Dear Editor:
On May 10, 2018, the Law Society issued a citation to Mark Sager and he was eventually found to have committed two instances of professional misconduct and fined. He was aware of this citation while running for mayor in 2018.
On Sept. 19, 2019, the Law Society notified him of a new investigation and he acknowledged its letter on Sept. 20, 2019. A citation was issued Sept. 29, 2022 – two weeks before the election alleging five instances of professional misconduct. Mr. Sager was aware of this investigation and citation while running for mayor in 2022.
On Oct. 14, one day before the election, his lawyer advised the Law Society that an application for anonymization would be made. Mr. Sager requested the citation be published without identifying him or any other identifying information, suggesting extraordinary circumstances, defined as “impaired municipal operations” and “reputational damage and mental health challenges.” His motion for anonymity was dated Nov. 4 – three days before being sworn in as mayor.
The application was dismissed but the decision was not issued until Dec. 1 with the citation finally becoming public via the media on Dec. 7. Had it not been dismissed, when and how would we ever have known about it?
Mr. Sager says it would have been improper to confirm the citation before it was publicly issued. But he applied for anonymity to keep it from going public. And a rumour about the investigation circulated during the campaign. Rather than risk derailing his campaign he chose not to disclose what he knew to be true. He is responding publicly now because he has no choice.
Mr. Sager claims the allegations are “inaccurate and unfair,” “incredibly painful” and will unfairly “cloud our administration.” He asks us to give him the benefit of the doubt. Really? The mayor is not the victim here. As the Law Society states, he was “aware of his prior professional misconduct along with the citation prior to being elected and put the residents of the district in this position.”
This is a distraction for the mayor and affects his ability to govern. We have to be able to trust our chief executive officer and believe in his honesty and integrity.
The allegations are serious. This is the second time for Mr. Sager. He needs to do the right thing and resign. I call on council and senior staff to take the lead on resolving this untenable situation.
Melanie Hess
West Vancouver
Dear Editor:
We live in a time where West Vancouver needs a leader we can trust. As a young resident of this community, I am incredibly disheartened by the news that our Mayor has once again received a citation from the Law Society.
I am even more disheartened by the Mayor’s attempt to conceal his name from the public in the citation.
During the recent election campaign, Mr. Sager promised the residents of our community that his previous infraction with the Law Society was due to a misunderstanding of recent rule changes.
Residents seemed inclined to believe him that this was a one off event though, the recent release by the Law Society, and the denial of his request that the citation be published without his identity puts his credibility and fitness to serve our community into question.
Once is a coincidence, twice is a pattern.
Sager’s request for the Law Society to not identify him is not to protect the community he represents from “reputational damage”, but to protect his ego and cover up information that our community should be aware of. This directly contradicts promises he made during the election for greater transparency.
Residents should be most concerned about the response the Law Society gave to Sager’s various claims.
Sager claimed that there would be a reputational effect from the citation on his ability to negotiate for spots on Metro Vancouver committees.
The Law Society responded by saying that “the Respondent [Sager] is already the subject of stigma associated with previous proven professional misconduct and that his ability to negotiate on behalf of the District is arguably therefore already endangered”.
With West Vancouver needing greater representation and cooperation with Metro Vancouver it concerns me that our representative is the “subject of stigma” which endangers his ability to represent us.
Even more worrying is that Sager was aware of the citation during the election campaign and chose not disclose this information to the public. The Law Society stated that he “put the residents of the District in this position”.
We are just over two months into the term of Sager and he is already putting West Vancouver in the headlines for all of the wrong reasons and is the one causing our municipality reputational harm, not the citation.
While many of his closest supporters have rushed to defend him, speaking to his long history of service as a lawyer and leader in this community, and encouraging residents to “not let this matter become a distraction”, the reason it has become a distraction is the sole responsibility of the Mayor and his actions.
If members of this community are so concerned about this citation becoming a distraction, they should join me, and other young members of this community in calling for the Mayor to step aside until there is a resolution to the citation so we can get back to other matters of importance to West Vancouver.
James Knight
West Vancouver
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