No Conflict of Interest At P.G. City Council

By 250 News

City Council Chambers  packed during last night's public hearing  about  Friendship Lodge rezoning appplication

Prince George, B.C. –Councillors and the Mayor of Prince George say they are not in any conflict of interest when it comes to  dealing with an application to rezone a piece of property for transitional housing for the homeless.

During last evening’s public hearing on the rezoning application for friendship Lodge (see previous story)  allegations were made that Councillors Debora Munoz, Don Zurowski , Murry Krause, and Mayor Colin Kinsley were in conflict because of their  involvement with  other  entities  they  had ties to.

While Mayor Kinsley said the allegations were serious, he did not want to deal with them during  the  public hearing.  When the hearing closed, he and the Councillors responded to the allegations. 

Here is a full transcript of their comments:

Councillor Don Zurowski:   It was presented that I may be in conflict of interest because I am the Chair of the Hospital District for the Northern Health Authority.  I am not.  I am in fact the Chair of the Hospital District for the Regional District of Fraser Fort George and it plays a management role of the investment made through land based taxation, in partnering to cause capital investment with Northern Health in this region but there is no reporting influence from us to them simply in the fact that I am managing and playing a role representing the ratepayers of this region to make certain they get value.  Its part of my job as a Councillor, and as a Director with the Regional District of Fraser Fort George.

The other point that was made about conflict of interest is that my wife, of 27 or 8 years, I should know that, 28 years, is an administrative and clerical employee of B.C. Housing.  She is not a strategic employee, and her employment there is not at risk regardless as to which way I vote on this issue.  That is not her role with B.C. Housing and I clearly disclosed that at first and second reading, and I could have done as some of my Council colleagues could do, I could have chosen to leave Council Chambers.  This is a  difficult decision and the community is divided.  The easy thing to do is to leave Council Chambers, but I am doing what I was elected to do and  I am  going  to sit here and make the difficult decision  that’s in front of us when we meet next.  I make no apologies for that, it’s the job I was duly elected to do and I will do it on December 3^rd.

Councillor Deborah Munoz: Northern Health is my employer and I also sit on  the Committee for Community Partners Against Homelessness.   I have never once  thought that I was in a conflict on any health issue that has come before our community..I was  elected to consider the health and well being of  everybody in the community and in now way am I  gaining  any personal or pecuniary  interest from any of the work that I did that’s near and dear to my heart, that’s why I ran  in the first place.  So I feel  strongly about  doing  what  I was elected  to do, and that was to represent the entire community of Prince George, and in no way am I going to step down because there are many issues  that are  health related that come before local government and I would have to step out more than I am here.  On that note I will continue to do what I was elected to do, and carry on.

Councillor Murry Krause:   I saw that list of things I was involved with in the community and I thought that was one hell of a resume of community involvement, and I’m sure not going to apologize for it.  I’ve been doing this kind of work for 30 years and I am not going to stop doing it now because I am a City Councillor.  I will continue to do it because all of us are looking for solutions to make our community better.  I will not stop, I will  not excuse myself from any process, I will be here at the table to  vote and debate this issue on December  3^rd,  I will not apologize.

Mayor Colin Kinsley:  I am on the Premier’s Task Force for Homeless, Addictions and Mental Illness and I’m proud of it.  I’m very proud that our Premier recognized that we had an issue in Northern British Columbia,   was placed there to represent Prince George and our region I went there  with a very good argument, with the help of Councillor Krause, Councillor Dezell, our Staff and  28 service agencies in this City, we received instant money for five beds for youth, we received  money for cold and wet weather strategy that took  people out of the cold, we had warm blankets, we had mitts. We had sock, I’m not apologizing for that,  We got  I think 4 million bucks  for a project that  would address some of the homelessness issues, and I’m certainly not apologizing for that.  In fact, I’m quite pleased our wishes were granted, at least partial, we have a long ways to go as has been mentioned tonight. 

On the New Hope Situation near the Italian recovery situation that’s a very very unique idea and worth a lot of attention and the champion for that is Lorne Mayencourt from Vancouver, we have been friends for some time, we actually share a passion for fast cars.  He asked me to be a local champion and to do some work with my Regional District friends and see if this is something that would be welcomed in this region and I indicated I would be a Champ.  I  don’t sit on the board of directors, I’ve given opening remarks at a couple of events  that we’ve held  here to show my personal support and by extension the involvement of this Council  on making a further decision on the level of support they would like to offer.  And all of the things we do to make  our communities better, we often get into these accusations of conflict of interest, and as has been pointed out   we collectively are involved in  so many issues, that we wouldn’t be able to conduct the business of this City  and so its unfortunate that happened.  That takes care of us, but I am very concerned about the accusations about our staff.  They are professional, exhibit integrity and commitment to this community each and every day regardless of the proposal before them and there is a lot of misinformation there, there is no conspiracy.  I’ve been elected to this Council  since 1984, I’ve been your Mayor, this is my 12^th year, I worked with many staff  members over those 20 plus years, and I can tell you they  are the best… 

…….This is not the first time the community has been divided on an issue, like Moxie’s  Restaurant, my god, Moxie’s Restaurant, the town’s gone to Hell in  a hand basket.   These are the things we deal with. We are professionals.  We sit here and take the input and we make a decision based on  what we think is the best for the community,  There is no conspiracy, just heart and soul looking at  an issue, and there are going to be  people who agree with you and some who don’t.

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