By Tyler Olsen - Vernon Morning Star - May 07, 2008
Concern that members of Spallumcheen council may have contravened conflict of interest rules forced the cancellation of a public hearing Monday that had drawn a crowd of more than 70 residents to the municipal hall. The public hearing was intended to give the public the opportunity to speak to changes to Spallumcheen’s official community plan that would have changed the future land use designation of certain plots. The move would make it easier for owners of some of the properties to subdivide. But after convening in closed session to discuss the situation, council decided to postpone the meeting. Mayor Will Hansma said concerns from both the public and independent counsel sparked the closed session. After township administrator Lynda Shakura explained the deletion of the public hearing from the council agenda, Hansma elaborated on the conflict of interest issue that has created problems. “Members of this council have inadvertently probably done some things that could be considered a conflict of interest,” said Hansma. “Until we get that clarified by our legal counsel, that’s the biggest reason for why (the hearing) has to be postponed.”
With a family member owning a piece of land that could be affected by the OCP changes, Hansma said he will probably rule himself out of future discussions. “I talked to my legal counsel and they said if it is a conflict of interest it’s a perceived conflict of interest because there’s no direct gain to me,” he said. Hansma told The Morning Star that he doesn’t want to subject his family to any court challenge that could come out of participation in the process. Both Hansma and Coun. Todd York own property that could be redesignated if the OCP changes go ahead, although neither properties could be subdivided further and thus both have stated they have no personal conflict of interest in relation to their own land. Coun. Carolyn Farris does own land that could be subdivided if the OCP is altered and has declared a conflict of interest. In late March, as council prepared to discuss the OCP changes, Farris declared herself in conflict and left the discussion. However on the way out of council chambers, she and Hansma had a loud exchange in which Farris declared her opposition to the changes.
With the community charter stating that in-conflict councillors “must not attempt in any way, before, during or after such a meeting, to influence the voting on a question in respect of the matter,” Farris, then, may have contravened the conflict of interest section of the community charter. Muddling the question, though, is the fact Farris was stating her opposition to a move that could, technically, benefit her. Farris said that, as council receives guidance on conflict of interest rules, the exchange was unfortunate.“As we’re getting the guidelines coming, that was probably not a wise choice of words but at the time, I was doing the best with the information we had at the time.” But Farris was also adamant she had judiciously excused herself consistently since the OCP review process began. Hansma said the 2004 Community Charter rules on conflict of interest make it more difficult to sit on councils in small municipalities. “It’s becoming so difficult in a small community where you have 5,000 people and you can call 2,500 people your friends and acquaintances. Where do you draw the line?” asked Hansma. “If there’s a lesson to be learned, even if there’s a remote possibility that you may be in conflict, whether or not there’s a pecuniary (financial) interest involved, check it out.”
As for the future of the OCP changes, Hansma said that depending on who declares a conflict of interest, the township may have to reintroduce the bylaw. Currently the township is seeking opinion from their lawyers. Coun. Lorna Bissell, however, said the township would move ahead with the process once those who are in conflict rule themselves out. “Yes there are some conflicts but not all councillors have conflicts. He made it sound like we were all in conflict,” said Bissell. “We, the councillors that haven’t had conflicts will carry on the process.”
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