DRYDEN — A $35,000 court award could have been the end of Coun. Ritch Noel's legal tiff with the City of Dryden, but he says that's not the case.
"No, it's most certainly not over now," Noel said Friday.
A small claims court awarded the city councillor and paralegal $35,000 for libel that Noel said arose from city officials' misinterpretation of a comment he made on social media in June.
A city statement soon after the social media comment implied that Noel "is racist and/or demeaning of an Indigenous person or persons," a judge wrote.
Instead of letting the matter rest, the city issued a news release Friday morning that contains problematic statements, Noel said.
One of those statements was that the city had no knowledge of Noel's libel claim going forward in small claims court, the councillor said.
Noel said he "personally served" Mayor Jack Harrison with legal papers in September, so the mayor had to have known the claim was proceeding.
“After that, according to the rules of service, we filed an affidavit of service (in court)," he continued.
"And on that plaintiff's claim he was served, it clearly says on the bottom, ‘you have 20 days to respond.’ He didn't do that."
The matter went to court last month and the mayor and city didn’t appear, said Noel.
The city's statement on Friday said the city "has every intention of taking the necessary steps to ensure that they be given an opportunity to vigorously defend this claim."
Calls to Harrison on Friday were not answered.
