A provincial plan aimed at healing a longstanding rift over the administration of the regions transit network is an unworkable idea, according to District of North Mayor Richard Walton, one of the municipal leaders who would be tasked with executing the new scheme.
Bill 51, tabled recently by Transportation Minister Blair Lekstrom would require the chair and vice-chair of the Mayors Council on Regional Transportation to sit on the nine-member TransLink board. The idea is to restore the connection between municipal government and transit management that was removed four years ago when Victoria dismissed an elected TransLink board and replaced it with an appointed body.
As chairman of the mayors council, Walton or his successor would be one of the two elected leaders who would take up the new posts, but the move would put him in an untenable position, he said.
I think it was well intended; however, it introduces some complexities that Im not sure were fully thought out, said Walton. I was never called, asked or consulted on whether this would be good legislation.
For one thing, current board members put about two days a week into fulfilling their role, said Walton. Thats far more hours than many mayors have at their disposal.
Making mayors wear two different hats could also create conflicts in terms of priorities, he added, given that the mayors council is in practice an advocacy group and the TransLink board the organization that calls the shots.
If youre the chair of that organization (the mayors council), and youre also sitting as a regular board member on the TransLink board dealing with in-camera information and operation decisions, its really hard for (that) individual to separate those worlds and separate what their primary responsibility is.
Walton emphasized that a link between the two bodies is needed, since decisions about land-use planning, which are made by municipalities, and those around transit planning, which are made by the board, are inextricable, but this is not the way it should be done.
I think it puts the two individuals in a very, very difficult position, he said.
The province, however, maintains that the move is a good one.
Government is changing legislation to provide greater assurance that TransLink is running efficiently and effectively and to strengthen the role of local government in planning and decision-making processes, said a representative for the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure in an email to the North Shore News. Adding two mayors to TransLinks Board of Directors will strengthen the link and facilitate communications between the two groups.
The representative pointed out that overseeing TransLink directly wasnt a problem for municipal leaders in the past.
Prior to 2008, the entire board was made up of mayors and there were no complaints from them then about conflict or insufficient time, she wrote.
The bill is still before the legislature, so theres time to alter the plan, said Walton, saying he hopes to work out a solution in the coming months.
One idea is to set up a committee to look at governance models from other parts of the world, choose the best from a shortlist of those and then take that to the province as an alternative, he said.
The minister has been a very positive force, said Walton. Were feeling positive going forward; its not all dark clouds.
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