Back in February of this year, a resident of Williams Lake alleged that Williams Lake Mayor Walt Cobb was in a conflict of interest, given his role as a Director on the Royal Canadian Legion Board, while at the same time, Williams Lake City Council approved a Grant in Aide of $7,500 and property tax exemption to the Legion. After a review by the City's legal counsel - it was determined that Mayor Cobb is not in a conflict of interest on the basis that "That the pecuniary interest is so remote or insignificant that it cannot reasonably be regarded as likely to influence the member in relation to the matter"
Mayor Cobb sat down with the Williams Lake Tribune yesterday to fully explain the situation.
Read here
Conflict of interest charges against elected officials do not happen often, let alone be made public and when they do, in most cases, they are either proven to be false or dropped altogether. In the rare times that it is indeed proven that an elected official is indeed in a conflict of interest, Section 100 of the Community Charter (view here) and case law provides for when an elected official may be or must be disqualified (thrown out) from office, however it is ultimately up to the individual elected official to determine if they are in a conflict and act accordingly
As a result of the 2013 Schlenker vs Torgrimson court ruling - elected officials in BC, whether on a Regional District Board, Municipal Council or Island Trust, were previously cautioned to be very mindful of their elected role and on which non-profit boards they sit on as a result of "divided loyalties" and the theory of "which master you serve"
However, back on May 4th, the Province announced that the provincial Cabinet passed a Regulation which exempts local elected officials from conflict of interest rules as a result of being appointed from a local government body (Board, Council or Trust) to certain corporate bodies or non-profit boards - more details here
For myself - as an elected official, I purposely avoid sitting on non-profits to avoid the possibility of having "divided loyalties" between sitting on a non-profit board and being an elected Cariboo Regional District Electoral Area Director
~SF
2 comments:
Thanks Steve. I can understand why elected officials might want to do as you have done. But, in a small city such as ours, many elected officials have such talents which can be used for non-profits. It seems as long as any conflicts of interest are recognized, there really should be no problem. I have no plans to run for office but if I was elected I would find it difficult to step down from worthy non profits of which I volunteer.
I agree it's a tough line to walk. Just better to excuse yourself from voting on anything to do with any board you're sitting on, I would think. Then there's no perception of being biased. I think that's all the tax payers would want. Our politicians need to set the example as leaders, not embroil themselves in questionable behavior. We should never have to question if their decision was ethical. I have to give this one to Scott Nelson. He has excused himself out more times than anyone else over the years. He gets to idea of "divided loyalties". And for Walt to hang this on the guy that actually made the complaint seemed a bit petty. All taxpayers in the city are or should be watchdogs! It's our money they're spending. This guy just took the time to put pen to paper.
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