Victoria mayor Dean Fortin has taken the prominent downtown/Harris Green Liaison portfolio away from councillor Charlayne Thornton-Joe and has given it to rookie councillor John Luton.

Councilor Charlayne Thornton-Joe (left) listens as pub owner Bonnie Bradley speaks at an August 26 Council meeting. Photo by Robert Randall © VibrantVictoria.ca.

Thornton-Joe, the top vote getter in the 2008 civic election, has held the portfolio since first being elected in 2002. She also has the neighbouring Burnside/Gorge portfolio and will remain council’s representative to that district. Luton currently is liaison to the Victoria West neighbourhood.

As council Liaison to Downtown and Harris Green, Thornton-Joe was involved in many challenging downtown issues from graffiti to mental health, addictions and homelessness. She also served as council’s representative to the Downtown Residents’ Association and the Burnside-Gorge Community Association and served as city council representative at board meetings for both organizations.

The switch is believed to be motivated in part by the recommendations in 2008’s Cuff Report on Governance which called for more rotation of duties among councillors. Report author George Cuff believes this levels the playing field by preventing councillors from dominating a particular issue or becoming entrenched in a closely-guarded portfolio.

This is not the first time in recent memory a prominent portfolio was yanked from a councillor. In 2005, former Mayor Alan Lowe took away the prestigious planning portfolio from from a stunned councillor Pam Madoff. Lowe handed the plum appointment to then-councillor Bea Holland, who Lowe was quoted at the time saying was more “staff friendly”.

Thornton-Joe says that while unexpected, she accepts the Mayor’s decision and looks forward to continuing to serve the Burnside-Gorge neighbourhood. This area is expected to see an increase in urban issues this fall when the new Streetlink shelter on Ellice Street opens and the View Street Bottle Depot relocates to Queens Street.

VibrantVictoria’s discussion forum features a thread devoted to the Cuff Report. A thread featuring Mayor and Council goals for this term can be found here.

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