Quispamsis Mayor Gary Clark has been suspended without pay for five weeks after breaching council’s code of conduct.

Deputy Mayor Libby O’Hara announced the suspension during Tuesday night’s council meeting, where she also read the details of the complaint.

O’Hara said the complaint, which was submitted by the chief administrative officer, involved an incident at the qplex pool on July 18.

According to the complaint, Clark attended the pool at 2:37 p.m. and told summer staff he had a membership but did not have his card with him.

After being asked for his name, Clark “misidentified himself” and gained free entry to the pool, O’Hara said.

“The summer staff members, who thought he looked familiar, then searched the Internet,” she said. “It was at that point that they realized who he was, and that he had misidentified himself.”

Mid-Season Audit Launched

After the information was brought forward, O’Hara said the director of the Department of Community Services was asked to conduct a mid-season audit of the pool memberships.

It was found Clark had purchased a $180 family membership to the pool on May 22, using his name and address, to be activated when the pool opened for the season. Memberships are available only to residents of Quispamsis.

O’Hara said the voucher was redeemed by another person, who was found to live in Rothesay.

“There are four people listed on this family membership. Mayor Clark is not one of those people and yet he identified himself using one of those names on July 18th,” she said.

Clark was scheduled to be at the town hall for an EMO Planning Committee meeting at 2:30 p.m. on the same day, O’Hara said.

She said the CAO received a text message from the mayor at 2:28 p.m. which said “something had happened” to a family member and he was heading to the hospital.

“Eleven minutes later, he entered the qplex pool using an assumed name,” O’Hara said. “He was also untruthful about his whereabouts during further text exchanges within the next hour as he indicated he was at the hospital.”

Clark Admits To Allegations

The allegations in the complaint were deemed to be founded, O’Hara said, and he later admitted to them in a written response dated Sept. 14.

“Please accept my sincere apology for the unprofessional misconduct that I displayed,” Clark wrote. “I acknowledge that I have compromised the integrity of my position and those I serve with … I am truly sorry for my behaviour.”

Council voted 6-1 in favour of suspending Clark from Oct. 1 to Nov. 5. Coun. Pierre Rioux was the only person to vote against it.