An attempt to get Nanaimo Councillors to publicly sign a series of declarations outlining their roles and conduct fizzled last night.
They include a Council Charter and Council/Staff Relations Protocol.
Only 3 members of Council signed when they took office.
Diane Brennan says it’s an oversight she wanted to correct – and have the rest of Council join her. “I wanted an opportunity to affirm this publicly,” she said.
But, Brennan couldn’t convince anyone outside the trio who’d already signed; Bill McKay, Ian Thorpe and Wendy Pratt.
Jim Kipp says his oath of office and the Community Charter are enough, “It’s a continuation of governance over democracy, and I want democracy over governance so I won’t sign.” The others who didn’t sign expressed similar thoughts. Gord Fuller also said he has serious concerns about sections in the documents that coud lead to sanctions against individual councillors.
Council has brought in a facilitator to help smooth the workings of City Hall, at a cost of around 50-thousand dollars. McKay says that facilitator has shown some interest in what Council has been doing around those earlier declarations.
