Time away is usually unavoidable or benefits Squamish, say councillors on being absent from council chambers.
Following the release of councillors’ 2015 attendance records in a Squamish Chief column by Helmut Manzl last week, several councillors came forward to account for their absences.
According to Mayor Patricia Heintzman, there are at minimum eight to 10 meetings per month for councillors to attend and many more meetings during preparations for the budget.
Councillor Jason Blackman-Wulff, who had 22 absences from committee or council meetings and who was late 13 times, said his absences were due to unusual circumstances he faced this year.
“My family experienced a sudden, significant loss this year and as a result, I did miss more meetings when compared with other councillors,” he said in an online post, which he directed The Squamish Chief to for his comment on the matter. “I commend my colleagues for their stellar attendance records and hope that no one has to face a loss that takes them away from council for a similar period of time.”
Blackman-Wulff is chair of the housing task force and the council member on the arena advisory committee. He also sits on the board of the Squamish Sustainability Corporation.
“I am involved in meetings outside of the regular council schedule to make progress on important objectives that I committed to during the election campaign,” he said. “I do my best to be a good team player and have attended meetings as an alternate director representing Squamish at the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District board when designated council colleagues were unable to attend. As acting mayor in the month of August, I was in Squamish to fulfill the duties of office while the mayor and other councillors were out of town for well-deserved vacations.”
Councillor Susan Chapelle, who had the second most absences at 18 and was recorded late four times, said her absences led to benefits for the district.
“I have not missed any council days where I wasn’t actively working for the community,” she wrote in an email to The Squamish Chief. “I rarely miss Tuesdays, and the only time I would is if I am doing city science, which has become a passion.”
“I sit on the board of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities sustainable communities conference and will attend again this year. This is where I brought back ‘healthy community’ imbedded in the Official Community Plan, and the grant that funded it,” she wrote. “So, yes. I miss meetings. I also bring expertise to my committee, and put forward ideas and education that I learn whilst away.”
Councillor Ted Prior missed 13 meetings and was late for four. Prior is currently in Hawaii and sent the following statement via a letter to The Squamish Chief.
“I have missed only two council meetings and was away in China doing research and getting to understand our future potential industrial taxpayers,” he said. “I feel it is very important to know who we are dealing with.”
He said after four years on council, there are some meetings that he does not attend, “but that does not mean I am not working on the district’s behalf. Council becomes a big part of your life, for me it is almost full-time.”
Prior said that while on vacation, he will be studying how different communities deal with green incentives, food security, transportation, farmers’ markets and homelessness. He also plans to visit the local government planning department and take in a council meeting, he said.
Councillor Doug Race was absent from nine meetings and late for one. He said missing a meeting doesn’t mean missing a whole day.
“In my case it is not that I missed nine Tuesdays,” he said.
“The normal council schedule has the business meeting, which is where we actually pass bylaws, the first and the third Tuesday… so all the other meetings are for different things, but they don’t have the power to pass bylaws.”
Race noted there are four separate council committees. He chairs the finance and audit standing committee.
He missed a week in February when he went to Hawaii, missed a Tuesday when he was in Alaska on a cruise at the end of May and missed two Tuesdays in the summer while also on vacation.
Councillor Peter Kent said he ran for council on being transparent so wants people to know why he was away. “I’ve got nothing to hide about it and I am quite proud of the fact that I have never missed a regular business meeting,” he said.
Kent is recorded as having missed five and being late for one meeting.
“There were special meetings and one was a committee of the whole and two other public services meetings,” he said.
The district records say the Sept. 17 meeting Kent is recorded absent from was held on a Sunday, but it was a Thursday. “I can’t even speak to that,” he said.
He missed one special meeting because it was an emergency meeting when he was at his brother-in-law’s wedding, he said.
For one committee of the whole budget meeting from which he is recorded absent, he was actually there but arrived late, he said. The two public services meetings he missed for specialist appointments.
“I picked those two specifically because I have been sitting with a broken shoulder since July of last year,” he said.
Councillor Karen Elliott, who missed three meetings and was late for three, said she had no comment on the issue.
Heintzman had the best attendance record, missing one meeting and being late for two. The meeting she missed was because she was at a mayor-related conference, and she was late when phone calls related to her position ran long, she said.
“The job of councillor goes far beyond showing up for meetings. It’s about research and listening and collaboration and reading and meeting constituents and providing vision and leadership,” she said. “Meetings are important because that’s where the deliberative dialogue happens and decisions are made, but they are a rudimentary measure of a complex job.”
Councillors earn about $29,000 a year, and the mayor earns about $63,000, according to the district’s 2014 Statement of Financial Information.
