Just how far did the negative atmosphere in Township politics influence voting patterns among the mayor and councillors?
Hardly at all, says Councillor Charlie Fox, who commented that the negative rhetoric claims that certain members of council are part of the ‘six-pack’ that vote together, are unfounded.
Township figures show that 71 per cent of the time council voted unanimously over the past three years.
Unanimous votes occurred 647 times, and on 81 occasions, the vote was 8-1.
Council voted 7-2 on 49 occasions, 6-3 on 36, 5-4 on nine occasions, 7-1 on 43 occasions and 6-2 on 25.
“Council is democratically elected to do the business of the citizens of the Township of Langley (and) with that mandate and the fact that a new council is elected every three years comes the knowledge that members of council will agree on many issues and disagree on others,” Fox said.
“Listening to the public is always a big part of our mandate,” he said, adding that public input reaches every council member through e-mails, telephone calls, comments made on the street and at council meetings.
“This input helps us form our opinions and ideas and shapes how we think we should proceed on an issue,” Fox said.
“Further, we listen to each other and through debate and discussion, (and) each member of council may, and will, present their perspective on an issue.”
When he unveiled his Vote Langley Now slate in July, Mayor Rick Green referred to the “Six Pack plus One” — incumbents Grant Ward, Charlie Fox, Bob Long, Steve Ferguson, Bev Dornan and Jordan Bateman, with Kim Richter being the ‘plus one.’
“The truth is that at the end of the discussion, when the vote is called, 71 per cent of the time the vote is unanimous,” Fox said, adding that the figures show that 90 per cent of the time there was a clear majority vote.
“It is clearly evident that the reality is there is no evidence of any allegiance agreement on this council,” he said, adding that the voting pattern “is very closely aligned with past voting patterns and this term has seen little or no change from historical reality.”
Furthermore, Fox said that a review of council voting records shows that Green voted with the majority more often than he (Fox) did, and Councillors Kim Richter, Grant Ward and Steve Ferguson.
“Clearly it is evident that . . . the mayor is more agreeable and more often than not in agreement with the majority, in other words is ‘just part of the group,’” Fox said.
Fox said one way of gauging who does the work on council is to look at the number of notices of motion.
“These are motions that represent initiative and reflect a personal effort on the part of a council member to put forth an idea on to the agenda,” Fox said, adding that the initiative may be personal in nature, but most often stem from members of the public.
Richter proposed 58 notices of motion, 10 of which were not supported.
Fox had 28, Councillor Mel Kositsky 13, Ferguson 9, and Councillors Grant Ward, Bob Long and Green one apiece.
Councillor Bev Dornan offered none in her first term on council.