Steve Sampson will not seek new term as Richmond County councillor

After 25 years in municipal politics, Richmond County, N.S., councillor and former wardenSteve Sampson is calling it quits.

He has decided not to re-offer in the October elections.

"Making a commitment four years ahead I couldn't do it at this point in time," he said.

But Sampson said it has nothing to do with an attempt to blackmail him back in April, which he brought to public attention through a news conference.

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He told reporters then he had received a letter containing a photocopy of a hotel bill he incurred in 2014 while travelling on county business.The bill included a phone call to a male escort agency.

Sampson said the writer demanded he resign and never run for public office again.

The incident occurred during a raging controversy in Richmond County over whether to launch a forensic audit into municipal travel expenses.

Sampson reported the alleged blackmail to the RCMP, saying he had nothing to be ashamed of.

Lots of support

The police continue to investigate, and in the meantime, he has taken legal action to have Facebook reveal the authors behind an anonymous Facebook page so he can sue for defamation.

"It's an expensive exercise but I think it's a very important one," he said. "Hopefully it will bring closure to a very difficult moment in my life."

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Sampson describes the support he has received from within and outside the community as overwhelming, making the decision to leave a very difficult one.

"I received lots of phone calls, text messages, letters from people who believe in me."

In spite of that, the former Richmond County warden said the decision not to re-offer has been building over the past four years.

His 'greatest joy'

As primary caregiver for his 93-year-old father, and as aworker at the Nova Scotia Liberal Caucus Office for the past yearandahalf, he says his life has taken a new direction with new commitments.

But Sampson said he looks back with pride at developments such as the Dr. W.B. Kingston Memorial Health Centre, the new recreational club ball field in L'Ardoise and improvements at the L'Ardoisesenior citizens club and in the village of Little Harbour.

Above all he he names his "greatest joy" as being able to advocate for people who struggled to maintain a good life "while being burdened with bureaucracy and red tape."

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