The Town of Essex is bringing on an integrity commissioner after a string of heated arguments at the council table.
Mayor Ron McDermott feels future disruptions will now be kept to a minimum.
"Now that we know someone is looking at us, it's not going to happen as it has, I would hope," says McDermott. "We're going to have someone here that will make me stay in line and everyone else in there [council chambers]. It's too bad that we can't police ourselves; that we have to pay this kind of money to have it done."
Lawyer Robert Swayze has been appointed to the part-time position and will charge a $280 an hour fee only as complaints come in to be investigated.
For the town's deputy mayor, Richard Meloche, the recent string of council disruptions isn't the main reason for bringing on an integrity commissioner.
"We were moving in this direction even prior to what was going on in the council chambers in the last little bit. It's something the province is moving in that direction and we're just being proactive. We've been looking at this for a year or so," says Meloche.
The town will also charge a $125 fee to file a complaint which will be reimbursed if the complaint is deemed not to be frivolous or in bad faith.
