"Municipal election financing needs to be tightened up" - Vancouver Sun editorial Dec 4, 2009

Municipal election financing needs to be tightened up

VANCOUVER SUN DECEMBER 4, 2009

As municipal politicians go, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg remains in a class of his own. He reported last week that he spent $102 million US to eke out a narrow re-election victory, or $176 for every vote he received.

We don't know of any billionaires seeking municipal office in British Columbia, but if they did, there is no legal impediment to spending an equally ridiculous amount here.

In Canada, we recognize that money can undermine the democratic election process. We don't want anyone to be able to buy an election, so in federal and provincial campaigns, we have strict rules governing how campaigns are financed and how much can be spent.

At the municipal level, however, the rules are much looser and what rules there are have proven difficult to enforce.

This situation has remained despite the potential for corruption that exists as civic governments routinely make decisions affecting how land is used that can make or break local businesses. And dollars spent on municipal elections can be very efficient, given the low turnouts -- often less than 30 per cent.

Last week, Sun columnist Daphne Bramham detailed the somewhat bizarre situation in the Okanagan community of Summerland, where a group of city councillors admitted in a public meeting that they had accepted anonymous donations exceeding the legal limit in the form of newspaper ads that were purported to represent a group called Citizens for Smart Governance, which had not as required registered with the chief electoral officer.

It they were found guilty of such an offence, they could be removed from office, which Bramham points out would have left Summerland without a council.

This week, a local businessman Mark Ziebarth came forward and said he had taken out the ads. But his public acknowledgement doesn't mean election rules weren't violated.

What should matter is what was known by Elections B.C. during the election and what voters were able to find out about their choices before they cast their ballots.

Murky though all this is, what's even less clear is the question of whether any of this will ever be sorted out in court.

The province's position is that it is up to citizens to complain before any action is taken. Even when they do, frustration is often the primary outcome.

In two recent cases where there were allegations of electoral misdeeds in municipal campaigns, police investigated and recommended charges that Crown counsel declined to pursue. So where does that leave citizens who want a legally and fairly elected council? Concerned voters can file a lawsuit. That's not practical because it costs money. More importantly, it's the province's responsibility to ensure that local elections are fairly conducted because municipalities are creatures of the province.

Community Development Minister Bill Bennett accurately characterized the municipal arena as "a bit of the Wild West" compared to provincial and federal elections.

Premier Gordon Campbell, who as the former mayor of Vancouver is no stranger to municipal politics, promised in his speech to the Union of B.C. Municipalities at the end of September to appoint a committee to look into municipal campaign rules.

That committee, to be headed by Bennett and UBCM president Harry Nyce, is to report back by May 31. That committee has yet to be appointed and it is already on a tight timetable. It has to turn in its recommendations in time for legislation to be put in place before the next round of municipal elections, which will be held in November, 2011.

If the premier is serious about reform, and he should be, there must be no more delay.

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

http://www.vancouversun.com/opinion/Municipal+election+financing+needs+tightened/2301418/story.html

"Did Summerland Council really do anything wrong?" -Penticton Herald editorial Dec 4, 2009

Did Summerland Council really do anything wrong? Friday, December 4, 2009

When Barry Bonds broke Henry Aaron‘s home run record, Hammering Hank had very little to say. He didn‘t attend any of the games when Bonds was within reach of

baseball‘s hallowed record, unlike Lou Gehrig‘s family that was front and centre

during Cal Ripken Jr.‘s incredible run.

Was Henry Aaron a poor sport?

Absolutely not. Although he didn‘t say it publicly, the fact Bonds took performance enhancing drugs probably didn‘t go over well with Aaron, one of the classiest men in the history of professional sport.

It‘s the same way with those who failed in their bid to win a seat on Summerland Council. Supporters of the present council are dismissing these individuals as poor losers but we don‘t necessarily see it that way. Peter Waterman, who failed in a bid for the mayor‘s chair, has yet to make a statement to the press.

There were rules in place and it appears as though there were violations. This statement of claim was brought to the attention of the media by a top political scientist from Simon Fraser University, not losing candidates.

If the shoe were on the other foot, would these present councillors feel differently?

