Team Shelburne Chair steps down

Mayor Huskilson sent out a letter to the other four leaders of the towns and municipalities in the county announcing his intentions.

“With the actions that have taken place concerning Team Shelburne I feel I have no choice but to walk away,” he wrote.

From the beginning Mayor Huskilson had reservations of becoming Chair of Team Shelburne but had hoped he might make a positive difference in the position.

Currently, Team Shelburne is on the verge of a sale of Shelburne Place, to an as of yet unknown purchaser.

“As, Chair I do not know who we are dealing with. I cannot tell you if the Youth Centre is sold or when the closing date is…the reality is that the public knows as much as I do and my participation has little or no impact on a deal that apparently has already been determined by other players,” he wrote.

Mayor Huskilson recently was made aware that Warden Paulette Scott of the Municipality of Shelburne had been meeting repeatedly with a representative of the buyer without Team Shelburne’s approval.

When he wrote a letter to Warden Scott stating he was uncomfortable with the meetings and should have Team Shelburne’s consent, his heeding was ignored.

Mayor Huskilson received his council’s approval to remove himself from Team Shelburne completely but it has not yet been determined who will take his place as representative for the Town of Lockeport.

“I have a lot of reservations about the actions that have taken place under the onus of Team Shelburne,” he informed his councilors.

“I don not feel comfortable as Chair and feel the public is not being respected.”

He felt that as Chair his influence was not effective and hoped that someone else in the position might be more effective.

He has been wary of the secretive dealings throughout the Shelburne Place sale of a public building.

“The economics of any transaction of this nature should be above board,” he states in his letter, “I am not interested in closed meetings or backroom politics when it comes to our future.”