(Updated – Public hearing on Concord 5B West lands to continue on Wednesday, June 11th at 4pm starting with speaker #43.) The False Creek Residents Association (FCRA) today issued a media release calling on Vancouver’s Mayor Gregor Roberton to disqualify Councillor Geoff Meggs from the June 10 Public Hearing on a major proposal by Concord Pacific seeking a rezoning to build two towers (28 and 30 storeys) by False Creek. Meggs had written a blog post in support of the proposal, but it has been subsequently removed. FCRA says that with Meggs’ post there is sufficient appearance of bias and misconduct to warrant an official response. (See related post: Concord Pacific: Corporate social responsibility, integrity and governance.)

Some points of the media release are summarized below, but readers are encouraged to go straight to the FCRA website for the whole version. Related story in the Georgia Straight: “Councillor Geoff Meggs accused of “bias” before public hearing on Concord Pacific project” (Carlito Pablo, 9-June-2014). Emily Jackson reports in Metro News Vancouver (“Residents cry foul over Vancouver councillor’s blog post”) that the City’s legal department is reviewing the situation.

This is a critical issue. As we have described elsewhere and on our About page, Vancouver has serious problems that could even be characterized as systemic corruption. Developers are the largest funders of the two top political parties in Vancouver, and Vancouver civic elections (next one is November 15, 2014, for a four year term) have the most money spent per voter of all civic elections in North America. One of any municipal government’s top functions is to regulate land use, in the public interest. Mayor and Council are regulators. Developers are the regulated. Regulators should never be funded by those they regulate. Concord Pacific is a major political donor for Vision Vancouver.

The fact that an influential member of the Vision Vancouver caucus has already implied that he supports the rezoning application, and the fact that Vision Vancouver members (with 8 of 11 votes on City Council) have never strayed from a block vote, suggests that the decision has already been made internally by Vision Vancouver BEFORE the public hearing. Is this to be permitted?

From the media release:

Under the Vancouver Charter, (sec 566), the public is entitled to be heard prior to any rezoning decisions. These Public Hearings are quasi-judicial proceedings and Councillors are expected to act in accordance with procedural fairness and natural justice. Simply put, this means that:

Councillors are to maintain their neutrality until they have full information in an equitable and transparent manner.

No one Councillor is to be given information aside from that provided to ALL councillors.

There are to be no private conversations, no lobbying, and certainly no pontificating by Councillors beforehand.

A Public Hearing is scheduled for June 10, 2014 on Concord Pacific’s development proposal for 998 Expo Blvd. City of Vancouver Planning staff are recommending that Council approve this application for rezoning.

In a blog posting on Friday, June 6, Councillor Meggs quoted extensively from the staff report. He tweeted the FCRA on the subject of the report. “I was shocked to see this posting, and to receive a tweet from Councillor Meggs about it”, said Fern Jeffries, Co-Chair of the False Creek Residents Association.

Read full text on FCRA website:

http://www.falsecreekresidents.org/2014/06/09/fcra-calls-on-mayor-disqualify-councillor-meggs-from-hearing-on-concord-pacifics-rezoning-application/

False Creek Residents Association

website: www.falsecreekresidents.org

Twitter: @FalseCreekRes

Facebook: FalseCreekRes

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Municipal lawyer Jonathan Baker has written on this topic, in “Open Minds or Open Heads” (31-Oct-2012)

http://jonathan-baker.blogspot.ca/2012/10/open-minds-or-empty-heads.html

CityHallWatch has addressed it in the past too. For example..

City democracy – unanswered question #1 – Public Hearings as a shield to separate the public from elected officials

Related stories on Concord Pacific…

Questions, concerns about Concord Pacific’s 998 Expo Boulevard – 5B West proposal (2 towers). Why no Creekside Park? (Public Hearing 10-June-2014)

False Creek Residents Association publishes BC Supreme Court petition online, regarding park and Concord Pacific land

Green light district – Residents wanting their park from Concord Pacific start awareness campaign

Concord land on False Creek assessed at $1: Joke or reality? (Answer: No joke!)