Town of Athabasca Coun. Nichole Adams resigned from council on Dec. 30.
Adams notified interim chief administrative officer Doug Topinka of the resignation in an email sent just after 5:30 a.m. Topinka noted that council was notified that morning.
“I resign from Town Council, effective immediately,” the message reads.
In an email the day after she stepped down, Adams said her resignation was unrelated to the application to the Court of Queen’s Bench for her disqualification, which was withdrawn on Dec. 16.
At a special council meeting Dec. 9, motions were passed to accept Adams resignation if tendered and withdraw the application.
“My resignation was not related to the anything surrounding the lawsuit between myself and the Town,” Adams wrote. “That matter was resolved out of court when the Town dropped the case.
“My decision to resign was completely unilateral.”
Adams also said she would not be running as a candidate in the next municipal election, slated for October.
“As far as the future, I will not run for Council in the 2017 election,” she wrote.
Coun. Joanne Peckham said she was surprised to see Adams had resigned.
“No, I didn’t see that coming with her, because I thought everything was resolved,” Peckham said. “I’m sorry this has happened – that she had to actually leave.”
By stepping down as a councillor, Adams also forfeits her seat on the board of the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association.
Topinka said the next steps would come from council. Council could decide to hold a byelection. He noted that under the Municipal Government Act, at this point in the term council could choose not to fill the seat.
“If council so wishes to hold a byelection, they could,” he said.
With Adams stepping down from council, she also leaves vacant positions on her committees.
Topinka noted that a motion carried at the Dec. 9 meeting lays out what the committees will be. The motion redistributed the committees with the expectation that Adams would be stepping down.
