New Brunswick·NewThe Sunbury-York South municipality no longer has enough councillors to function after the resignation of its mayor. Now the rural community will have a provincially appointed supervisor in place of council until municipal elections take place in May.Council can no longer form quorum, leaving provincial commission to appoint a supervisorOliver Pearson · CBC News · Posted: Sep 28, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 26 minutes agoSunbury-York South Mayor David Hayward has resigned after being temporarily suspended for 90 days following a council vote that found he broke the code of conduct. (Sunbury-York South Rural Community/Facebook)The tumultuous Sunbury-York South council has lost its grip on the reins of the rural community it leads, and will now be operated by a provincially appointed supervisor following the resignation of its recently suspended mayor, David Hayward. Hayward surprised council and attendees by announcing his resignation in the middle of Tuesday night’s council meeting, his first appearance after a 90-day suspension.Council voted in June to sanction Hayward for violating the rural municipalities code of conduct relating to approving a lease for an office without a council vote.Hayward’s resignation, which he said is effective immediately, leaves the four-person council unable to meet its quorum of five councillors.In response, the Local Governance Commission of New Brunswick appointed a supervisor for the community on Sept. 25.The commission’s notice said the supervisor, Greg Lutes, will be in place until Oct. 27. After that the province will appoint a new supervisor until municipal elections take place in May 2026.WATCH | ‘I was absolutely shocked, first of all. Stunned,’ says councillor:Sunbury-York South mayor’s resignation leads to supervisor takeover David Hayward, mayor of Sunbury-York South, has resigned, leaving the municipality without enough councillors to function. The province has appointed a supervisor in place of the entire remaining council until municipal elections take place in May. “Once a supervisor has been appointed, the remaining councillors cannot act as councillors. The supervisor will act as the council for the rural community,” said Mary Oley, who is the director of the commission.The commission is a provincial body that makes decisions regarding local governments, regional service commissions, and rural districts. It has been operational since May 2024.’I was absolutely shocked’Before the supervisor’s appointment, the remaining councillors were Hajnalka Hartwick, Larry DeLong, Matthew Sheppard and Cory Allen.Allen is disappointed with Hayward’s resignation, which takes decision-making power away from him and the rest of council.”I was absolutely shocked, first of all, stunned. I thought that somebody who was part of the community and wanted to work for the good of the community wouldn’t resign,” said Allen.Hayward’s resignation speech highlighted unnamed sources of misinformation and slander that he says have divided the community. He also said that the democratic process was at risk.”This process has fallen under threat by some who feel that their opinions are more important than those of others and with that any opposition to those views are berated and scrutinized to the point that some feel threatened to speak any other point of view or perspective for fear of that reprisal,” Hayward’s resignation letter said.Allen told CBC News he doesn’t know who specifically Hayward was referring to in his letter.Hayward cancelled a planned interview with CBC on the matter, and did not respond to repeated requests for comment.Unfinished council businessAllen and other councillors were working on reducing the municipality’s budget, hoping to bring a potential 12.6 per cent property tax rate cut to residents.Now that the council has lost power the budgeting process will be left up to the appointed supervisor.”I hope and pray that the superintendent will very seriously consider the budget that we were working so hard on,” Allen said.Allen added a motion was supposed to be tabled at council Tuesday night to hire a human resources firm to evaluate what work is required in the office in order to reduce hours and save money.Hayward read his resignation letter prior to that vote, leaving the motion unresolved.Cory Allen hopes to meet with the municipality’s appointed supervisor and display the documents he has. He wants to see the council’s spending and redundancies cut down. (Michael Heenan/CBC)Allen hopes to meet with the new supervisor and share that information to potentially inspire a tax break for residents.He said residents of Sunbury-York South, that includes Nasonworth, Rusagonis, Waasis and Charters Settlement, want the region to stay rural with low taxes.Sunbury-York South was created under the province’s 2023 municipal amalgamations.Not the first personnel changeThe municipality has been plagued with controversy over the past year.In January Coun. Susan Yarom resigned, followed by Coun. Gilles Turner stepping down in March.In July, Coun. Tegan Noble and Coun. Matthew Standish also resigned.The municipality’s council should have eight members, including the mayor.CAO Marjorie Turner and Mayor David Hayward are shown together in a photo days after the municipality was created in January 2023. (Sunbury-York South Rural Community/Facebook)The municipal staff roster has also seen changes. Its chief administration officer was terminated and currently faces two charges under the local governance act.The then CAO, Marjorie Turner, allegedly called the police on residents that showed up to the municipal office asking for public documents they were entitled to on two different occasions.Turner has pleaded not guilty to the charges and her next court appearance is Aug. 10, 2026.At the time of her termination, Deputy Mayor Larry DeLong said the decision wasn’t related to the charges.ABOUT THE AUTHOROliver Pearson is a reporter at CBC New Brunswick. He can be reached at oliver.pearson@cbc.ca
Sunbury-York South mayor resigns, supervisor takes over council
