The Besler brothers' dispute with their neighbour and the district of Summerland started more than six years ago. One of them, Brad, has no intention of stepping back as he sees himself as a "watchdog" at town hall.

(DAN WALTON / iNFOnews.ca)

Don't expect Brad Besler to bury the hatchet with Summerland town hall.

For more than six years he has sparred with the district in court and in council chambers, all starting with a dispute with his mushroom-farming neighbour and growing to a sense he's "watchdog" at town hall.

"It means paying attention, going to council meetings and looking at the agenda, then calling it out if you see something that's not right or informing the public of what's going on, whether good or bad," he said.

Besler and his brother were criminally charged in the neighbour dispute, which was later overturned. They took the town to task for its decisions around approving they farm which the Beslers said stunk up the neighbourhood.

It has spiralled into legal disputes far beyond the mushroom farm and the district's decisions there.

"I'm motivated to be the one to make sure they are held to account," Besler said.

Expanding beyond his own personal mission, Besler uncovered a Summerland councillor's taxpayer-funded family vacation during a government convention and a discounted land lease for an asphalt company in the community.

Whether he has moved passed his own personal gripes, however, is unlikely. As for the district, it's a battle Besler is still fighting.

"We offered him a way to walk that back without costs," Summerland CAO Graham Statt told iNFOnews.ca. "I think he engaged in this for his own personal reasons."

Statt was referencing a petition to BC Supreme Court in which Besler is attempting to overturn a permit council approved to allow his mushroom-farming neighbour to operate a campground on the property.

Besler said it was improperly allowed. His court challenge earlier this year forced the district to suspend the permit, but it turned around and passed a bylaw specifically applying to Besler's neighbour.

"He wanted to proceed with it and, in the end, we spent quite a bit of public money defending ourselves," Statt said.

He said the move was done in bad faith to subvert his court challenge, but he added the district has remained confident Besler's effort will be unsuccessful in the end. Besler initially lost, largely because of a failure to follow proper court process, but he soon refiled saying he won't make the same mistake again.

Last week, the district issued a news release about Besler for the first time since he began his numerous legal challenges. Statt said taxpayers have been asking to know how much Besler has cost them over the years and rather than respond to each one individually, staff announced it publicly.

The roughly $360,000 in taxpayer funds account for the legal costs accrued due to Besler's court and Freedom of Information challenges, but it doesn't account for staff time spent on them outside court settings, Statt said.

He said the district is committed to transparency as Besler argues he has been stonewalled by the local government multiple times.

"We've never taken any of this stuff personally and maintain a professional atmosphere with a focus on service to all our residents, regardless of who they are, and even if we are in active litigation with them," Statt said. "We don't always agree with everyone and even governments don't always agree with each other."

Asked what it would take to mend the contention, the CAO said Besler "holds a lot of the cards" and the district remains on defence in every case of litigation between them.

"There is no hatchet (to bury) from our perspective," he said.

Besler said it would require the district to be "transparent," which Statt argues is a core tenant of town hall business.

Besler continues with several other court challenges and Freedom of Information requests that have gone to a provincial tribunal.

The self-represented Summerland resident has six ongoing civil court cases with the district, and the recent announcement from town hall about the costs he has incurred for taxpayers has only strengthened his resolve.

"I think they see I'm still being effective at exposing issues, and I'm creating momentum — other people in the community are getting involved and submitting (Freedom of Information requests)," he said.

He believes the district is aiming to "discredit" him out of defensiveness.

The ongoing cases include accusations of harassment, conspiracy and negligence against him, naming the district and his neighbour. He has accused Summerland's CAO of conspiring to withhold records in Freedom of Information requests, accused the mayor of defaming him, and has challenged council votes on zoning and borrowing decisions.

Separate from those, he and his brother have claimed RCMP and Crown lawyers of maliciously prosecuting them when they were investigated and later convicted of harassment against their neighbour. Those convictions were later appealed successfully.

In addition to the ongoing court cases, Besler still plans to run for election again in 2026 after losing his bid for council in 2022.

With court battles still live, there's no clear end in sight yet for Besler's efforts to remain a thorn in the side of Summerland's municipal government.

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