Completing an election expense form isn‘t that difficult. There are procedures to follow to ensure a fair election.

Mayor Janice Perrino and her council have since said that they were "advised" by the Chief Electoral Officer to write down donations for joint newspaper ads as "anonymous"

because they had no clue where the money came from.

If they were given poor advice, it doesn‘t matter. They still violated the act.

This is like a businessman going to his accountant, receiving inaccurate advice, and then breaking the law and being charged with money laundering. The businessman can‘t use the plea of "I was given poor advice".

Except for Ken Roberge, when The Herald questioned council at last month‘s meeting there was mostly silence. It was only after a Page 1 column in the Vancouver Sun that declarations have been made.

Where council members are wrong is that if they indeed were incapable of finding out who the Citizens for Smart Governance were, they should have immediately disassociated themselves with this group. It would have been as simple as placing a one-line disclaimer at the bottom of any election ad, a letter to the editor, a press conference or a statement at a candidate‘s meeting.

None of this was done and this was council‘s major mistake.

(By comparison, ex-Penticton Mayor Dorothy Tinning assured citizens that she was not part of the Penticton League of Sensible Electors or the Okanagan Skaha Residents Association in a letter to the editor in The Herald when

former Penticton mayors were mentioned in

literature regarding the demolition of the

Pen-Hi auditorium.)

There are still unanswered questions.

How did each councillor know what one-seventh of an advertisement would cost? Newspaper and radio ads vary in price based on several factors, size being one.

A prominent businessman has recently come forward to take responsibility for the Citizens of Smart Governance stating he acted alone. Yet under questioning at a meeting last month, Coun. Gordon Clark admitted that he was part of this group.

Did Summerland Council really do anything

awful? That‘s for the voters to decide.

Some believe their sloppy work was unintentional and at the very worse, careless. Others feel if they broke election rules, it‘s like jaywalking, after all, the vote count was decisive.

Something to consider is that council is in control of millions of dollars of taxpayers‘

money - your money. If individual members were careless on election declarations and

accepted inaccurate advice, do we really want them guiding the ship?

It‘s ironic that the Canadian government has committed billions of dollars to send troops to Afghanistan, in part, to help their country run a fair election when in British Columbia our

system is still far from perfect.

-James M. Miller, managing editor

http://www.pentictonherald.ca/stories.php?i=228630&a=41745&d=12445&k=432793090a3363954e7965eb36bf2212

"How would others have handled Summerland Situation?" - Penticton Herald Dec 4, 2009

How would others have handled Summerland situation? By SUSAN McIVER/Special to The Herald Friday, December 4, 2009

Penticton’s chief electoral officer said that when unique situations arise in municipal elections she recommends to candidates they seek legal advice.

“I would suggest that if the candidate has any concerns, that they seek legal advice,” Cathy Ingram said in response to a question about what she would do if candidates inquired after an election about how to handle anonymous newspaper advertisements.

“As the electoral officer and a city employee, I am not in a position to give advice because I should be impartial. If a candidate is concerned, I am not the person they should seek advice from.”

The municipal elections section of the Local Government Act is presently under scrutiny in nearby Summerland after the mayor and successful candidates declared receipt of donations totalling thousands of dollars for newspaper advertisement, cards and flyers from anonymous sources.

It is illegal for a candidate to accept an anonymous donation over $50.

A front page opinion piece in last Friday‘s Vancouver Sun suggested Summerland council has no legitimacy because of illegal donations quoting a political scientist at Simon Fraser University, one of the province’s leading authorities on the subject.

An earlier article in the Penticton Herald which reported on questions raised by Herald managing editor James Miller at Summerland council also revealed that the mayor and councillors had declared cash transactions as in-kind donations and had exceeded the $50 limit for each anonymous donation.

A press release from the District of Summerland on Monday stated “In an effort to be open, honest and transparent, and on the advice of the chief election officer, council members included acknowledgment of ads placed by an anonymous party in their campaign financing disclosure statements for the 2008 local government elections.”

Perrino and Coun. Bruce Hallquist have both been quoted stating they followed the advice of the chief electoral officer in Summerland with respect to their financial statements.

