Excerpt from the Improvement District Trustees Handbook (the one on the UBID site is from 2009 – this one is from 2012) https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/british-columbians-our-governments/local-governments/governance-powers/improvement_district_trustees_handbook.pdf
Excerpt from the Local Government Act re: AGM. Notice that the board didn’t follow proper procedure again this year by waiting until Apr. 17, 2019 to post the AGM notice. They ignore just about everything and do as they like. http://www.bclaws.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/r15001_17#section690
These guys aren’t going to vacate their positions willingly. Now they have unlawfully postponed the AGM claiming myself and two landowners are the cause. Bullshit, the admin doesn’t know his place and thinks he can demand answers from people who are not even speaking to him. Then we have a Chair who thinks it’s perfectly acceptable to approach a landowner in a bullying manner. Then he has the nerve to claim there might be violence. The only person acting in an aggressive manner was the Chair who is out of control and making more wild accusations just like he did moving the unlawful January 2019 Board Meeting.
The three of us attended the meeting thinking the two new trustees were going to be sworn in. When that was straightened out, we stayed for the financial part of the meeting before it was going in camera. There was calm until the admin decided to call out a landowner right before the meeting started – that’s when everything went to hell. This twerp doesn’t know his place. Produce where there were violent outbursts. And produce where this has been going on for a decade. From the guy who protested when we were locked in April 2011 and now suddenly he’s claiming violence.
This board simply does not want Trustee Kaljur to participate as an equal trustee. They do everything possible to prevent her from obtaining information the other trustees receive and the admin is complicit. The Chair clearly states he won’t speak to her until they are in a court room. Well gee, shouldn’t you vacate the position of Chair if that’s how you feel? Obviously, he plans on excluding her and doesn’t see anything wrong with that.
Check out the couple of video clips. https://allthingsunionbay.com/2019/04/24/union-bay-improvement-district-chair-making-false-claims-again/ Anytime you see me I’m standing with my hands behind my back. I never approach anyone or invade their space unlike the Chair. The only person who escalates the situation by becoming aggressive is the Chair and not one of us reacted in kind. Why did the Chair leave his position to advance on me and was only stopped when the female landowner voiced her concerns? Why did the female staff have to put herself in the Chair’s path because he wouldn’t stop advancing toward the female landowner? Then the Chair advanced to the husband and was right in his face. This is intimidation.
This board just doesn’t want to give up their control. By delaying the AGM, it prevents the two new trustees from taking their duly elected positions.
Again, this chair does not have the authority to act unilaterally. Why can’t he grasp that when it’s in black and white? He sending the letter to Faganello who has told this board in no uncertain terms what is expected of a democratic board. I hope she asks him what the hell he’s doing making unilateral decisions and if he bothered to read her letter.
It’s amusing that the ‘rules’ they are going by for the AGM are from the Meetings Procedure Bylaw 263 with an update making it Bylaw 270 that they have been violating since May 2017 when the RENA guy put forth a motion to suspend a portion of the bylaw. This is what transpired. Now you understand how they view the bylaws.
Here’s the bylaw they are using to delay the newly elected trustees from being sworn in. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lAjtYhzLf431sd-gJjGE6VMMQfk43WjQ/view Has this board abided by this bylaw? There was an amendment regarding the audio/video but everything else is the same.
https://www.mycomoxvalleynow.com/53442/union-bay-chair-cancels-public-meeting-over-fear-of-violence/
Union Bay chair cancels public meeting over fear of violence
James Wood, staff Wednesday, Apr. 24th, 2019
UBID chair Ted Haraldson is pictured during the UBID trustee meeting of November 16th, 2018. Photo by James Wood/98.9 The Goat/Vista Radio
UNION BAY, B.C- Union Bay’s annual general meeting won’t be happening tomorrow night.
According to a letter issued by the chair of the Union Bay Improvement District trustee board, Ted Haraldson, the community’s annual general meeting (AGM) set for 7:00 p.m. on Thursday at the community hall has been postponed after a disruption to a committee of the whole meeting on Tuesday afternoon.
