Marystown mayor says town council is dysfunctional

Marystown mayor Sam Synardblames personality conflicts forhis town's "dysfunctional" council and he is seeking help fromthe minister of municipal affairs.

Synard said that if the provincial government cannot step in to get things back on track, council should be dissolved.

"We've developed into a dysfunctional council, dysfunctional to the point we can't move forward on some really important issues," Synard said.

"Unfortunately,a lot of the decisions being made now appear to be personality-based and not based in fact."

Synard said he reached his breaking point Tuesday night when he was told by council he was not allowed to see resumes of some new hires. When he moved a motion to table information about hiring, council voted against it.

Synard has reached out to the minister of municipal affairs for help.

"If the department is not able to offer that assistance, I think going forward it's going to be very, very difficult," Synard told CBC News.

"And I think at that point in time the minister should seriously look at dissolving the Marystown town council, calling another general electionwhere we can really air some of these concerns in public, through a municipal general election."

Meanwhile, Marystown Councillor Leonard Pittman told CBC News that the mayor spoke out just hours after council passed a motion that he is in a conflict of interest. The conflict relates to a sewer line on a property owned by Synard's brother.

Pittman said he has never had reason to believe that council is dysfunctional.

The department of municipal affairs said it has not received a formal request from Synard to dissolve council and that the mayor phoned the department only 10 minutes before going public.

Departmental officials, however, say they are prepared to meet with the mayor and councillors to discuss the conflict.