Summerland‘s chief electoral officer, Gillian Matthews, had previously acknowledged in an interview with the Herald that she advised members of the current council on their election expenses declaration.

“A number of candidates asked me what to do about anonymous contributions,” she said.

Matthews said she advised the candidates to acknowledge receipt of these donations on their campaign financial disclosure statements because they had derived benefit from them.

Kelowna‘s chief electoral officer, Stephen Fleming said that he provides candidates with information packages that typically contain copies of relevant legislation, the provincial guide to candidates seeking municipal office and information on where candidates can find additional information such as the provincial website.

Fleming did not want to give a speculative answer as to what he might do in such a situation as Matthews found herself.

In general, however, he did say “We don‘t get into interpretation. We do not provide advice in any detail.”

Jeannette Van Vianen, chief electoral officer for Osoyoos, who said she was uncomfortable discussing the topic with a reporter, did say that candidates have three options with regard to questions.

These are contacting their chief electoral officer or the Ministry of Community Services or seeking their own legal advice.

“At certain times we (electoral officers) can give them (candidates) information from the Local

Government Act. How they interpret it is up to them,” she said.

http://www.pentictonherald.ca/stories.php?i=228591

"Ensuring Fair Elections" - Summerland Review Dec 3, 2009

Ensuring Fair Elections - editorial - Summerland Review December 3, 2009

The act governing municipal elections in British Columbia is badly in need of an overhaul.

In recent weeks, members of Summerland’s present council have come under criticism for a series of advertisements which ran during last year’s campaign.

Each of the seven people endorsed in the series of ads is now serving on council.

But those ads were placed by a third party and were not authorized by the candidates.

If the ads had not been placed anonymously, there would not be an issue now, but the anonymity has led to the questions.

Those responsible for the ads did not intend to do anything to harm or discredit the candidates named.

However, the recent controversy raises the need for changes to the election act.

Under the present system, there is nothing stopping an individual or an organization from anonymously placing an ad on behalf of a candidate.

Even if such ads are placed with the best and most noble of intentions, there are potential problems, as we are witnessing now.

Two small changes to elections legislation could prevent a similar situation from occurring in the future.

First, if each election ad, whether a candidate’s personal advertisement or a third-party ad, were to include the name of the individual or organization paying for it, this particular problem could not arise again.

Second, and more importantly, the elections act needs to have some teeth.

Nobody is responsible for enforcing the elections act. Unless members of the public take their complaints through the legal system, there is no way to deal with violations.

This has to change.

The present elections act falls short if there are no provisions for enforcement.

It is important to have transparency in order to ensure elections are fair.

http://www.bclocalnews.com/okanagan_similkameen/summerlandreview/opinion/78377007.html

Advertiser sheds light on "anonymous donations" - Penticton Western News

Advertiser sheds light on "anonymous donations" by Steve Kidd - Penticton Western News December 01, 2009

Allegations about financial irregularities in the campaign financing of all seven members of Summerland council have been laid to rest thanks to a businessman coming forward to take responsibility for the series of ads at the centre of the controversy.

The six councillors and mayor have been under fire since their Nov. 9 meeting, when Penticton Herald editor James Miller called into question anonymous in-kind donations declared by each successful candidate in excess of the $50 limit set out in the municipal elections act.

Miller’s allegations of discrepancies in the candidates’ campaign finances rest upon a series of ads run by the Citizens for Smart Governance, particularly one that ran on Nov. 14, 2008, endorsing Mayor Janice Perrino, along with other candidates, for council.

“Last October and November, I wrote and paid for four advertisements to run in the Summerland Review and one to run in the Penticton Herald,” said Mark Ziebarth in an open letter to all media outlets. The Citizens for Smart Governance, he continued, was not a “shadowy group” it was just him having fun by running the ads under a fictional banner.

“Miller clearly didn’t do much, if any, investigative digging on this topic, and compounded this failure by getting his facts wrong,” said Ziebarth. “All he had to do was walk down the hall from his own desk at the Herald offices in Penticton and ask his publisher who paid for the ad that ran in his own paper on Nov. 14, 2008. He would have found out that that person was me.”

The Herald ran a succession of articles on the topic, including an editorial in which Miller wrote “The whole slate thing stunk.”

