MONTREAL - A prominent member of the Projet Montreal was under attack Thursday for his attendance record, which apparently shows that he has missed every city council meeting held in last three months.
The issue was raised by Union Montreal Executive Committee member Marvin Rotrand, who noted that attendance records demonstrate that Plateau Borough Mayor Luc Ferrandez hasn’t shown up to a city council meeting since May 18, over three months ago.
According to law, a councillor who fails to show up for three consecutive meetings or 120 days, can be forced to forfeit his seat.
Rotrand said that the City of Montreal clerk can rescind Ferrandez’s status and call for a by-election in the mayor’s riding if Ferrandez doesn’t appear at the September 24 council meeting.
Rotrand said that such a by-election would cost taxpayers around $500,000.
A Projet Montreal representative said that Ferrandez attended some of those meetings but might not have been there at the moment of the roll call.
The party’s chief Richard Bergeron later downplayed the importance of attending meetings, adding that many city councillors “sit like potatoes” and play video games on smartphones during council meetings.
Ferrandez was on vacation and could not be reached for comment.
