MLA Dan Ashton, seen here with MLA John Yap, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General for Liquor Policy Reform at Poplar Grove Winery Monday. Ashton would like to see school board, municipal and provincial elections work together in the same year to avoid excess costs.
(SHANNON QUESNEL / iNFOnews.ca)
October 28, 2013 - 5:04 PM
PENTICTON - If the municipal election was held the same year as the provincial one MLA Dan Ashton would never have considered giving a $30,000 cheque to the City of Penticton.
That's the estimated cost for Penticton's byelection held to replace Ashton when he resigned as mayor to run in the provincial contest. He had promised to pay the city's byelection tab and plans to fulfill that vow as soon as his schedule aligns with council's.
City spokesperson Simone Blais said there's a tentative date of Nov. 4 where Ashton will present his cheque to council but that's subject to change.
As for matching election years between communities and the province Ashton wants more regularity no matter if elected officials hold two-year, three-year or four-year terms.
"It should be standardized all the way through. Whether you are on the school board, the municipality, the regional district or the province. It would save substantial resources and, in my opinion, a substantial monetary savings also."
School District 67 also would appreciate some regularity. At a recent trustee meeting they decided to keep trustee elections in step with the municipal ones even if cities moved from the current three-year term to a four-year term.
To contact a reporter for this story, to send photos or videos, email Shannon Quesnel at squesnel@infotelnews.ca, call 250-488-3065, tweet @shannonquesnel1 or @InfoNewsPentict
News from © iNFOnews, 2013