Ziebarth contends that there was no “slate,” just his personal recommendations for mayor and council.

“Miller has launched a series of personal, ad hominem attacks on Summerland’s duly elected mayor and council, attacks based on incorrect facts and improper assumptions, and inflamed by a collection of gullible media partners — including CBC Radio’s As It Happens — willing to pass along Miller’s bile without bothering to check into the facts of the matter themselves,” said Ziebarth, a part owner of Bongarde Media.

The Vancouver Sun, in a front-page opinion piece by Daphne Bramham, went so far as to declare Summerland council illegitimate.

“They all ran down the same rabbit hole without stopping to look,” said Ziebarth. While he was mentioned in two Herald articles, Ziebarth said he was never contacted by anyone at the paper.

“I think the Herald is being too virtuous by a factor of a thousand,” said Coun. Gordon Clark, who was acting mayor when Miller confronted council about the disclosure statements. Mayor Perrino was on sick leave at the time, recovering from minor surgery.

Clark explains, that in a “super-abundance of caution,” the seven successful candidates decided to each declare a portion of the estimated cost of the Herald ad.

“We all determined that the careful thing to do would be to disclose the notional costs of what we thought those advertising expenses were by this group called the Concerned Citizens for Smart Governance,” said Clark.

Summerland’s municipal clerk, Gillian Matthews — who was the returning officer for the 2008 election — confirms this is what happened, and that the candidates were acting on her recommendation.

“They were all aware of them (the ads) and they wanted to acknowledge them in the interests of being open and transparent,” said Matthews, adding that since they weren’t involved in the placing of ads, they needn’t have acknowledged them at all.

Adding to the confusion is another group of ads that ran in the Summerland Review, endorsing a slate of candidates. These, however, were not run by Ziebarth, but by an ad hoc group of citizens, with 90 names listed at the bottom of the ad in one case and 250 on a second run of the ad.

“There was another group in Summerland that ran ads,” Ziebarth said. “They collected money from dozens of people to run those ads, and they ran some of their names at the bottom of the ad. I have a feeling Miller mixed up his facts with his wishes.”

“Citizens for Smart Governance is just me,” he said. “I did it just to poke fun at the groups calling themselves the smart growth people, and had great fun with it. And I’m still having fun with it.”

http://www.bclocalnews.com/okanagan_similkameen/pentictonwesternnews/news/78278942.html

Who is Good Governance - Penticton Herald Dec 02/09

Who is Good Governance? Wednesday, December 2, 2009

By Susan McIver

Special to the Herald

Summerland resident Mark Ziebarth has stepped forward to claim responsibility for sponsoring ads which have been at the heart of the controversy over campaign financing in the 2008 Summerland municipal elections.

Mayor Janice Perrino had announced in a radio interview on Monday morning that someone had come forward on Saturday.

The identity of Ziebarth was made public later in the day in an on-line edition of a local newspaper.

Ziebarth was behind the Citizens for Smart Governance ads which ran in local newspapers for several weeks before the election in support of the current mayor and councillors.

A front-page opinion piece in Friday‘s Vancouver Sun suggested Summerland council has no legitimacy because of illegal donations, quoting a political scientist at Simon Fraser University.

The opinion is based on the Local Government Act which says that it is illegal for candidates to take anonymous donations of more than $50.

The mayor and five of the six stated in their financial disclosures that they took donations for newspaper ads, card and flyers from anonymous sources that exceeded the legal threshold.

Coun. Sam Elia reported a cash contribution from Ziebarth for the same amount on the same day as his colleagues stated they had received an anonymous donation for a newspaper ad that ran on Nov. 14.

It is also illegal to give anonymous donations of more than $50.

A press release Tuesday included the statement, "In an effort to be open, honest and transparent, and on the advice of the chief election officer, council members included acknowledgement of ads place by an anonymous party in their campaign financing disclosure statements for the 2008 local government elections."

During the several week course of the anonymous ads the mayor and councillors did not, as far as is known, publicly disassociate themselves from the ads.

"I chose to run an independent expenditure campaign," Ziebarth told the Summerland Review‘s online service.

