White Rock city council approved its deputy-mayor rotation list this week, with one councillor noticeably absent from the list and no public explanation on the matter from the mayor.
Coun. David Chesney was the only member of council not included on the rotation list tabled at Monday’s city council meeting. And though he wasn’t addressed by name during open discussions of the list, a fellow councillor expressed disappointment and did not support its approval.
“I think that all members of council deserve the right to have the deputy-mayor rotation,” Coun. Helen Fathers said. “I think it’s unfair to say the least, and I will not be supporting it.”
Fathers was interrupted by Mayor Wayne Baldwin, who warned the discussions on the deputy-mayor list were made in-camera, and not to be further discussed in public.
Chesney later told Peace Arch News he could not comment about why he wasn’t on the list because discussions were behind closed doors.
“I’m not very happy,” Chesney said, noting he was also not appointed to any committees. “I would very much like to have had the opportunity to act as deputy mayor.”
Typically, the mayor submits a list of committee appointments and deputy-mayor rotations for council’s approval.
Reached for comment Wednesday, Baldwin told PAN “it would violate my oath” to explain why Chesney was kept off the list.
“I’m afraid I can’t,” he said. “It’s an in-camera matter.”
Asked how many in-camera meetings council has held so far this term; Baldwin said he did not know but, pressed, offered a ballpark figure of “three or four, something like that.”
Asked what section of the Community Charter deputy-mayor discussions would fall under, Baldwin deferred to city clerk Tracey Arthur.
Arthur responded via email that the section that applied to the discussions on the topic was “(a) personal information about an identifiable individual who holds or is being considered for a position as an officer, employee or agent of the municipality or another position appointed by the municipality.”
Arthur confirmed that since the start of the term there were two in-camera meetings in December 2014 and eight so far in 2015.