By Roy L Hales
Cortes Island’s silliest lawsuit is finally over. Lawyers for the plaintiffs and defendant submitted a joint statement to the court. Judge R.A. Skolrood agreed: there is no factual basis for the legal petition that 14 Cortes residents filed against Regional Director Noba Anderson last January and no conflict of interest.
Continue reading No Conflict of Interest(CKTZ Broadcast 5 – 6:30 PM Sat, June 8 & Sunday 9:30-11 AM)
By De Clarke
SRD sent four representatives to Cortes island by water taxi on June 6th to conduct a community consultation meeting on two tax service referenda: the long-delayed and controversial hall tax, and the first-responders training tax. Present at the meeting from SRD were: Chair Michele Babchuk, CAO David Leitch, Tom Yates (Senior Manager), and Aniko Nelson [Parks and Planning Manager]. Present at the meeting from Cortes were approximately 80 community members.
Continue reading Cortes Community Consultation Meeting On Tax Service ReferendaOriginally published May 24; some additional information added May 30
By Roy L Hales
The Electoral Area Service Committee (EASC) continues to thwart Cortes Island’s Grants in Aid from going forward. At their May 8th committee meeting, three of the four EASC Directors (Abram, Leigh & Whalley) did not acknowledge the Cortes applications, in an obviously concerted attempt to prevent the applications from reaching the Stathcona Regional District Board. At the May 22nd Board Meeting, the remaining EASC Director (Noba Anderson from Cortes Island) made a motion for the SRD board to receive the applications. Quadra Island Director Jim Abram responded with a motion to defer the matter. This was secounded by Oyster Bay – Buttle Lake Director Brenda Leigh. They were defeated. This prompted Directors Abram and Leigh to recuse themselves “due to legal ramifications.” After the board approved receipt of the applications, the Cortes Island Grant-in-Aid debate moved in camera.
Continue reading Cortes Island Grant-in-Aid Debate Moved In CameraBy Roy L Hales
After waiting for almost seven weeks, I just received notice that the waiting period for a freedom of information (FOI) request I made has been extended to 60 days. My first thought was what is the Strathcona Regional District (SRD) hiding? This arose from my ignorance. At the SRD Board meeting, I heard a different perspective on why FOI requests are so time consuming.
Continue reading Revised: Why FOI Requests Are SO Time consuming
