Written by SCOTT STANFIELD
Citizen staff
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Wednesday, 26 November 2008 |
A resident of the Beaverly area is questioning the legality of the referendum vote concerning a proposed community hall that was held in conjunction with the recent civic election.
Fred Tuftin says a few of his neighbours who live outside the Beaverly Fire and Rescue boundary -- and who therefore would not have been among the taxpayers funding the proposed hall -- cast ineligible votes.
Those living within the boundary would have seen their property taxes increase to pay for the hall, had the referendum been approved. The final tally was 245 to 181 votes against the borrowing of not more than $800,000 for the 4,160-square-foot hall.
Tuftin also claims an initial information notice was distributed to all Area C (Chilako River-Nechako) residents, but that a second notice only went to those in the taxation area.
"To me that is not a fair vote," said Tuftin, who lives within the catchment area. "I'm not complaining about which way the vote went, it's the process, and I do think that referendum should be annulled.
"If they (Fraser-Fort George Regional District) are going to give information out, everybody should be getting it and the right people should be getting it," Tuftin added. "It (referendum) was not done right and people were misinformed."
Some residents, Tuftin added, thought they would have been paying $100 per $100,000 of assessed property value, when in fact they would have been on the hook for about $30 per $100,000 had the vote been favourable.
Tom Yates, FFGRD general manager of corporate services, said the district prefers to deal directly with concerns rather than responding through the media.
"This is not a question of trying to avoid any kind of public presence," Yates said. "If there are issues, then we're there to deal with them.
"We do take the whole process of voting very seriously," Yates added. "It's a public process, but it's our responsibility to manage that process properly and fairly."
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 26 November 2008 )
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