Most people are familiar with the basics of an election.
There are candidates, people vote for the candidates at voting stations and the person with the most votes win.
However, not everyone may be familiar with the way the City of Grand Forks, Regional District of Kootenay Boundary (RDKB) and School District 51 (SD51) work.
City of Grand Forks
Grand Forks’ city council consists of the mayor and six councillors.
“The mayor is classified as your chief executive officer for the city,” explained City Corporate and Chief Elections Officer Diane Heinrich.
“He (in this case, current Mayor Brian Taylor) is the head of the municipal body where council is the decision-makers. It’s their role to debate decisions.”
She said that council makes decisions on behalf of the electorate and council’s decisions are made by, fittingly enough, voting, with a majority from council carrying a motion.
“When (council) has its votes – the mayor is also part of the voting process – that’s where you have 4-3 splits where someone is in favour or against a motion. It’s their right to be able to debate decisions,” Heinrich said.
She also said that council does more than just debate bylaws and the like; they liaise with different community groups.
“Once a new council is put in place the mayor and council get together and the mayor advises different organizations which member of council is going to be their liaison,” said Heinrich.
RDKB
While there are cities (like Grand Forks), towns, district municipalities, villages (Midway) and resort municipalities, there are also regional districts like the RDKB.
According to RDKB Chief Elections Officer Theresa Lenardon, citing information from Area D town hall meetings, local government (which includes regional districts) derive its legislative, administrative and regulatory authority from the provincial government through the Local Government Act and the community charter.
“The RDKB is primarily a service delivery system developed and designed to promote regional and sub-regional co-operation,” Lenardon said in an email.
“It was incorporated through Letters Patent in 1966 and is one of 28 regional districts in B.C. and manages/delivers over 68 active services. The RDBK board of directors is comprised of 13 directors: eight municipal (Trail, Fruitvale, Montrose, Warfield Rossland, Grand Forks, Greenwood and Midway) – the reps from these municipalities are appointed by their councils to sit on the board and then there are five electoral areas (A-E), with the electoral area directors elected.”
As the Constitution Act of 1867 says, “Local governments are ‘creatures of the province.’”
She said that the rural electoral area directors are elected every three years and represent rural electoral areas on the regional district board.
Like city council, RDKB actions and initiatives must receive support from other board members to have effect or authority.
Input from citizens is used to identify service needs and interests within an electoral area.
SD51
The school board consists of seven trustees that work with the superintendent, secretary-treasurer and director of instruction.
“The board of education sets the vision and policy for the school district,” explains SD51 Secretary-Treasurer and Chief Elections Officer Jeanette Hanlon in an email.
“The board must ensure that it operates in accordance with provincial laws and regulations. Its policy and direction are set in the best interest of the public and all of its students.”
She said that no individual trustee has authority or power, only the board as a whole does. Hanlon went on to say that Robert’s Rules of Order and the district’s procedural bylaws are followed when the board conducts its business during its meetings.
Voters also might not realize they don’t have to vote for the full slate of candidates. According to Hanlon, people can vote for up to six councillors and up to two trustees in the case of the City of Grand Forks.