Richmond Community Coalition city council and school trustee candidates joined independent candidate Jerome Dickey in pledging to limit their time on council to just eight years, should they be elected.
The pledge is not without controversy.
Dickey was the first out of the gate early in the campaign, citing it’s healthy to have new ideas on councils.
RCC echoed those thoughts last week in an announcement at Thompson Community Centre.
The nine RCC candidates even signed a placard.
Limits are not legally binding.
Notably, the RCC candidates pledged individual limits of two terms. They will not run thereafter on another slate or independently, the RCC confirmed in an email.
“Our Board of Directors is fully in favour of this as a way to rejuvenate Council and School Board in the short and long term,” said Coun. Ken Johnston, a former Richmond First member and longtime councillor, who has served many terms, off and on, since 1993.
Many people have criticized Johnston and other incumbent councillors — such as Bill McNulty, Harold Steves and Derek Dang — for staying on council too long.
Recently, two longtime councillors — Evelina Halsey-Brandt and Linda Barnes — who combined for 33 years of council experience, called it a political career and will not run this election.
Mayoral candidate Richard Lee also pledged to limit his time to two terms.
Harold Steves noted on Twitter, had he not served numerous terms Richmond may not have the the parks it does today.
Election Term talk. I helped get 8 major parks over 40 years. Which ones were expendable if I wasn't here? #rmdelxn http://t.co/DHlC4qaMux
— ClimateChange Steves (@Harold_Steves) November 1, 2014
The RCC challenged others to do the same. They’ve been denied by (at least) RITE Richmond. Steves, part of the Richmond Citizens' Association, told the News he would have limited his terms if developers would have limited the number of times they could apply for rezoning.
Richmond First has not commented on the matter and has sent one news release to the Richmond News in three weeks, since the campaigning began. Other slates that remain relatively quiet, aside from speaking at all-candidates meetings, are Renew Richmond and Richmond Reform.
RITE has noted the RCC, which is running on a platform of “transparency,” will not divulge campaign contributions before the election.
RITE is divulging its own finances online and the movement is gaining traction elsewhere, such as in Vancouver, where the NPA and Vision parties announced they will at least announce the names of their political donors.
Divulging campaign donations before an election is also not legally binding.
