5 hours ago
Swift News
Dysfunction in a small Vancouver Island municipality has escalated to the point where it is taking legal action so it can potentially take separate legal action against two of its councillors.
The Village of Sayward filed a legal petition with the B.C. Supreme Court on Oct. 14 seeking to reduce quorum — the minimum number of people required for a council meeting to make a decision — from three elected officials to two.
The legal filing from the Village of Sayward alleges that two councillors, Scott Burchett and Sue Poulsen, have been illegally leaking confidential information and collaborating with a former chief administrative officer of the village, John French, to criticize the ethics of Mayor Mark Baker and other senior staff on a local Facebook page.
In the petition, Sayward says it wants to “proceed with consideration of a motion of censure and related sanctions” against Burchett and Poulsen, and “possibly commence court proceedings” against them.
But because Baker is also suing French for defamation, only two of the five people on Sayward’s council aren’t in a conflict of interest over the series of lawsuits and investigations that has paralyzed its operations.
On a five-person council, according to B.C. law, at least three people are needed to vote on any decision.
The village is asking the B.C. Supreme Court to temporarily reduce that number to two, so council can vote and potentially take action against those councillors.
“This is a step in the right direction to restore order, civility, and professionalism to the Village and, most importantly, to enable Village Council to carry out the work that the residents and electorate of the Village expect and deserve,” said the village in a statement issued by an outside communications team.
The allegations laid out by the village against the councillors have not been proven in court, but have been posted in detail by the municipality on its website, along with affidavits by Baker and a former acting chief administrative officer.
Through their communications team, the village has declined further requests for comment, as did Burchett, who has multiple complaints filed against the mayor with various authorities.