{"id":94380,"date":"2025-07-03T08:33:02","date_gmt":"2025-07-03T12:33:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=94380"},"modified":"2025-07-03T08:33:02","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T12:33:02","slug":"haldimand-councillors-appalled-as-mayor-fires-top-civil-servant-using-expanded-powers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/03\/haldimand-councillors-appalled-as-mayor-fires-top-civil-servant-using-expanded-powers\/","title":{"rendered":"Haldimand councillors \u2018appalled\u2019 as mayor fires top civil servant using expanded powers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By J.P. Antonacci, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Hamilton Spectator The mayor of Haldimand County fired the rural municipality\u2019s top civil servant on Friday in what some observers suspect is a case of political payback \u2014 a charge the mayor denies. In \u00a0a short news release, the county announced the \u201cdeparture\u201d of chief \u00a0administrative officer Cathy Case as of June 27. Case was dismissed \u00a0using so-called \u201cstrong mayor\u201d powers, which give Mayor Shelley Ann \u00a0Bentley the unilateral authority to fire the CAO without a vote of \u00a0council. The news release did not explain why Case was let go. In \u00a0an email to The Spectator on Wednesday, Bentley said the CAO\u2019s role is \u00a0being \u201crestructured\u201d as part of \u201ca broader effort to reduce the strain \u00a0on taxpayers and to ensure the&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F07%2F03%2Fhaldimand-councillors-appalled-as-mayor-fires-top-civil-servant-using-expanded-powers%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By J.P. Antonacci, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Hamilton Spectator The mayor of Haldimand County fired the rural municipality\u2019s top civil servant on Friday in what some observers suspect is a case of political payback \u2014 a charge the mayor denies. In \u00a0a short news release, the county announced the \u201cdeparture\u201d of chief \u00a0administrative officer Cathy Case as of June 27. Case was dismissed \u00a0using so-called \u201cstrong mayor\u201d powers, which give Mayor Shelley Ann \u00a0Bentley the unilateral authority to fire the CAO without a vote of \u00a0council. The news release did not explain why Case was let go. In \u00a0an email to The Spectator on Wednesday, Bentley said the CAO\u2019s role is \u00a0being \u201crestructured\u201d as part of \u201ca broader effort to reduce the strain \u00a0on taxpayers and to ensure the... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F07%2F03%2Fhaldimand-councillors-appalled-as-mayor-fires-top-civil-servant-using-expanded-powers%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Haldimand councillors \u2018appalled\u2019 as mayor fires top civil servant using expanded powers - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/03\/haldimand-councillors-appalled-as-mayor-fires-top-civil-servant-using-expanded-powers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Haldimand councillors \u2018appalled\u2019 as mayor fires top civil servant using expanded powers - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By J.P. Antonacci, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Hamilton Spectator The mayor of Haldimand County fired the rural municipality\u2019s top civil servant on Friday in what some observers suspect is a case of political payback \u2014 a charge the mayor denies. In \u00a0a short news release, the county announced the \u201cdeparture\u201d of chief \u00a0administrative officer Cathy Case as of June 27. Case was dismissed \u00a0using so-called \u201cstrong mayor\u201d powers, which give Mayor Shelley Ann \u00a0Bentley the unilateral authority to fire the CAO without a vote of \u00a0council. The news release did not explain why Case was let go. In \u00a0an email to The Spectator on Wednesday, Bentley said the CAO\u2019s role is \u00a0being \u201crestructured\u201d as part of \u201ca broader effort to reduce the strain \u00a0on taxpayers and to ensure the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/03\/haldimand-councillors-appalled-as-mayor-fires-top-civil-servant-using-expanded-powers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-03T12:33:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/03\\\/haldimand-councillors-appalled-as-mayor-fires-top-civil-servant-using-expanded-powers\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/03\\\/haldimand-councillors-appalled-as-mayor-fires-top-civil-servant-using-expanded-powers\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Haldimand councillors \u2018appalled\u2019 as mayor fires top civil servant using expanded powers\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-03T12:33:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/03\\\/haldimand-councillors-appalled-as-mayor-fires-top-civil-servant-using-expanded-powers\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1205,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/03\\\/haldimand-councillors-appalled-as-mayor-fires-top-civil-servant-using-expanded-powers\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/03\\\/haldimand-councillors-appalled-as-mayor-fires-top-civil-servant-using-expanded-powers\\\/\",\"name\":\"Haldimand councillors \u2018appalled\u2019 as mayor fires top civil servant using expanded powers - 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