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MERRITT HERALD FREE
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013 • MERRITT NEWSPAPERS
Merritt endorses budget, barely By Phillip Woolgar THE HERALD
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JUST PRACTISING Members of the Merritt Fire and Rescue Department complete a drill at Voght Park on Tuesday. The firefighters generated smoke in the building before sending a rescue crew to pull a fellow firefighter out. Phillip Woolgar/Herald
It’s a vote that would have many municipal political enthusiasts on the edges of their seats, but when the final numbers were counted, the City of Merritt’s provisional 2013 budget passed at 4-3. Prior the decision, four of the seven council members said at Tuesday’s meeting they weren’t ready to approve the budget. Coun. Alastair Murdoch took issue with a proposed 2.25 per cent increase to residential taxes. “I am confused. It
seems we haven’t taken a look at the big picture,” he said. “This seems like city administration’s budget, when it should be the budget of council.” Murdoch was away for three of the six budget deliberation meetings. He said he was sick. Coun. Dave Baker said those who attended the meetings had ample opportunity to dispute items funded in the budget. “I am a little disappointed because we had a healthy debate, at least most of us did, during the budget deliberations,” he said prior to the vote.
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Council calls conflict rules too limiting An Appeal Court ruling has public officials elsewhere willingly stepping down from non-profits By Phillip Woolgar THE HERALD
newsroom@merrittherald.com
As municipal public servants throughout B.C. willingly rejig their positions on non-profit organizations, councillors in Merritt are resistant to conflict of interest rules the Appeal Court clarified in January. Conflict of interest has been a hot topic in B.C. communities since a followup report in January from Municipal Solicitor Colin Stewart of Stewart McDannold
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Stuart Barristers and Solicitors. The report is a response to the Court of Appeal decision that ex public servants on Salt Spring Island, Christine Torgrimson and George Ehring, were in conflict when they voted to fund non-profits on which they were members. The ruling overturns the B.C. Supreme Court decision that defended the councillors’ interests. The councillors voted to fund $8,000 to two environmental organiza-
tions on which they were directors. Councillors outside Merritt touted the clarified rules which, according to Prince George Coun. Murry Krause, provides certainty to many of those who serve on city council. Following the report, City of Prince George Coun. Lyn Hall resigned his position as the director of the Prince George Winter Games Host Society. City of Powell River Coun. Russell Brewer
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resigned from the boards of Tourism Powell River, Powell River Cycling Association and the Sunshine Coast Tourism. “Stepping down from these organizations in light of this ruling was the right thing to do,” he told the Powell River Peak. “I suspect this ruling may also have implications for other local elected officials that are active in non-profit organizations.” Those are just a sample of the response from public servants in two
B.C. municipalities. But in Merritt, councillors questioned whether flipping pancakes at Merritt Flying Club functions qualifies as a conflict. Others questioned whether buying a pass to the Nicola Valley Aquatic Centre is a conflict. Council was also concerned they can’t vote for funding the paving of a street they live on. As perhaps the most vocal Merritt opponent to conflict laws, Coun. Alastair Murdoch
his post in council chambers. Murdoch reluctantly left his position in January as president and director of the Nicola Valley Transit Society following separate legal opinions ordered by the city and himself. Both law firms agreed Murdoch was in direct pecuniary conflict. Murdoch had been making motions since 2008 about transit-related initiatives.
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threatened to walk out on a funding meeting earlier this month in a decision to grant money for the Nicola Valley Community Arts Council. “If there is four gone,” he said, “then the meeting is cancelled. That’s what happens when you go against something like the Arts Council. “Should people who go to the [Nicola Valley Aquatic Centre] bow out?” he added. He eventually retook
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