The municipality was able to avoid a formal notice and the intervention of a bailiff with Mr. Reed.

As they often say, it’s easy to criticize, but difficult to propose solutions. So, I’m going to take the liberty of presenting a constructive solution that could have been applied instead of issuing a formal notice to Mr. Reed.

The threat against Mr. Reed is unwarranted. In my opinion, the role of our municipality is to take the time to discuss citizens’ concerns and questions with them. It must find ways to ensure that information is clear to everyone.

So, rather than spending money to send a bailiff and a formal notice through a law firm, why not invest that money in calling the auditing firm and asking them to publish explanations on how the debt was calculated? Then publish this explanation from their experts on the municipality’s website and in their newsletter “Entre Nous.” This would have allowed everyone to better understand and avoid conflicts and threats. In fact, this should be done immediately!

And since debt is such a critical issue, affecting everyone’s wallet, why not invite people to a discussion session on how debt is calculated? Please don’t send me back to the PowerPoint presentation from September 16!

This would have given the public the opportunity to understand how this famous debt came about. They could also find out the exact amount remaining, the payments made, the reasons for a payment of only $61,337 in 2024, and perhaps the reasons why the 2024 financial reports are not yet available.

In this way, the conflict would have been avoided, less money would have been spent, and Mr. Reed would not have been insulted and disparaged. A simple public notice would be very helpful.

However, public notices are rare on the municipality’s website. The last one dates back to February. This is undoubtedly due to difficulties with updating the website. Yet in the Township of Hatley, they are frequent. I remain available to volunteer my time to update the website!