Major news release from the Atwell campaign.
Subject: Mayor Frank Leonard Sewage Committee Attendance Excuse Failing Saanich Residents and Demands Accountability
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct 25, 2014
http://richardatwell...aseforMedia.pdf
Mayor Frank Leonard Sewage Committee Attendance
Excuse Failing Saanich Residents and Demands Accountability
Saanich, BC - Mayor Frank Leonard appeared on radio on Friday Oct 24th to explain his absence from 102 missed CRD sewage committee meetings after it was raised by Leonard himself during debate and recorded in a video released by the Richard Atwell for Saanich Mayor Campaign.
“Even after his explanation, the public is left confused and wondering why Leonard arbitrarily chose to miss 102 sewage committee meetings but then showed up to vote on the very same sewage agenda items at the CRD Board meeting on the very same day”, said Richard Atwell Candidate for Mayor of Saanich.
“Despite his own reasoning, Leonard has attended the majority of CRD Board meetings over the past 5 years and has voted many times for the failed sewage project which contradicts his own claim that he skipped meetings to avoid any perception of conflict of interest”, said Richard Atwell Candidate for Mayor of Saanich.
The “Leonard Rule” to remove himself from only the lesser of the two meetings, defies logic and appears to be a law unto himself not backed by the Local Government Act or Community Charter.
Normal practice for CRD Directors like Frank Leonard involving conflict of interest is to declare any conflict of interest ahead of any vote that may benefit a director directly or indirectly and to recuse themselves for the duration of that agenda item only.
This is exemplified by the September 11, 2013 minutes where Director Leonard, recused himself for 3 minutes for the duration of vote and then returned to the meeting:
https://www.crd.bc.c...sM.pdf?sfvrsn=2
Mayor Frank Leonard has invented a unique set of rules for himself to avoid showing up to 102 sewage committee meetings in the past 5 years and has sent along Saanich Councillor Vicki Sanders in his place on a regular basis, who Saanich electors did not vote to send to the CRD as one of Saanich’s five CRD representatives.
Leonard’s excuse that “he excuses himself from board meetings anytime a potential conflict arises” is no excuse for missing the vast (102) majority of meetings where no conflict existed. It is Leonard’s job as Mayor of Saanich to represent Saanich taxpayers at every opportunity especially given that the sewage project to date has cost Saanich taxpayers approximately $16 million in unrecoverable losses.
Understanding CRD Committee Structure:
CRD has a number of standing committees which make recommendations to the CRD Board.
Core Area Liquid Waste Management is one such committee, which normally convenes at 9 or 9:30am on the 2nd Wednesday of each month.
Following this meeting, the CRD Board convenes at 1:30pm on the same day to cast the official votes on agenda items recommended by all standing committees, including Core Area Liquid Waste.
While Leonard has missed the morning meetings to avoid the perception of conflict in his
opinion, he has continued to show up on the very same days at 1:30pm for the CRD Board meeting where the critical and official votes took place AND where Leonard voted multiple times, including on the sewage project.
Leonard, by skipping these 102 meetings, missed all of the important morning discussion and debate and all of the public commentary and public concern and voted at the afternoon CRD Board meeting in the ABSENCE of this information.
Issues:
1. Leonard has avoided sitting and voting at the Core Area Liquid Waste Management Committee (CALWMC) which is only a standing committee that recommends actions for the CRD Board to take. Leonard has continually shown up for the official vote at the CRD Board on the same day and has voted on the majority of occasions involving sewage project decisions.
2. All sewage project procurement is being done by Seaterra Commission which is an arms-length body which insulates CRD Directors from conflict of interest having to do with the Seaterra project.
Even though the Seaterra Commission was established March 2013, Leonard continued to miss 22 out of 23 sewage committee meetings while he showed up at the CRD Board and voted on the very same sewage related items that were discussed at the sewage committee.
3. Leonard states that he told his colleagues that as a Trustee of the Municipal Pension Plan which has invested in Corix, a potential conflict of interest could exist. However, the arms-length Seaterra Commission that shortlists proponents and awards contracts on behalf of the CRD, insulates all Directors including Leonard and has not awarded any contracts to Corix to date.
4. Leonard is officially listed as an appointee of the sewage committee:
https://crd.bc.ca/ab...ement-committee
Leonard has not stepped down from this committee in any capacity. He has simply not shown up for meetings on 102 occasions yet he attend the Nov 28, 2013 meeting of the committee…
https://crd.bc.ca/ab...mittee/20131113
...raising the issue, what rule does Mayor Frank Leonard apply to determine when he should attend? Is Leonard simply selectively choosing which meetings to attend where no conflict exists and has no basis in law?
Leonard in the past 5 years has continued to show up at the 1:30pm CRD Board meeting to vote on numerous sewage committee recommendations. This fact is incongruous with Leonard’s own statements that he need to steer clear of any sewage related voting matters at CRD and is well documented in the official CRD Board meeting minutes.
5. On May 14, 2013 Leonard voted to increase the Seaterra budget by $5,221,200 at the CRD Board meeting but skipped the morning sewage committee meeting where the important discussion with staff took place.
Why isn’t Leonard attending both the sewage committee meeting and the CRD Board meetings to acquire the fulsome breadth of information that would be available to him ahead of this decision making? Leonard appears to have asked no questions of CRD Staff in the past 5 years.
6. Leonard’s claim in the Oct 22nd PLDCA video that his son’s engineering firm was in the “winning bid” is contradicted by his recent radio appearance stating to the effect that Worley Parsons is not involved in the winning Harbour Resources Partners bid on the now abandoned McLoughlin Plant.
7. Oak Bay Mayor Nils Jensen who has stated on the record that he accepts Mayor Frank Leonard’s explanation, has himself only attend 6 of the last 35 sewage committee meetings.
Video Footage:
Oct 22 Video from PLDCA Debate with Leonard’s “conflict of interest” statement:
http://youtu.be/hQtWKvjFe0c
Nov 28, 2013 Core Area Liquid Waste Management Committee Minutes showing Leonard in attendance:
https://crd.bc.ca/ab...mittee/20131113
May 14, 2013 CRD Board Meeting where Seaterra Budget was increased by $5,221,200 with Leonard in attendance and recording Leonard’s vote:
https://www.crd.bc.c...tboard/20140514
- 30 -
Media Contacts
Richard Atwell, Candidate for Mayor of Saanich
richard@RichardAtwell.com
250-415-6782 cell – 250-477-9707 home
STAY CONNECTED TO VIBRANTVICTORIA
WHAT'S HAPPENING ON CITIFIED VICTORIA
