Mayor Bruce Milne made good on his pledge to ask council to authorize the District of Sechelt to undertake a conflict of interest probe based on the findings of the Auditor General for Local Government (AGLG).
Raising the issue at the May 6 council meeting, Milne noted the AGLG did not assess the allegations of conflict of interest contained in the report because they were outside of the AGLG’s mandate and have to be resolved through the Community Charter.
Milne said he told the former AGLG when she was in Sechelt that she appeared to be “drawing attention to the issue in a significant way,” and she answered affirmatively when he asked if she was “creating an invitation for somebody to follow up.”
A motion carried unanimously calling for the District to “consider and determine” the issues of alleged conflict of interest in the wastewater treatment plant project, as outlined in the AGLG report, through provisions in the Community Charter.
“I think it’s important to resolve the reputation of all involved … and to resolve the issue for the community if there’s more at stake,” Milne said.
At Coun. Darnelda Siegers’ suggestion, the motion also directed staff to report back on the process of doing the review, including the cost.
“I, too, would like to get it resolved, but I don’t know what that looks like,” Siegers said.
Former mayor John Henderson has said he has no issue with the current council reviewing the allegations contained in the AGLG’s report, but described the move as “politics.”
