SRD Statement of Expectations Provided to Electoral Area B Director Anderson
The SRD Board decided at the meeting of February 10th to provide notice to Electoral Area B (Cortes Island) Director Noba Anderson regarding expectations of director conduct with Regional District staff members and other members of the Board.
Campbell River, BC – The Strathcona Regional District (SRD) Board decided at the meeting of February 10th to provide notice to Electoral Area B (Cortes Island) Director Noba Anderson regarding expectations of director conduct with Regional District staff members and other members of the Board. That decision followed discussion at the January 27 Board meeting at which time it was alleged that Director Anderson had used her office in an attempt to influence staff decisions regarding the subdivision of land that she owns on Cortes Island.
In response to the allegation, legal counsel for Director Anderson argued that she had used her personal email account to communicate with staff and was therefore acting in a personal capacity and not as a director. After considering further legal advice on the matter of insider influence, legal council advised the Board that there is no ability for elected officials to immunize against insider influence by simply saying they are acting in a personal capacity rather than as a public official or by using a personal email account to communicate with staff. Elected officials are required to follow rules of behaviour as outlined in the Community Charter, the Local Government Act and the SRD Code of Conduct and are subject to removal from office for violations of insider influence rules.
As a consequence, the Board decided to provide notice to Director Anderson regarding her conduct and to increase her awareness regarding the separation of a director’s personal affairs from their role as elected officials in daily practice and in all communications.
For more information, please view:
- SRD’s Statement of Expectations provided to Director Anderson – www.srd.ca/210212_srdstatementofexpectation.pdf
- SRD’s Director Code of Conduct – https://srd.ca/Directors_Code_of_Conduct.pdf
- Community Charter Section 102 – bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/03026_04#section102-30-
Media contact:
Dave Leitch, Chief Administrative Officer
Strathcona Regional District
250-830-6703 | dleitch@srd.ca