A new committee will be struck to draft a code of conduct to guide board behaviour at the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD).
Directors unanimously voted to strike a committee, composed of chair Lori Pratt, Gibsons director Bill Beamish and Howe Sound director Mark Hiltz, that would work with staff to create the draft, with the aim of bringing it back to the board in the second quarter of 2019.
Following CAO Janette Loveys’ introduction of the report on the issue, which recommended that the code of conduct be prepared, Sechelt director Darnelda Siegers asked how the board would provide direction if staff were to create the document.
Loveys replied that staff were asking for “authority to prepare a draft,” based on principles outlined by a working group focused on responsible conduct and which could be amended by the board. “If there is direction that the board would like to give staff in preparation of that draft, then we’re happy to take that,” she said.
Pratt then suggested striking a committee.
Hiltz raised concern about the capacity of the board and having “too many committees,” and said he would prefer reverting to the report’s recommendation.
Pratt countered that a committee could easily access information to facilitate its work and emphasized the need for director input at the drafting stage. “When we come to these key policy pieces that directly are about the board and how the board operates as a team, I think we need to be more actively involved in that and not necessarily give all that work to staff.”
After flagging that rules are already in place to govern meetings and there could be a potential for overlap, Area A director Leonard Lee said he was “OK with it as long as we don’t have one document contradicting another.”
Roberts Creek director Andreas Tize said it was “common sense” to create a formal code.
In 2017, the independent auditor’s report on the SCRD had recommended creating a formal written code of conduct that would apply to senior administration and the board. In 2018, a working group had been established jointly by the Union of BC Municipalities, the Local Government Management Association and the Municipal Affairs and Housing Ministry to guide policy decisions around the responsible conduct of local government elected officials.
