View Royal to increase council size by 2, despite close vote

This story was originally published in The Westshore newsletter, Feb. 3, 2022. 

View Royal voted in favour of increasing its council size by two people, or one councillor per 1,600 people. The vote passed 3 to 2. The bylaw still needs to be approved by the province and formally adopted by council, but Mayor Screech said the decision is as good as made, despite the close vote.

Screech told The Westshore in November that adding two more seats to the table will increase diversity of opinion.

“I think we need more voices at our table. We need diversity of opinion. I think we’re missing voices right now. It’s important as we’re governing View Royal to have more opinions that represent our growing community,” he said then, and his opinion hasn’t changed.

But adding seats is no guarantee of increasing diversity, rebutted Coun. John Rogers, who along with Coun. Ron Mattson voted against the increase.

“The three or four people I have heard from who are interested in running are people like me, white men. So we could end up with more of the same,” he said.

“We are not an overworked council,” said Mattson, in response to comments that the seats would spread out the workload.

At the least, council should wait until after deliberating the 2022 budget, which starts in the coming weeks, Rogers and Mattson said. Last year staff predicted an 8% increase in property taxes for 2022 even without this added expense. Two council salaries cost $44,300 annually, and a one-time renovation to town chambers is estimated to cost $50,000. View Royal has until April to get two more spots added for the Oct. 2022 municipal election.

Even better, Rogers and Mattson said, would be a referendum at the October election. They suggested in a motion on Tuesday night that if voters wanted to grow council, they could hold a by-election to elect two more people. The idea was defeated 3 to 2.

“I just find it totally unnecessary, that on the basis of not very much input from the public, we’re making a huge change,” Mattson said.

The majority of comments council did receive were opposed to the increase. Of the 27 letters and emails included in the meeting agendas from Nov. 16 to Feb. 1, 15 were opposed, 5 asked for a referendum, and 7 were in favour. (Repeat senders were counted once.)

The staff presentation to council at the Feb. 1 meeting suggested a referendum would have low turnout based on the ~25% voter turnout for View Royal’s past elections, and that voters tend to stick with the status quo when the issue isn’t well understood. Rogers said he found this insulting to the intelligence of voters, and has heard as much from a few people who contacted him after watching the meeting.

The Westshore asked Mayor Screech whether he would consider withdrawing from the 2022 election in order to open a spot for a new voice if the increase was rejected. He answered no, saying that first-time councillors don’t usually get the mayor’s spot, and his vacant seat wouldn’t contribute to a fresh voice.

All three of the long-running members of council, Screech, Rogers, and Mattson are planning to run again in October.