredericton

In an emergency meeting on Apr, 14, council voted to pay the Moncton Wildcats compensation becausethe team had to move a playoff game to Fredericton whenthe Coliseum was also booked for the Speed Sport East car show.

Lger says whoever is responsible for the mistake is well paid to do their job and should be held accountable for thecostly mistake.

"Many times during council meetings, council members have been told by the city manager that city employees, including management, were paid for performance," Lgersaid.

He went on to say that in the private sector anyone responsible for a loss of $125,000 would face serious consequences from their employer.

"I expect no less from the city of Monctonstaff," said Lger.

Lgeris calling on city manager Jacques Dub to complete a review and report back to council on any actions that will be taken.

"As a taxpayer I expect that the City of Moncton will hold staff accountable for their actions," he said.

Mayor explains conflict of interest

Mayor George LeBlanc said at Monday'smeeting that he does not fault city staff forthe controversial and costly "scheduling issue" at the Moncton Coliseum.

"We as council need to get to the bottom of these problems and fix this chronic ongoing problem," LeBlanc said.

The mayor explained that he doessignall contracts and agreements on behalf ofthe City of Moncton as part of his normal routine, however saidhedepends on city staff to review, vetand approve the contracts.

"Unfortunately there does not appear to be a policy to determine which contracts come to council and which don't that needs to change," the mayor said.

LeBlanc wants clear guidelines and a system thatidentifiespotential problems and risks.

On Monday LeBlancalso explained whyhe declared a conflict of interest and did not take part in the emergency councilmeeting where the Wildcats payment of $125,000 was approved.

"The reason I declared a conflict was that one of the interested parties in the matter before council was Show Associates,a company which had been a client of mine once or twice. As well I knew one of the principles of the company and he had been a client on occasion, thereforeI felt it was prudent to declare a conflict," he said.

LeBlanc says staff have assuredhimthere will be nofurther conflicts during the playoffs.

He plans to appoint a committee of council to look for ways to end these costly mistakes.