City council will consider postponing a censure hearing for councillor Brian Skakun at a special
meeting Wednesday afternoon.
On Aug. 10, Skakun filed a petition with the B.C. Supreme Court requesting an injunction to prevent council from censuring him until the court rules on the appeal of his May 24 conviction under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. The city was given until Wednesday to respond to Skakun's petition.
In a report to council, Mayor Dan Rogers said the city should oppose the injunction, but respect the court process.
"The petition seeks several orders, including an order restraining council from proceeding with consideration of a resolution of censure and sanction until councillor Skakun's appeal of his conviction for violating the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act has been heard and decided by the court," Rogers wrote. "It is recommended that council oppose the orders being sought in the petition. Notwithstanding that opposition... it is recommended that council delay consideration of a censure and sanction resolution until the petition has been heard by the court."
According to city communications manager Mike Davis, Rogers was out of the city Tuesday and not available for comment.
In the July 25 motion which set the censure hearing process in motion, council set a deadline of Sept. 14 for the hearing. In his report, Rogers said the injunction petition may not be heard by the court until after that date.
Skakun was packing for a family vacation when he heard about the special meeting.
"The first I heard about this special meeting was this morning through the media," Skakun said Tuesday. "The city sent me an e-mail as well. I have no idea what they are doing."
Skakun's lawyer, Jon Duncan, is also out of town on vacation. Duncan represented Skakun during his trial and at the July 25 city council meeting discussing the possibility of censure.
No one will be at Wednesday's meeting to represent Skakun.
Under a censure, council has the authority to remove Skakun from committees, boards, municipal commissions, and the rotating acting mayor and chairperson of the committee of the whole lists. In addition, council could restrict his travel on council business to municipal events only.
In addition to postponing the censure, Skakun's petition requests that Rogers and councillors Don Bassermann, Murry Krause and Debora Munoz be excluded from all considerations of a possible censure. All four gave testimony at Skakun's trial and Munoz was the key witness in the case against Skakun.
"I'm hoping we get it into court soon so we can resolve this and move on to more important matters," Skakun said.