Ziebarth also said that he wanted to present his own message without having it pass through a candidate‘s advertising campaign.

He claims that because he paid for the ads himself and did not accept campaign contributions from other people he was not required to register as a campaign organizer.

"Citizens for Smart Governance didn‘t illegally fund the municipal elections. Citizens for Smart Governance didn‘t solicit or accept funds from third-parties to advance a specific agenda or candidate and Citizens for Smart Governance wasn‘t required to register by the Local Government Act," Ziebarth is quoted as saying in the online article.

Regardless of whether Ziebarth‘s interpretation of the act is correct, the fact remains that thousands of dollars were spent in the 2008 municipal elections by an unknown source to influence the outcome.

The anonymity of the source of the ads, not Ziebarth‘s right to promote his own opinion, remains the issue.

The campaign financing section of the candidate‘s guide to local elections states "Campaign financing disclosure rules were introduced to provide British Columbians with more information as to who is financially supporting each candidate, and how much candidates in local elections spend in the pursuit of elected office".

While Ziebarth says he is solely responsible for payment of the ads, a group calling itself Citizens for Smart Governance existed as admitted by acting mayor Gordon Clark when questioned by James Miller at a council meeting in early November.

"I identified myself with that group, as did a number of others, to take a position during the election," Clark said when Miller asked about his standing with the group.

Ziebarth did not reveal his motivation for keeping his financial backing of the group a secret until the past few days.

A 2008 amendment to the Local Government Act requiring that any person or group spending $500 or more is legally required to register with the chief electoral officer a either a campaign organizer or an elector organization has been the focus of a series of articles about municipal elections in the Vancouver Sun.

Gillian Matthews, Summerland‘s chief electoral officer and corporate officer, confirmed this requirement in an interview early last week.

Matthews is subsequently quoted as saying that Ziebarth does not fall under the category of an organization or under the category of an individual running a campaign and collecting donations.

Perrino declared a donation of $250 from Bongarde Media on Nov. 5, 2009.

Ziebarth became owner of Bongarde in 2003. He won the Business Leader of the Year Award in 2008, the highest honoured presented by the Penticton and Wine Country Chamber of Commerce.

http://www.pentictonherald.ca/stories.php?i=228124&a=41745&d=12445&k=ee88173b868ce5442b6fde243fa11c2c

Summerland council issues press release

Summerland council issues press release

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Summerland Council issued a press release to area media outlets, late Monday afternoon in reference to allegations that council broke the law. Earlier in the day, council had an in-camera session. The following is the release in its entirety:

Erroneous Media Reports Regarding Campaign Financing Disclosures

Recent media reports have suggested that the council of the District of Summerland may lack validity due to alleged wrongdoings by current Council members with respect to their disclosures of campaign contributions.

Contrary to media reports, no council member has done anything that would result in their disqualification with respect to the filling of their campaign financing disclosure.

In an effort to be open, honest and transparent, and on the advice of the Chief Election Officer, Council members included acknowledgment of ads placed by an anonymous party in their campaign financing disclosure statements for the 2008 Local Government Elections. Legally, there was no requirement to do so. Council members advise that these anonymous ads were placed by a third party without their knowledge, involvement, or consent.

The purpose of this release is to clarify that regardless of careless and erroneous media reports, the members of Council have done nothing wrong and as such, the Council continues to be a legitimate body duly elected to govern the District of Summerland. No Council member has done anything that would result in their disqualification - the two reasons for disqualification under the Local Government Act being:

1. Failure to file the required disclosure (all were filed on time)

2. Filing a false disclosure (which is subject to a provision that a person is not disqualified if they exercised due diligence to ensure that the applicable requirements of the legislation were met.)

The District will be contacting media outlets which have reported erroneous information and will be asking that they provide clarification to the public in this regard. Council members invite any members of the press to contact them directly with regard to their individual disclosures.

For more information, contact Gillian Matthews, Corporate Officer, 250 494-6451

+++

Printed on page 4 of the December 1, 2009 Penticton Herald

http://www.pentictonherald.ca/stories.php?i=227868&a=41745&d=12445&k=b21995d84fc92abb7e66961ab7dbf1c4