Councillor votes against own motion

By RICHARD ROLKE Morning Star Staff Dec 15 2006
Coun. Barry Beardsell has a long history of voting against items, but he added a twist to that record Monday. He raised his hand against his own motion. Beardsell joined the rest of Vernon council in defeating a motion he made to have committee appointments cover both 2007 and 2008. “I opposed it to appease Coun. Cochrane,” said Beardsell. Committee appointments are for one year at a time, but Beardsell had suggested making them for the remaining two years of the term as a way of simplifying the process. “It was just an attempt to avoid having appointments by a certain date. I fully expect there would be changes but they can be done at any time,” he said. When Beardsell first made his motion, Pat Cochrane was quick to lash out at it. “I’m totally disgusted by that motion. It’s totally inappropriate,” said Cochrane. Cochrane says he’s always favoured a system where committee appointments are rotated so as many councillors as possible can be involved in decision-making. “If we have permanent three-year appointments (for a full council term), it creates inner and outer circles,” he said. The 2007 appointments were accepted unanimously, including one major change. Cochrane has been replaced by Coun. Juliette Cunningham as a city representative to the North Okanagan Regional District board. The change came at the request of Cochrane, who wasn’t willing to elaborate on why he wanted off NORD. “I don’t have an answer for you. I just felt it was the right thing to do. I’d still like to be there but I felt it was the right thing to do,” he said. Last week, Cochrane was the only director to oppose NORD removing the Greater Vernon Service’s Commission’s authority. That move was supported by the city’s other representatives, Mayor Wayne Lippert and Coun. Patrick Nicol.