We received word this morning from those in the know that after the 7:00PM Township of Langley Council meeting on July 5th, Mayor Green and two Township Councillors violated the Public Hearing Bylaw by engaging in conversations with Fort Langley residents. It was a clear Bylaw violation, as Council had 3 nights of public hearings that ended before Canada Day.Mayor and Council was not to receive any more input or information on Park Lane's Bedford Landing development, but Mayor Green invited a large group discussion in the foyer just after the Council meeting by opponents to the plan. Mayor Green also previously violated the Public Hearing Notice Bylaw by sending letters to all residents of Fort Langley. He blatantly spoke about it in his Mayor's Report as if it was something to take pride in. But he doesn't understand the implications of his actions and the fact that unlike the Bylaw Notification that the developer pays for, his actions caused costs to be incurred by ALL Township taxpayers, as the extra notices are not billable to the developer. All paid for from a budget that Mayor Green did not vote for.
Previous to this second meeting in the foyer, Council voted (Richter opposed) to refer the matter to staff and asked that they examine things in detail and report back to council in September. Thinking this was like a Mayor's Drop-In Forum, Green engaged the crowd expecting to win favour, failing to advise the public that had gathered about the Bylaw. Green was seen exchanging contact details with at least one resident so that the Bylaw could be violated once again no doubt!
We hope that Park Lane takes notice of this second violation of the Bylaw and the addition of two councillors that violated the Bylaw with the mayor. Perhaps Park Lane can now pursue legal action against these folks? Both councillors are long-time members of council and should have known better! It was also amazing to see Councillor Kim Richter do another BIG flip-flop by now supporting the Interfor plan that she once voted against. You know what they say....politics makes strange bedfellows.
Unlike the Mayor's Forum, we are told that this crowd turned on the mayor as he tried to squirm his way around the issues. They obviously had not picked up on his biased advances during this process (like the first Notification Bylaw violation). This meeting in the foyer lasted longer than the regular meeting of council we are told. Maybe Mayor Green will learn that you can't turn everything into a political game? Probably not, he's bad at learning lessons.
Will Park Lane now take legal action for the bias process this was? After all, mayor and some members of council did clearly stack the deck against Park Lane. If you skirt Bylaws then indemnification should not follow you and these council members should be forced to pay their own legal expenses as Park Lane gets some justice here.
More importantly, this sends a clear message to the development community. This Mayor is NOT in favour of economic development in the Township of Langley. Mayor Green will use developers or anyone else to further his political ambitions and if you want a fair process, better go see Mayor Watts in Surrey. Under Mayor Rick Green the Township will take your development and change the goal posts in mid-stream if they see a political advantage. Developers, take note!