A by-election to replace former Richmond city Coun. Kelly Greene was pegged at $716,000 by city staff, a cost one councillor called “way too high.”
Coun. Carol Day questioned the high cost of a by-election given it would probably have low voter turnout.
She suggested scaling back on the election, for example, having fewer polling stations and less communication and advertising.
“I think we should cut this budget by 50 per cent,” Day told the finance committee on Monday, adding that $360,000 should be “more than enough.”
Coun. Bill McNulty pointed out council was just given a figure for the by-election cost but not a budget.
Coun. Linda McPhail, however, said it was unfortunate a by-election needed to be held, but she didn’t support cutting the budget for it.
“While historically by-elections have a low turnout, I think that we should be doing everything that we can to be getting people out to the polls,” she said. “I don’t think we can shortchange democracy.”
While the city’s solicitor, Tony Capuccinello Iraci, said much of the election is determined by legislation, Mayor Malcolm Brodie countered saying it doesn’t necessarily mean writing a blank cheque for the chief elections officer.
“Surely, you’re not saying what the chief elections officer says, that’s the final bill,” Brodie said.
He pointed out there might be discretionary items that council can decide on like the number of polling stations open for the by-election.
Greene was elected as the MLA for Richmond-Steveston while serving her first term on Richmond council.
In the end, the item was sent back to staff for further analysis of the cost breakdown.
