City councillors set up new code of conduct

City councillors who behave badly can now be docked up to 25% of their pay for multiple violations of a new code of conduct that was approved by the group at its meeting Tuesday.

The code, which was drafted by a working group of the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen and its member municipalities, passed 5-2 with Couns. Amelia Boultbee and James Miller opposed.

The document covers “expected responsible conduct of elected officials, interactions with staff, volunteers and other elected officials, complaint handling, and consequences of breaching the policy,” according to a staff report penned in January by city manager Anthony Haddad.

“It also proposes two appointments: the adjudicator, who will receive and conduct a preliminary assessment of complaints, and the solicitor, who will conduct formal investigations of complaints and provide recommendations to council.”

Those recommendations could include a one-year 10% pay reduction for a first offence, 15% for a second offence and 25% for a third offence.

Before a matter gets there, however, the parties involved are expect to try to work out their differences informally.

“The first resort is for the two parties to figure it out over a cup of coffee,” said Mayor Julius Bloomfield.

Coun. Boultbee, however, suggested the new code is deficient because it doesn’t specifically cover bullying and sexual harassment, makes elected officials liable for their own legal bills if they’re found to have broken the rules, and lacks a formal appeal process.

“I’m in favour of a code of conduct, but not the way this one is drafted,” said Boultbee.

“It puts councillors who are not in the majority at significant risk of retribution.”

Such codes of conduct are virtually compulsory in B.C. since new legislation was adopted in 2022 in response to a resolution passed in 2016 at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention that called on the B.C. government to address the issue of questionable conduct on the part of elected officials.

The legislation, which amended the Community Charter, requires councils to consider adopting a new code of conduct or reviewing an existing policy within six months of the first regular meeting following a general election.

If, after that process, a council decides against having a code of conduct, it must publish a public statement explaining its reasons why. That same council would then have to review the matter again before the next general election.