The resignation of Councillor Barmeier, announced on December 9, 2022, has automatically triggered the need for a municipal by-election to be held sometime this year. Council has not yet announced a date for this event, but in a report in the Village Update, released on January 20, 2023, acting Chief Administrative Officer Anthony Tobin estimates an anticipated cost to the village of $30-$40,000.
Municipal by-elections are not a new phenomena to Lions Bay, with the last one called in 2017. An examination of the village's third quarter review that year, available as a part of the Council information package released at the November 7, 2017 shows that while both staff and outside consultants worked the election, the final costs came in at $10,000, which was $2,200 less than the amount budgeted. Council at the time attributed these cost savings to reduced training costs.
The most recent municipal election, held in October of last year, came in at $12,770, again lower than the anticipated $15,000 that was budgeted. According to the information package distributed with the minutes of the December 6, 2022 council meeting, this amount included funds earmarked for training and council orientation prior to the election.
The question arises why the current estimates for a 2023 by-election are coming in at triple the cost of the previous by-election, and more than double the cost of the most recent municipal election in 2022. The Watershed approached council members with the question, but as of this writing no response has been received.
Acting CAO Tobin's report notes that staff will be reviewing their resources and seeking volunteers to reduce these potential costs.
No doubt the newly promised transparency will soon reveal why the upcoming by-election to replace Norm will cost double the previous by-election.
Thanks for researching this kc. They just say stuff and expect us all to believe they are being truthful. Open and transparent? Really?