Sewerage commission chair resigns

The head of the Greater Moncton Sewerage Commission has resigned, bringing the total number of board resignations to four.

Ron LeBlanc's resignation comes about a month after the organization was the centre of ascathing report by the province's auditor general.

The Department of Environment received his letter of resignation on Thursday, the day before the minister was meeting with themayors of Moncton, Riverview and Dieppe to discuss the situation.

The resignationtakes effect Dec. 31.

LeBlanc, who has been the commission's chairman for 27 years, was singled out in the auditor general's report for questionable spending, including his Blackberry bill that averaged $550 a month, and $9,600 a year in office expenses, for which no invoices were filed, and $5,800 in claims for travel, which did not include supporting invoices.

The auditor general recommended LeBlanc and other long-serving board members be replaced immediately.

The Opposition Liberalsalso calledfor LeBlanc's immediate removal, and fora public inquiry.

Board down to two members

Three other membersof the six-member boardhave already resigned.

Moncton Mayor George LeBlanc said Environment Minister Margaret-Ann Blaney has agreed to fill the vacancies as soon as possible.

"We discussed the fact that the board at present does not have a quorum due to resignation. We wanted to make it clear that we need some appointments on there right away to address that," he said.

Jillian Porter stepped away from the controversial board earlier this month, sayingshe's pregnant.

Paul Belliveau also resigned, saying he wanted tospend more time with his family.

Meanwhile, Ed Pitre, who represents the provincial government on the board, has said he's thinking about his options.

Sylvia Michaud, who had served as Dieppes representative since 2009, resigned in August citing complaints over the management style used by the chair.

The commission was hauled in front of a special meeting of the three local councils earlier in November.The commissionpromised to be more open and accountableand presented a 15-point plan for change. But none of the members apologized for the way the commission has been run in the past.

Ron LeBlanc has maintained thecommission has served the community welland argued he was being attacked because his board refused to allow the former Shawn Graham government to make patronage appointments to the commission.