Residents of White Rock are headed back to the polls after the Supreme Court of British Columbia declared the election of James Coleridge in last fall's municipal voting to be invalid. The decision was handed down Tuesday by Supreme Court Judge Laura Gerow, who heard the case in February. Coleridge was in court after former City Councillor Matt Todd filed a petition charging that Coleridge violated a section of the Local Government Act. Todd petitioned the court to make the declaration, alleging that Coleridge either authored or authorized the publication of an e-mail in which misleading and untrue accusations were leveled against his political rivals, including Mr. Todd, and then knowingly made false statements about the authorship of the e-mail.
In the decision, Mr. Coleridge's election is declared invalid and the office held by him declared vacant. In addition, Mr. Coleridge is ordered to pay $20,000 to the City of White Rock towards the expenses of the election required to fill the vacancy. Total costs for the election are estimated to be between $26,000 and $37,000. The City of White Rock has been ordered to pay Mr. Todd's legal costs. However, the City is entitled to recover these costs from Mr. Coleridge. "We accept the court's decision and will move forward accordingly," says Mayor Catherine Ferguson. "We will hold a by-election to fill the resulting vacancy. Staff is currently working on establishing a date."
Ferguson stressed that the by-election will not delay the remaining members of Council from dealing with City business and that quorum for Council meetings will continue to be four. "The judge made her decision on the information presented. As a Council, we welcome having resolution to this outstanding issue and putting November behind us. The by-election will not mean a delay in any matter before Council."
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