“If you're going to make statements, you're going to have to back them up” --that from lawyer Rod Gillis to Pension Board trustee Fred Slipp, who testified former Common Councillor John Ferguson's comments were full of defamatory inferences and innuendo against the board.
Ferguson is currently the Town Manager of St. Stephen.
Slipp testifying comments from Ferguson about three trustees suggested they were creating a paper trail to cover wrong-doing and that harmed the reputation of the whole board.
In an excited back and forth, Gillis said, “Beckett, Nugent and Totten are three members of the pension board--they might also be three members of the YMCA! Are you capable of answering my question?”
Slipp responding Ferguson's comments carried connotations the trustees were quote, "covering their butts", to which Gillis responded it was only reasonable for employees of the city to do that.