TETLIT'ZHEH/FORT MCPHERSON
The hamlet government of Fort McPherson ceased to exist late last week, after Department of Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA) officials exercised the department's authority to dissolve the community government.

Bill Prodromidis, who was elected as mayor of Fort McPherson in January of this year, speaks on the phone with MACA deputy minister Tom Williams while Williams was on the community radio July 23 to address community questions on why the GNWT recently dissolved the hamlet's government. Ultimately, Prodromidis' questions were not put on the air. - Laura Busch/NNSL photo

The reason for the drastic move is that the hamlet has about $2 million in debt, and MACA came to the decision that a deficit reduction plan was unlikely to be approved and implemented with the mayor and councillors.

"We relieved the mayor and council of their duties," said deputy minister on Municpal and Community Affairs Tom Williams, who added attempts to approve a deficit reduction plan had failed because the council could not get quorum at its meetings. "It got to the state where decisions couldn't be made because of a lack of quorum, so we had to go to the next level."

Bill Prodromidis, who served as mayor of the hamlet until being relieved of his duties, said he was blindsided by the move.

When he spoke with News/North on July 23, he said he had never officially been told that he had lost his job, but rather that he had called the hamlet offices the previous Friday and the secretary had told him the council was dissolved.

Along with Prodromidis, councillors Leslie Blake, Krista Jerome, Taig Connell, Mary Rose, Johnny Peterson, Shaylene Allen and David Cook were relieved of their duties.

Prodromidis had previously served as mayor of the hamlet from 2007 to 2010, when he was unseated by Hazel Nerysoo in an election. He said that when he left office in 2010, the hamlet was running an more-than-$200,000 surplus. While he had heard RCMP had received complaints of alleged financial mismanagement, it was not until after he was re-elected this past spring that he and his fellow councillors became aware of the $2-million deficit.

"We knew they were in trouble, but no one would give us figures exactly," he said.

Prodromidis and Williams disagree on what happened next.

Prodromidis said he approached MACA with a plan that should have gotten the hamlet out of debt in three to four years by managing costs without cutting services, he was denied and told the debt must be paid off within one year.

MACA cut off the honourarium for mayor and councillors at the end of March, he said on why the council has been unable to reach quorum for about one month.

"Nobody works for free," he said. "To me, it looks like MACA tricked us."

Meanwhile, Williams, who is now one of three deputy administrators for the Hamlet of Fort McPherson, said the mayor and council was simply unable to come up with a deficit reduction plan, and unable to approve the plan that the administrator had put together.

Currently, the hamlet's $2-million deficit includes a $800,000 deficit from its operation and maintenance budget, as well as a $1.2-million deficit in water and sewer services.

An independent audit into the hamlet's finances was conducted after a complaint in 2013, the results of which have been turned over to the RCMP.

"Communities do run into deficit situations, but they have to put a plan in place," said Williams, who acknowledged the debt had been accrued over the past two-to-three years.

He pointed to the fact that the 2012-13 financial audit for the hamlet was nine months late as one of the compounding factors that led to the decision to dissolve the hamlet council.

Under MACA administration and changes that include reducing the services provided by the hamlet and raising water rates to residents, Williams estimates the debt will be repaid over about three years.

Currently, both the hockey arena and swimming pool are closed and there are no more bylaw officers or dog catchers in the hamlet.

As well, residents are dealing with a spike in water costs. Since April, the cost of water has gone from $0.0085 per litre to $0.0612 per litre. For Prodromidis and his family, that translated to a $570 water bill for the month of June.

The Fort McPherson Tent and Canvas Shop, for which Prodromidis is the president, received a $3,450 water bill for the month of May.

"Nobody can afford to pay these bills," he said. "People are suffering over here."

Williams committed to visiting Fort McPherson once every three months to check in with community members. His first visit as deputy administrator was last Wednesday, when he appeared on the community radio station to answer call-in questions. In response to one question about what would happen if people couldn't pay their water bills on time, he said that after 90 days, services may be reduced.

A special rate for seniors over the age of 65 who own their own homes is being calculated.

While recreation services in the hamlet have been affected, MACA has sent youth and recreation officers from Inuvik to Fort McPherson throughout the summer to run weekday activities.

With darkness already descending on the Beaufort Delta, Prodromidis worried about the effects the lack of recreation would have on youth over the winter.

"How do you keep kids out of mischief if there is nothing to do?" he asked.

Williams said MACA takes its responsibilities to youth seriously, and that something will be done to provide recreation services throughout the winter. What that will entail has yet to be determined.

MACA has dissolved hamlet governments in the past, said Williams.

"In the history of the NWT, we've had a couple other cases, the last one being Enterprise about 20 years ago," he said, adding that in that case the community government asked the territory to take over.

Prior to that, MACA officials had taken over the Fort Simpson hamlet, as well as Frobisher Bay (now Iqaluit) before division.

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