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It is the second time Chesney has been censured. Last March, council voted to censure him because, in his role as publisher and editor of the White Rock Sun, he had published comments the city considered defamatory.

“The censure is largely a symbolic action. It can certainly be effective, but it’s largely symbolic,” said Nathalie Baker, who is a municipal lawyer and Jonathan Baker’s daughter.

While censuring has little immediate effect, she added, “it could have an effect at the ballot box the next time around.”

As a result of his actions, Chesney was also removed from the rotation of councillors who sit as deputy mayor.

Jonathan Baker said that imposing sanctions such as removing council members from committees, stripping them of responsibilities, or taking away benefits such as travel allowances is a common form of discipline.

Beyond that and censuring, there is little councils can do to deal with members of whose actions they disapprove, unless there is a clear ethical violation.

In the case of a conflict of interest, a failure to make an oath of office, a prolonged unexcused absence, or unauthorized expenditures, a council member can be disqualified from holding office “unless the contravention was done inadvertently or because of an error in judgment made in good faith.”

If it appears that a person is disqualified, an application can be made to the court by 10 or more electors, or council itself.

In 2009, a B.C. Supreme Court judge ordered a White Rock councillor removed from office after finding that he had run in the 2008 election on a platform of honesty but had lied about being the author of an email that accused six candidates of being part of a “real-estate slate”. James Coleridge was disqualified and ordered to pay more than $48,000 — $20,000 of which went toward paying for a byelection to fill his vacancy.