Leaders Moving Forward discussion

At last night's Committee of the Whole meeting -- Williams Lake Mayor Kerry Cook had her hands full in discussions involving the Leaders Moving Forward committee.  It should be noted that Councillors Sue Zacharias and Laurie Walters were absent from this meeting

The topic on the floor was the concern raised by Rathor at the Aug 13th WL City Council meeting about $85 for the 'Leaders Moving Forward' committee for food.  This committee was initiated by Cook in the fall of 2010 following the then Federal Review Panel meetings in the region reviewing Taseko Mine's "Prosperity" mine proposal to ensure Williams Lake was ready for a yes or no vote by Ottawa on the then 'Prosperity' Mine proposal

Unfortunately - it degenerated into a heated discussion, at times, about Rathor's political motives at Council meetings.

Councillor Geoff Bourdon asked what specific action Councillor Rathor was seeking in regards to his concern around the Leaders Moving Forward committee.  Rathor for his part said he was seeking clarity on how a Community Committee could receive funds for food which was not authorized by Council

Meanwhile - Mayor Cook raised a concern with Councillor Rathor of a perception that he was attacking her in Council Chambers while Rathor asked his questions at Council meetings to which he said that was not his intent and if Cook perceived his questions as 'attacks', he apologizes to her but doesn't apologize for asking questions at Council that the community has asked of him

Finally - Councillor Danica Hughes, participating in the meeting via teleconference, made the strongest accusation by accusing Rathor of 'insubordination' and for interfering with municipal officials, contrary to Section 153 of the Community Charter as follows:

Prohibition against interfering with municipal officers and employees

153 A person must not interfere with, hinder or obstruct a municipal officer or employee in the exercise or performance of his or her powers, duties or functions.

Hughes also requested a report outlining for Council the role/responsibility of Williams Lake's Mayor

Rathor said if anyone was 'campaigning' - that was Mayor Cook with her declaration at the July 9th Committee of the Whole meeting that she was seeking a 3rd term as Mayor of Williams Lake and also Councillor Hughes who announced on Aug 13th that she was not seeking a 2nd term on Williams Lake City Council

No motions were made following the discussion

Steve's views:

1) Councillor Hughes was totally out of line for accusing Rathor of 'insubordination' without providing evidence as was her accusation of interfering with municipal officials.  One should not make an accusation of that nature without clear cut proof.  I was quite surprised that Mayor Cook did not stop Hughes from making her accusation against Councillor Rathor, given she gave no evidence of how Rathor being insubordinate or how he allegedly interfered with local municipal officials (City Staff).   In all the years (since 2000) I've following local governments in the region, that is the 1st time I've heard a City Councillor accuse a colleague of insubordination and interfering with municipal officials without proof

As Quesnel Mayor Mary Sjostrom said to Quesnel Councillor Sushil Thapar at the Aug 1st Quesnel Council meeting:

"You don't have to like us as individuals, but you should respect our office(s)"

2) Mayor Cook should have shut down the discussion once it was clear (and it was clear to me at several points that the discussion that the Committee was having did not pertain to Leaders Moving Forward) that it was going off-track.  If a discussion doesn't relate to the matter at hand, the Chair had an obligation to direct the discussion back to the matter at hand.  I don't question allowing COW (Committee of the Whole) discussions to have a more free structure then at Council, but it's knowing when it is time to shut down the debate.  With 5 of the 7 elected officials in the room, after 20-25 mins of debate, that it was sufficient time to render a decision on the matter on the floor and then move on to the next item on the Agenda

3) I agree with Councillor Geoff Bourdon when he said that if you have a concern and want it referred to COW for discussion - come prepared with your concern(s) and a solution, otherwise it will inevitably turn into the 60 minute "free for all" I observed last night

4) As Williams Lake City Manager (CAO) Darryl Garceau pointed out to me yesterday  -- Council should consider themselves 7 unique individuals around their table and this should be welcomed at Council, as part of the decision-making process...

This will not be the last time, I wager, Council questions the political motives of Councillor Rathor but with roughly a year left prior to the 2014 Civic Election - it remains unclear if a "meeting of the minds" would help the situation or not.  From my perspective - it wouldn't given you have two 'visions' on Council - those of Mayor Cook and Councillors Bourdon, Hughes, Walters and Zacharias & those of Councillors Rathor/Bonnell and ultimately - the question that will face the community is:

Do members of the 2011-14 Williams Lake City Council who are seeking re-election deserve to be re-elected or does the community want new blood on Williams Lake City Council?

We will have that answer from the residents' of Williams Lake in roughly a year from now...

SBF