Longer Council Terms Defeated at UBCM

105.7 SUN FM Kate Bouey

Vernon councillors vote against four-year terms BC mayors and council members will still serve three-year terms after a ballot to extend them to four years was defeated Thursday morning at the UBCM convention in Whistler. Vernon Mayor Wayne Lippert says over 600 delegates cast ballots after a close `hands up' vote the day before. The secret ballot saw 354 mayors and councillors vote against the change while 280 were in favour. Vernon councillors voted against lengthening the term in office. 

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Councillors reject four-year terms Tom Fletcher - BC Local News Published: September 30, 2010 11:00 AM

WHISTLER – Municipal election terms will remain at three years, delegates to the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention decided in a hotly contested vote Thursday.  The executive of the UBCM had endorsed the idea after a provincial-municipal task force recommended it this spring. Supporters noted that most Canadian provinces have already gone to four-year terms, and it may improve the low turnout of local elections.  Burnaby councillor Sav Dhaliwal said he started in politics with a one-year term, and went through similar debates over increasing it to two years and the present three years. There has been no shortage of candidates to run for the longer terms, he said.  Councillors for smaller communities disputed that, and argued that with the low pay, a four-year term would prevent many candidates from making the commitment. The issue split delegates when it was debated Wednesday, and two votes by show of hands were scrapped after complaints that people had voted and then left the convention hall.
A secret-ballot vote was held Thursday morning, with 280 votes in favour of four-year terms and 354 opposed.  Community and Rural Development Minister Ben Stewart said the provincial government would respect the decision of the mayors and councillors. The task force also recommended limits on spending for civic election campaigns, but not restrictions on campaign donations. Those changes are expected to be incorporated in provincial legislation next spring.