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Nanaimo coun. Fuller tabbed for RDN board seat following ‘unhealthy’ debate

Apr 25, 2017 | 1:18 PM

NANAIMO — Terms like buffoonery and petty politics were tossed around Monday night as Nanaimo councillors sparred over a typically routine appointment to the regional board of directors.

Nanaimo coun. Gord Fuller was appointed as the City’s representative on the Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) board by a 5-3 vote. Fuller fills the seat vacated following Wendy Pratt’s resignation.

Councillors Fuller and Diane Brennan, who had both been the City’s alternate representatives on the RDN board, were nominated for the vacant seat. Mayor Bill McKay proposed each candidate be given a minute to offer a speech on their merits.

Coun. Jim Kipp quickly admonished the mayor, saying the speeches would be out of line with protocol and had never been done before.

“I don’t know who they’d be talking to, we all know them…I don’t know what this is about. It’s really, really ridiculous to me that we’re sitting here for 20 minutes doing this buffoonery and it’s for the crowd, it’s not our city business.”

Kipp continued, saying he had “grave concerns” with the mayor making the issue so political.

“You’re making petty politics out of an issue that’s usually simply cut and dry…We’ve been 25 minutes on an issue where we rarely even talk about the RDN…I find this process here right now very flawed, very prescribed and during this time of hectic chaos I find it very disappointing.”

The City’s policy on RDN appointments states “selection of members of Council shall be considered on a combination of experience and voter confidence.”

Fuller earned 156 more votes than Brennan in the 2014 election. While the policy does not define what experience is applicable, Brennan served six years on the RDN board, three as deputy chair. Fuller has only sat at that board table as an alternate.

Several councillors expressed a need to follow the policy, including Bill Bestwick, who called the public debate over the appointment “unhealthy.”

“It’s really a difficult situation to vote for or against a colleague,” Bestwick said. “The policies are there to keep ourselves protected…from having to get into this highly politicized, heavily sensitive supporting or not supporting a member of council.”

However, coun. Ian Thorpe, who nominated and voted for Brennan, called the criteria of experience and voter confidence “rather subjective.”

“One person has an edge in voter confidence in terms of votes at the last election, another person has an edge in experience…I think in fairness we have to consider that, I don’t think it is cut and dried,” Thorpe said.

Coun. Brennan told NanaimoNewsNOW she believed she was the more qualified person for the post.

“I don’t think it’s any secret there’s a lot of conflict and animosity directed towards me by the men on city council. You don’t find that at the RDN, I can tell you that. I think the decision was made based on myself and my gender.”

She contended Fuller’s voter confidence had been eroded since 2014, pointing to his support for the events centre which was rejected by 80 per cent of those who cast a ballot. Brennan said she was not being rewarded because she had failed to “play the game” at the council table.

Fuller meanwhile said he’s excited to take on the position. He questioned why Brennan made an issue over the appointment now and not over the last two years when several other councillors with less experience were chosen ahead of her. He said he has a wide range of experience through his years of community work.

“So when she talks about having more experience, that’s simply RDN experience…and the policy does not discriminate that it must be RDN. So why is it happening now? I think it’s personal,” Fuller said.

According to the RDN, Nanaimo councillors earn a little more than $14,000 annually for sitting on the regional board. Nanaimo’s appointments are reviewed annually, typically in October or November.

 

dominic.abassi@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @domabassi