Members of the North Haven Community Association (NHCA) in northwest Calgary are openly calling on Premier Danielle Smith to hold Ward 4 Coun. Sean Chu accountable.
In an open letter published on Monday, association president Jody Breen and vice-president Alex MacKinnon accused Chu of abusing his power as a city official and a former police officer, and say he should be held accountable for his actions.
They also said Chu does not represent the community and is not welcome at community events or meetings.
“We expect that the conclusion of your review will ensure that Councillor Chu is held accountable for his actions,” Breen and MacKinnon wrote in their letter.
“His actions, both recent and past, have consistently demonstrated an abuse of power that is in direct conflict with the standards of integrity and ethical behaviour that is expected of our elected government officials.”
But it’s not just the NHCA that is having issues with Chu. Elise Beiche, president of the Highland Park Community Association, agrees that Chu should be held accountable.
Beiche said the Highland Park Community Association have directly gone to the mayor’s office or individual city administrators to address their concerns. There have been no attempts from Chu’s office to communicate with the association, Beiche said.
“For Highland Park, it’s been a challenging year knowing we don’t have adequate representation for our ward and our community … It’s been made clear that nobody wants to work with him and he continues to show patterns of bullying and harassment,” said Beiche.
“We take our roles in the community very seriously. Knowing that we have a councillor with a history of bullying and harassment is counter to our mission and our values.”
The open letter comes after provincial officials were instructed to look at the Calgary Police Commission’s review of Chu’s police misconduct investigation.
The commission found that some policies and processes were not properly followed by the Calgary Police Service following a sexual assault allegation against Chu, who was an officer at the time.
The report stated that the commission does not have the authority to evaluate whether a criminal investigation or criminal charges are warranted, nor do they have the authority to determine Chu’s fitness for public office.
The letter also comes after Mayor Jyoti Gondek revealed that Chu allegedly took a picture of her license plate and leaked it to a member of the public, who used that picture in an email to the mayor. Gondek said Chu’s actions jeopardized her safety during the Nov. 15 special meeting of council.
Chu was then removed from his deputy mayor duties in December. He also cannot park in the executive parkade for an indefinite period of time, according to a City of Calgary spokesperson.
A city staff member filed a complaint against Chu regarding the incident, which was resolved by the ethics and integrity commissioner through an informal resolution, the city spokesperson said.
Duane Bratt, a political scientist and professor for Mount Royal University, said the lack of representation isn’t grounds for removal from council but issues around safety and trust are.
He told Global News the province potentially has a case to remove Chu because of his recent conduct as a city councillor.
“You’ve got incidents involving him as a councillor involving harassment or potential intimidation of the mayor … I think that could potentially be grounds for dismissal because if the threshold is dysfunction, that exists now because you have safety concerns and other things,” Bratt said.
Bratt also said Chu may not be re-elected next municipal election because of his reputation among various community associations.
However, Bratt wants Chu to resign.
“A normal person would have stepped down and resigned. I have been calling for him to resign for over a year … He is shameless and without shame in politics, you’re not going to have a resignation. He is going to have to be forced out,” Bratt said.
770 CHQR and Global News reached out to Smith’s and Chu’s offices with requests for comment.
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