If changes in municipal election rules had come into effect before the 2008 campaign, Squamish might have a different mayor today. And it's unclear if the new four-year term will mean a certain change in leadership in 2011.
On July 7, the B.C. government announced that municipal election rules will be changed after anticipated legislation is passed next spring.
The changes are based on 31 recently released recommendations from an appointed task force on municipal election rules, which include increasing election terms from three to four years, banning anonymous campaign contributions and implementing expense limits.
Increased election terms was a hot topic when Squamish council came up with their own recommendations to the task force on March 23.
At the time, Mayor Greg Gardner said he would have thought twice before committing to four years as mayor when he ran for the seat in 2008.
"For me, to run four years would have been a big decision and I might have thought twice about it as well," he said.
However this week, Gardner said he didn't know if a four-year term would keep him from running in the 2011 election, and opted instead to speak for the entire council.
"Speaking on behalf of council, we had concerns about changing to a four-year term because of potentially discouraging people from running," he said.
On April 6, council narrowly passed a recommendation to the elections task force requesting a three-year term with councillors Doug Race and Patricia Heintzman opposed.
"I think elections are more effective less often," said Race, referring to Canadian fatigue with the minority government and number of elections at the federal level. "I would be inclined to move it to four years."
Coun. Corinne Lonsdale said four years was a long-term commitment for candidates who "have absolutely no idea what they're getting into."
"It might deter a lot of people from running," she said.
Heintzman and Race said they were pleased to hear the terms will be extended.
"It's been an ongoing issue, mostly driven by larger municipalities because it costs a ton of money to run in an election," said Heintzman, "but there's more to it than that.
"It's often really difficult between municipal bureaucracies to get things done because so much time is spent bringing council up to speed when stuff gets stuck at the tailend of a three year term."
She said four years would enable more efficient policy development.
"The Official Community Plan [OCP] might have been adopted two councils ago if it were four year terms," said Heintzman.
She did acknowledge that the longer commitment might deter some people from running.
"It's a big commitment, and a big sacrifice on our salaries and our freedoms," she said. "But then again some people might feel more satisfied with what they've accomplished after four years."
Ben Stewart, the provincial minister for Community and Rural Development, said the next step to implementing the changes will be fleshing out the recommendation's details and developing the legislation.
"It is anticipated that the legislation will be introduced in the legislature next spring, in time for the changes to be in place for the 2011 local government elections," said Stewart.
