Province Won't Review Coldstream Council's Conduct - KISS FM

Written by Peter McIntyre Wednesday, 29 January 2014 12:0

 

The group pushing for a governance study for Greater Vernon is upset at Coldstream council, but the BC government won't be taking action.

The Greater Vernon Governance Society issued a news release today, saying it had asked BC's Community Minister to review Coldstream council's conduct, accusing the elected reps of having a "predetermined decision" and personal biases against a study looking into the pros and cons of unification or amalgamation (see details below).

Vernon-Monashee MLA Eric Foster spoke with senior government reps from that ministry about the request today.
"The opinion is the Coldstream council didn't do anything in contravention to the Local Government Act, so that's the end of the conversation for us," says Foster.

Foster says if Coldstream had done something contrary to the act, there could have been a discussion, but he says that doesn't appear to be the case.

On Tuesday, Foster said the province won't be funding a study into the governance issue, as requested by Vernon council and the governance society, unless all jurisdictions want one.

Coldstream and the electoral area directors have already rejected taking part in a study. (see more)

***************************************************************

Review demanded of Coldstream council's actions

• by  Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star
• posted Jan 29, 2014 at 7:00 AM

The fight over Greater Vernon governance is heating up.

The Greater Vernon Governance Society is demanding the provincial government review actions taken by Coldstream council prior to it deciding not to support a study into possibly merging local jurisdictions.

“Their actions of meeting as a quorum with the Coldstream Ratepayers Association, and encouraging the 60 ratepayers in attendance at that meeting to come out and support their position to not agree to any study, clearly shows they had predetermined their decision because of their personal biases toward not changing the governance structure in the area,” states a society release.

“We believe, in common with other municipal jurisdictions, councillors should not offer personal opinions in public forums, and when a quorum of elected officials is present and speaking on a topic, formal minutes should be taken and entered into the public record.”

The society is calling for all jurisdictions to hold a referendum this fall asking residents if they support a governance study.

Look for more in Friday's Morning Star.

Note: Representatives from Electoral Areas B and C are actually elected by taxpayers of those areas, in these cases they were elected by acclamation!

 ****************************************************************************