ROTHENBURGER – By-election to fill the mayor’s chair is just crazy talk
EXCUSE the locker-room talk but this idea of holding a mayoral by-election is just nuts.
Here’s how the chain of events plays out, in simplified form. When the writ is dropped 28 days before Voting Day next May, Mayor Peter Milobar takes a leave so he can run full-time as a BC Liberal candidate (instead of what he’s currently doing, which is sort of half and half).
If he’s elected as an MLA on May 9, he then resigns as mayor. A mayorless Kamloops must decide what to do.
mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.
…You say, “(T)o go for the mayor’s job….” -Who will/should it be?
This is what I say, ” ‘Gopher.’ -The Mayor’s Job.” -The Real Emphasis of Being Mayor Temporarily. {Go for this; go for that, but yet don’t ever make a real decision in the mid-option mayor chair…Ever!}
:And yet perhaps this is more reasonable a position to advance in terms of the timetable: Gopher.
(Who should run? Who will run? And, ‘If Kevin becomes a viable option to Arjun in becoming grand pooba for awhile.)
-Side Issue: Why is Kevin K. looking for more pension money anyways? (…?)
No byelection and dropping from eight to six councilors is a good and much rehearsed proposal.
Hopefully the word gets around and the aforementioned course of action builds momentum.
The notion of most of those people on council holding the position of Mayor even on an interim basis is horrifying. I would argue that there are a number of the 8 people who are absolutely not capable of it, including and especially Tina Lange!!
I agree completely with your synopsis. The idea of spending a whack of cash for a bi-election for an 18 (or 15) month period is ludicrous. We would survive for that period of time with even with the good Mr. Cavers in the center chair.
The bigger problem that bugs me were all the calls for Peter to step aside even before he received the nomination to run. We have rules regarding such steps and it is razor clear that he can take a leave once the writ is dropped, and any future steps dont need to be made until election day. If he doesn’t earn the MLA seat, no harm – no foul, he continues as Mayor. We do not want our leaders to have to risk unemployment, simply because they want to answer a higher calling to serve. Who would try?
The most common ladder to politics is School board or other, then Municipal, then Provincial, then Federal.
We as the served would suffer if we remove rungs from the ladder, that supplies the best to public office.