Power struggles continue in Harrison Hot Springs.
During the regular village council meeting on Monday (May 6), Council voted 3-2 to send a potential covenant between the CAO and village council back to staff for further consideration. Couns. Michie Vidal and Leo Facio were opposed.
CAO Tyson Koch said the covenant was one of seven recommendations by facilitator Ron Poole, who was contracted by B.C.’s Ministry of Municipal Affairs to assist Harrison in getting back on track toward good governance of the village following months of ongoing strife and in-fighting among members of council.
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The proposed covenant formalizes the notion that in order to keep politics out of day-to-day administration, the CAO is established as the administrator village matters while members of council are elected to represent the people and to govern.
“Staff are the experts hired – not elected – to handle the operational side (of the village),” Koch said. “In order to recognize this relationship, many municipalities and regional districts sign council-CAO covenants that acknowledge this significant relationship.”
Mayor Ed Wood said he had a number of concerns about the proposed document. Wood claimed the chief administrative officer had no authority to administer, alleging the CAO could not terminate the corporate officer or the chief financial officer. He stressed that the mayor is the CEO of the village.
“I think it’s very important that council understands what their authority is and what the chief administrative officer’s authority is,” Wood said. He added the village has been waiting on an independent contractor to review the covenant, and to have the covenant in place before said review was premature.
Wood reiterated the need for a covenant and, other than the scenario of terminating upper management, he did not clarify what his specific worries were about the draft considered on Monday.
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“The covenant has to be something that works between both (parties). Otherwise, it’s of absolutely no value,” Wood said. “There’s no sense in having a piece of paper on here that just sits on the desk and nothing gets done. There’s no accountability for it. Do we need accountability? No.”
Wood added that council members knew the meaning of the words “respect” and “collaborative work” meant, He sadi council sals knows the differences between the CAO and the CEO.
“I think it’s clear, so I can’t support what’s written here,” Wood said.
Coun. Allan Jackson said in the corporate world, the CEO has more important things to do than administrate.
“All the staff are dealt with (by) the vice presidents or presidents, and that’s our system. We have a CAO,” Jackson said. “Corporate CEOs have a different responsibility, and it’s not the management or running of the organization. It’s developing the policies and procedures and the wherewithal to keep it going.”
Two hours in to the council meeting, Wood ruled the first reading of a bylaw amending the Code of Conduct. Vidal called a point of order multiple times as the agenda had been approved and items could not be removed after the fact. Tabling the motion would have been a legal option, but this was not exercised.
Wood did not address the point of order, throwing Vidal out of the meeting. Vidal did not leave the meeting due to no reason being given.
Following a shouting match with Vidal, Wood moved to adjourn. The motion failed 2-3, with Jackson, Vidal and Facio opposed.
For the sake of “moving on with the agenda,” Koch interjected and suggested the matter be referred back to staff. There was no vote to refer the matter back to staff.
Monday’s meeting ran up to the three-hour time limit and council ran through the entire 187-page agenda.
In other council business:
- Council voted unanimously in favour of researching building a community hall with room for health services. The village is already looking into constructing a new village hall, and this additional recommendation came from the Age-Friendly Committee following their Monday meeting.
- Council unanimously voted to move the 75th anniversary celebration of the village’s incorporation from the Victoria Day weekend to Friday May 31 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Specific plans for the celebration are still being finalized.
The next regular Harrison Hot Springs Village Council meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 21, at 7 p.m. at Memorial Hall (290 Esplanade Avenue). The meeting venue is subject to change.
Online attendance is also available via Zoom; those interested can register through harrisonhotsprings.ca. Video recordings of the meetings will be archived on the village’s YouTube page.