The Editor,
Re. "Developers dug deep in Coquitlam election" (The Tri-City News, March 11).
As a relatively new resident of the Tri-Cities I continue to be impressed with the quality of journalism consistently displayed by your newspaper.
Reporter Gary McKenna's articles were clearly the product of careful research and thought. They raised issues of considerable importance to Tri-City residents: the influence, or perceived influence, that developers and unions exert with the individual council members and mayors through financial contributions.
Voters have a right to be informed. As Coquitlam Coun. Craig Hodge conceded, there is a widespread public perception that votes on council are influenced by campaign contributions. Municipal campaign finance rules should impose a deadline for contributions at least one week prior to the municipal election, require real-time disclosure of contributions and prohibit any financial contributions for a specific period between elections.
Voters should not be kept in the dark and left to rely on the assurances of elected officials such as Coun. Hodge and the media relations person for a developer that financial contributions do not, and are not intended to, influence votes.
As the article notes, the existing municipal finance rules fall short of requiring this sort of essential information to voters prior to an election.
We are left to rely on the dedication of journalists such as Mr. McKenna and your newspaper. Thank you for your important contribution to democracy and responsible, accountable, transparent local government.
Port Coquitlam Coun. Mike Forrest deserves to be commended for his unwillingness to accept donations from developers and unions because he understands that it is important that he appear to be impartial when he votes on matters concerning developers and unions.
I am astonished that any councillor or mayor believes it is appropriate to participate in any discussion or vote that concerns a developer, union or any other person who made a significant financial contribution to his or her campaign.
I hope that in a future issue, your newspaper will provide readers with a detailed breakdown of the individual developer/union contributions for each councillor and mayor, and a history of the voting record of each on each important issue concerning that developer/union.
D. Todd Brown, Port Coquitlam