Haraldson’s letter states that landowners had attended the meeting to purposely disrupt it. It had been intended to swear in newly-elected trustees Paul Healey and Hein Vandenberg, and discuss the results of UBID’s 2018 audit in a closed meeting prior to the AGM on Thursday.
Both Healey and Vandenberg chose to sworn in after the AGM, according to Haraldson.
The disruption on Tuesday was captured on tape by Union Bay resident Mary Reynolds, and discussion in the recording indicated that things started going wrong when trustee Susanna Kaljur and other landowners disagreed with administrator Gordon Mason about the timing of the swearing in.
According to the dialogue in the recording, Healey and Vandenberg had thought it improper to be sworn in before the AGM was held, with Kaljur and Mason arguing about the exact timing of an “inaugural meeting” for the board.
The rules about inaugural meetings, according to Union Bay’s own bylaws, follow below:
Reached for comment on Wednesday, Healey indicated that both he and Vandenberg hadn’t wanted to start off their time on the board by contravening a community bylaw.
The dispute on Tuesday derailed the whole meeting.
According to Haraldson’s letter, “violent outbursts occurred between trustees and landowners attending the meeting”. Three staff members of the district had to leave the office, and the RCMP were called.
“For the safety of landowners, trustees, staff, and consultants, we have decided to cancel the AGM,” wrote Haraldson.
“It will be rescheduled at a future date, after I have had an opportunity to have discussions with the ministry to move UBID forward to an environment that promotes safety for all stakeholders to attend public meetings. I will be suggesting to the Ministry (Municipal Affairs) a facilitator be appointed to chair and moderate the AGM meeting”.
All reports from the AGM, including the chief administrative officer report, public works report, fire rescue services report, and Union Bay’s audit for 2018 will be posted to the district website.
“The issue of forceful outburst and disruption of UBID Public Meetings has been ongoing for the past decade and the public meeting environment has to improve for the landowners of Union Bay.”
Haraldson spoke with the MyComoxValleyNow.com newsroom about the postponement.
“The whole idea of having them sworn in prior to that at a COW meeting, the purpose of that was so they could sit down, and listen to the auditors report, and get filled in, so when it took time to come in and be trustees, they would have an idea of the audit and etcetera, what was going on, so they would be more prepared for the AGM,” said Haraldson.
“That was the reason for that, and that’s about it.”
He said that what happened at the Tuesday meeting was unfortunate, but he was concerned that a public meeting could be a safety issue.
“There is no way that I want people to turn around, and start fighting in the aisles, and all this stuff going on,” said Haraldson.
Asked if he actually believed that would happen, he indicated that he did.
“Yelling is one thing, but it could get to the point where people could get into a frenzy, and then all of a sudden, someone could get hurt,” said Haraldson.
“And I don’t want to see landowners or anyone end up being hurt, at all.”
As for how the Tuesday meeting could have gone better, Haraldson didn’t see a way, saying that “these people” had come to the meeting to disrupt it on purpose.
“This has happened a number of times, and it’s the same individuals,” said Haraldson.
“It’s very unfair. As I say, Hein and Paul were elected, they had a good election, they won heartily, and I am ok with that. We need trustees to come in, and go to work to get the things done that need to be done.”
He went to talk about the community’s new water treatment plant, describing it as “completely finished” with permits and approvals finished, and a “done deal”.
“But again, there are other things that need to be done, and we need trustees to stand up to the plate and go to work,” said Haraldson.
“I have no problem with Paul and Hein becoming trustees. I’m hoping that we can all work together to get the jobs done that are necessary. That’s what it’s all about.”
He also discussed a governance review, which both Healey and Vandenberg had been advocating for during their campaigns. He stated that the province’s municipal affairs department wanted the plant to be “complete and operational” before a governance review could be considered.
“Of course, we need a governance review,” said Haraldson.
“That’s going to happen, it has to happen, I have no problem with that either, but I am just following the ministry and what they said.”
He indicated that he’s hoping to speak with Municipal Affairs very soon. As for the AGM, he provided no timeline for when it would be re-scheduled.
The police that were called to Tuesday’s disruption left without incident.
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