Wetaskiwin mayor remains barred from city hall as public demands answers

City councillors in Wetaskiwin are looking to hire a third-party contractor to help them work together more effectively and address public backlash, as rumours continue to swirl in the central Alberta community over why the mayor has been banned from city hall.

Mayor Joe Branco has been attending council meetings virtually since mid-January, after his fellow councillors voted to bar him from city hall — a decision council said stems from a private investigation they cannot publicly discuss.

The city has been asked many times for more information but has offered no explanation for the ban.

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

Branco is in his first term as mayor following the October 2025 election, but has previously served on council.

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

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Earlier this month, council introduced a motion to hire a third‑party contractor to investigate the threats and to help council improve communication and internal collaboration.

However, the motion was pulled at the start of Tuesday’s meeting. Councillors later moved the discussion behind closed doors to consider increasing the agreed price for a third-party contractor and to determine who they might hire before bringing the motion back to the public agenda.

Coun. Karen Aberle told residents during the meeting that she hopes to provide more clarity once she knows what information can be released.

“I apologize to the public,” she said. “We’ll come out with a better answer to this once I know what I can and can’t say publicly.”

People in Wetaskiwin say the months-long ordeal is strange and they are getting fed up with the runaround.

“We should know what’s going on and why he was banned,” resident Maggie Toles said, noting in the absence of details, there are lots of rumours swirling in the community.

“He obviously did something that upset the city council. I’m not sure what, though.”

Another resident, Cal Knull, questioned whether council is withholding information: “My concern is, I’d like to know what he did to get banned.

“What are they hiding?”

If council proceeds with hiring a third‑party contractor, Aberle said the cost would be covered through a crisis fund included in the city’s budget.

Despite repeated requests from the public and media, neither council nor city administration has provided further details about the investigation or the reasons behind the mayor’s exclusion from city hall.

Branco has turned down interview requests and instead deferred to his lawyer.