2017 BY-ELECTION INFORMATION AND APPOINTMENT OF CHIEF ELECTION AND DEPUTY CHIEF ELECTION OFFICERS

Council Report

TO: Council DATE: August 31, 2017 FROM: Sarah Jones, Director of Corporate Administration MEETING: September 5, 2017

2017 BY-ELECTION INFORMATION AND APPOINTMENT OF CHIEF ELECTION AND DEPUTY CHIEF ELECTION OFFICERS

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT, pursuant to Section 58(1) and (2) of the Local Government Act, Kenneth Lyle Schaalje be appointed Chief Election Officer for conducting the 2017 by-election with power to appoint other election officials as required for the administration and conduct of the 2017 by-election;

AND THAT Marion Bernice Villines and Elena Bertina Bolster be appointed Deputy Chief Election Officers for the 2017 by-election;

AND FURTHER THAT all 2017 by-election voting be held at View Royal Town Hall Council Chambers.

CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER’S COMMENTS:

I concur with the recommendation.

PURPOSE OF REPORT:

To present information regarding the resignation of a Councillor and associated by-election requirements and to also obtain a Council resolution for the appointment of a Chief Election and Deputy Chief Election Officers.

TIME CRITICAL:

Given the timing of the resignation, Section 54 of the Local Government Act states that a by-election must be held to fill a vacancy in an elected local government office should a person holding the office resign.

Also, in addition to Council responsibilities, the departing Councilor’s various committee positions – such as representative to the Community Development Advisory Committee, Capital Regional District Climate Action Steering Committee, Community Policing Advisory Committee, Police Building Liaison Committee and as a Director on the Capital Region Emergency Services Telecom Board (CREST) – should be filled in a timely manner to ensure continuity.

BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION:

Effective September 1, 2017, Councillor Heidi Rast has resigned from her role as a Councillor with the Town of View Royal due to relocation to Prince Edward Island.

Section 54 of the Local Government Act sets out the list of circumstances that trigger a by-election which includes, in Section 54 (d), the resignation of a person holding office. The legislation goes on to describe that the local government must “as soon as practicable after a vacancy occurs” (Section 54 (4)) appoint a chief election officer to administer the election.

Once a Chief Election Officer (CEO) has been appointed, the CEO is to set a date for the by-election to be held no later than eighty days after the CEO’s appointment and the date must be on a Saturday (Section 54 (5)). It is suggested that general voting day be held on Saturday, November 18, 2017 – this date not only is within the eighty day legislated deadline, but also facilitates the timelines required for newspaper notifications, ballot printing, programming of the vote counting machine, hiring of election day staff, training of election day staff, etc.

Recently, general voting day has been held at both View Royal Elementary School and Eagle View Elementary School with advance voting held for two days at View Royal Town Hall Council Chambers. As voter turnout for a by-election is typically lower than for a general election, it is suggested that all voting (both advance and general) be held at View Royal Town Hall Council Chambers. This option would serve to mitigate election costs – negating the need to rent outside facilities, hire two sets of election day staff, and rent additional vote counting machines. Costs are an important consideration as funds were not allocated in the 2017 budget and, unlike in other general local government elections, none of the estimated $25,000 election costs will be shared with School District No. 61 or other municipalities (some advertising costs are shared with other municipalities for general elections). Regardless of the decision made regarding voting locations, these will be clearly communicated in the newspaper notices as well as on the Town’s website.

Using November 18 as the general voting day, the first Notice of Nomination can be placed in the Goldstream Gazette on Wednesday, September 13, 2017; nomination packages will also be made available on this date for those wishing to run as candidates. The Nomination Period can begin at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, October 3, 2017 and run until 4:00 p.m. on Friday, October 13, 2017.

Again, using the proposed November 18 general voting day and in keeping with the Town’s “Automated Vote Counting System Authorization and Procedure Bylaw No.480, 2002“, advance voting can be held on Wednesday, November 8 and November 15.

Advance voting days and general voting day information will be made available on the Town’s website as well as general election information for both candidates and voters (including who can vote, accepted voter identification, non-resident elector voting). Upon the close of the nomination period, links to candidates’ nomination documents, contact information and social media sites will also be placed on the Town’s website.

As outlined in Section 58 of the Local Government Act, Council must appoint the CEO and the Deputy CEO by resolution. The persons proposed include Ken Schaalje, Marion Villines and Elena Bolster. These three have worked together successfully for the Town’s previous general municipal elections as well as for other voting opportunities. Feedback received by the Town from residents was positive with comments that described the warmth, professionalism and efficiency of the proceedings with this team. Further information on these individuals is as follows:

• Ken Schaalje has considerable experience in conduct of elections, including participation as the Town’s Chief Election Officer for the 2011 and 2014 municipal elections and the 2012 assent of electors; and as the Deputy CEO for the Town in the 2008 election; and
• Marion Villines and Elena Bolster have both served as Deputy Chief Election Officers for the Town in 2011, 2012 and 2014. E. Bolster’s regular position as Deputy Clerk for the Town is useful to the proposed Deputy Chief Election Officer work as she is able to utilize the municipality’s computer network and is able to readily access other local government resources and knowledge to ensure a smooth election process.

BUDGET IMPLICATIONS:

The 2017 budget does not include a provision for a by-election. The 2014 election budget was $25,000 with costs coming in at approximately $22,150. In 2014, costs were shared with School District No. 61 and some advertising costs were shared with other municipalities. For this by-election, there are no cost-sharing arrangements available.

As noted above, costs could be mitigated by conducting all voting at Town Hall Council Chambers. It is anticipated that this approach would not negatively impact voter turn-out rates.

Budget support could come from contingencies and/or a budget bylaw amendment.

ALTERNATIVES TO THE RECOMMENDATION:

Council could choose to not hire any external assistance and instead appoint only staff members. However, the existing staff compliment is unable to solely take on the amount of work required for the by-election. As well, the public perception of a more arm’s length process in election voting – with an external CEO – has been historically preferred by Council.

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT, pursuant to Section 58(1) and (2) of the Local Government Act, Kenneth Lyle Schaalje be appointed Chief Election Officer for conducting the 2017 by-election with power to appoint other election officials as required for the administration and conduct of the 2017 by-election;

AND THAT Marion Bernice Villines and Elena Bertina Bolster be appointed Deputy Chief Election Officers for the 2017 by-election;

AND FURTHER THAT all 2017 by-election voting be held at View Royal Town Hall Council Chambers.

SUBMITTED BY: S. Jones, Director of Corporate Administration

REVIEWED BY: K. Anema, Chief Administrative Officer