Recall dashed, but shorter terms sought

Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: August 10, 2010 7:00 PM

The City of Vernon doesn’t want terms of office to expand, nor do they want politicians kicked out of office. A majority of council voted Monday to urge the provincial government not to change the terms for municipal positions from three to four years, while the prospect of voters recalling mayors or councillors did not get support. The province has indicated that civic elections will soon switch from every three to four years, but Coun. Patrick Nicol says the current system works. “That (three years) is what the public ascribed to in the last election,” he said, adding that changing the length of terms was pushed by elected officials. “This is a slam-dunk by the insiders. The public didn’t have any input.” Councillors Shawn Lee and Mary-Jo O’Keefe want four-year terms implemented. “It gives a councillor time to learn things and get things done,” said Lee.

Coun. Bob Spiers had attempted to have his colleagues push the government for a mechanism so voters could remove a civic leader they are unhappy with mid-way through a term. “Because we’re going to four-year terms, I don’t see anything wrong with electors having a crack at local councils and school boards,” he said. “It’s just another tool for democracy.” However, the only support for Spiers’ motion came from Nicol. Mayor Wayne Lippert doesn’t believe recall wouldn’t work in municipalities. “With a mayor and council, the idea is to have balance and bring different ideas forward,” he said. “The idea is for council to act as a team and recall doesn’t pertain there.” Others expressed concerns that recall would be too disruptive. “If someone got recalled, we’d have to have another election and that’s a huge expense,” said Coun. Jack Gilroy.