It has been a week since Peter Sergakis’ confrontation of the Pointe Claire council at the Aug. 15 council meeting and he has been busy. Sergakis has continued gathering signatures for his petition demanding the city to allow the renovation of his establishment. By press time, he claimed to have over 5,500 from residents and customers. He is currently preparing a pamphlet he plans to distribute to all Pointe Claire residents next week.
During the last council meeting’s question period, Sergakis pleaded for council to make an exception to the zoning bylaw; allowing him to renovate his restaurant. Sergakis has already made three unsuccessful requests in the past.
When Mayor Bill McMurchie told him he was more than welcome to file another request, Sergakis instead proposed to have a referendum on the issue. McMurchie explained to him that simply deposing a petition is not proper procedure for a referendum to be held.
“We do not do referendums because somebody says ‘do a referendum.’ There is a procedure in Pointe Claire by which provisions for a referendum or a new bylaw would be subject to a referendum,” McMurchie told Sergakis. “There are certain steps leading out to that referendum. But it is not somebody with a petition, presuming to act in the interest of the population that would necessitate a referendum. We must follow our procedures.”
According to the city’s Director General Jean-Denis Jacob, municipal referendums can generally be exercised in two circumstances: either for the approval of a loan bylaw or the approval of certain planning regulations such as the city urban plan. The referendum must previously have been requested a certain number of times at the occasion of a register.
When the bylaw covers the whole territory of the city, the required number of requests for the register is 571. If this number is reached; the council has the option of holding the referendum or removing the bylaw that has been the cause of the register. In Sergakis’ case, when the urban plan was adopted, a register had been opened but only around 15 people had requested a referendum.
Sergakis was very outspoken after the last council meeting, calling McMurchie a dictator and suggesting he ought to apologize for his behaviour. He also had a message for Pointe Claire residents to support him in his fight.
“If the mayor does not allow me to renovate, the Manoir will close. I can no longer operate under the actual conditions. I ask of the population of Pointe Claire to support me in this. I ask of the people of Pointe Claire and customers of the Manoir to send letters to the mayor and the council,” he said.
My husband was summarily dismissed from Le Manoir for changing his shift so he could be at my side on the day of my surgery. To add insult to injury, they defamed him when patrons complained about his firing. The owner has absolutely no regard for the welfare of either his employees or his customers. There are several restaurant and bar owners in the West Island that contribute to our community by ways of golf tournaments, comedy shows, jamborees and volleyball tournaments They are struggling because they do not have the purchasing power the owner of Le Manoir leverages through all his bars downtown. Perhaps we should support venues that support the community.