Five Kamloops councillors did nothing wrong in signing an open letter asking people to vote ‘Yes’ in the proportional representation referendum this fall.
Mayor Ken Christian says since the letter represents a quorum of Councillors, he was wondering if the decision was wrong because it may have constituted an illegal council meeting.
Christian asked the city’s corporate officer about the issue.
“I had concerns that anytime you have a quorum of council you could be perceived as having a meeting outside of the purview of the community charter. So I checked with the corporate officer and apparently the way this was done was one of the councillors took it upon themselves to individually gain the signature of the others.”
Christian says that means the five didn’t have a meeting official or otherwise.
Lending their names to the correspondence were Councillors Arjun Singh, Tina Lange, Dieter Dudy, Donovan Cavers, and Denis Walsh.
The mayor opposes proportional representation.
“It really not something that’s in the purview of the city of Kamloops. Its something that should be really done by a quorum of Councillors signing as Councillors.”
The mail in ballot takes place this fall.