Wetaskiwin Mayor Joe Branco files lawsuit against city

Wetaskiwin Mayor Joe Branco has filed a lawsuit against the central Alberta city he was elected to represent, in the hopes restrictions on him will be lifted and his full powers as mayor reinstated.

“It has affected my ability to do my job which I was elected to do,” the mayor said Thursday to a crowd of supporters in front of Wetaskiwin City Hall, which he has been banned from entering since January.

“It has affected my reputation, it has affected my family.”

Branco, who is in his first term as mayor but has previously served on council, has been attending council meetings virtually since mid-January after his fellow councillors voted to bar him from city hall.

“Every day, people ask me, ‘What happened?’ Every day, people ask me why the mayor can’t walk into city hall,” he said.

“Quite frankly, I would like to know those answers, too.”

The situation has been cloaked in mystery and silence for months: at first, council said the move stemmed from a private investigation they could not publicly discuss.

The city has been asked repeatedly what is going on, and has provided non-answers.

In a statement issued March 20, the city said Branco’s access to municipal facilities was “restricted in response to confidential personnel matters that cannot be discussed under the Protection of Privacy Act.”

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The lack of information fuelled public frustration and speculation — and, according to the city, threats directed at staff.

In March, Branco’s lawyer Robert Noce told Global News he requested the investigation report by the city’s lawyer that led to council’s decision to ban Branco, but the municipality wouldn’t hand it over.

The Edmonton-based lawyer with Miller Thomson LLP finds the lack of transparency troubling.

“It is clear that council is showing very little leadership on this issue. It would appear that the unelected city manager is running the show here and if I were a city councillor, I’d be very concerned with that fact,” Noce said.

Now, the city says the ban comes as a result of alleged conduct with another city employee.

As a part of the judicial review filed on Thursday, Branco and Noce released a copy of a city report that alleged harassment by the mayor against a city employee.

The report says he called the woman names like, “sweetie, honey, his girl, his favourite employee” — Branco admitted to most of the allegations. The mayor said he’s looking forward to the full context coming out in court.

“For the first time, all the facts can be examined openly and fairly. For the first time, everything can be put on the table.

“For the first time, the people of Wetaskiwin may finally receive answers to the questions they’ve been asking.”

The City of Wetaskiwin did not respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit.

Two weeks ago, the city issued a news release saying the mayor was given the opportunity to immediately return to city hall with some conditions and that to date, he had not taken the steps to return.

Noce hopes the judicial review will remove protocols placed against his client and reinstate Branco’s full powers as mayor, including providing much-needed answers behind the ban.

“We have the confidence that an independent court will review the evidence, apply the law, and determine whether what occurred in Wetaskiwin was legal, fair, and consistent with the fundamental principles of democratic governance,” Noce said.

“This process will be fully open and all of those court documents will be filed with the court and will become public record.”

The legal process is set to begin at the Court of King’s Bench in Wetaskiwin on Aug. 18.