Councillors should live in their municipality

DEAR EDITOR:

Penticton City council is making realtors and mortgage brokers wealthy in its support of housing development proposals.

However, the B.C. Community Charter prohibits council members from participating in any discussions or voting on a matter in which the member has a direct/indirect pecuniary interest or influence in the matter as it creates a conflict-of-interest. The offending member must declare that interest.

An elected official who has a financial interest in a matter and contravenes the ethical standards may be disqualified from holding public office.

Personal business interest, real or declared, may influence their vote, and may be perceived as a conflict of interest.

Non-resident councillor Julius Bloomfield is rumoured to make a bid for mayor in the forthcoming election. He has a direct financial interest as a personal real estate agent of a local firm.

This situation raises the unfortunate question of ethical standards, conflict-of-interest for locally-elected officials under the Community Charter and may be disqualified from holding public office; he should make the honourable decision to vacate his council seat.

As noted in a letter to the editor of July 29, “Housing proposal shot down over bike lanes,” Bloomfield does not live in Penticton and should not influence decisions that adversely affect the Penticton residents. It is not good enough to work here then go home to lower taxes in another jurisdiction.

The city council must immediately react to this situation before the forthcoming election by passing a bylaw to restrict mayor and council positions to residents who have been full-time bona fide residents for at least two years.

Major Claude Filiatrault Penticton