Public statement by Tony Luck re: Resignation from CRMG:
Due to increasing concerns regarding the Mayor’s leadership, I have reluctantly decided to resign from CRMG (Citizens for Responsible Municipal Government).
As everyone knows, all members of the District of Mission Council were elected as members of CRMG. Regrettably, an irreconcilable split of CRMG has recently occurred over the alleged conflict of interest matter. The failure to resolve this issue, and more particularly the way that justice was denied, led directly to the resignations from CRMG by Councillors Jeff Jewell and Jenny Stevens. I voted with them and Councillor Tilbury to send this case to court, without prejudice, as it was and remains our belief that this was the only fair and independent way that the people of Mission could be assured that justice was served.
However, regarding the question of my own resignation from CRMG, which many people have been asking me about, I decided that the right thing for me was to take a little extra time for more careful consideration of all factors, given the importance and consequences to all concerned. What has now become clear to me is that my major issue, beyond the conflict of interest matter itself, is how it was seriously mishandled by the Mayor, and more broadly with the Mayor’s leadership in general.
Had the Mayor not placed personal loyalty above principle, and above our CRMG promise to demand and uphold the highest standards of accountability and integrity, there would have been no fracturing of the CRMG team over the conflict of interest issue. Sadly as a result, the reputation, future viability and indeed the survival of CRMG now seem to be in grave doubt.
Another major problem has been the Mayor’s temper and disrespect exhibited numerous times to members of the public, staff and Council. Many times many of us have discussed this with him, with little or no change of attitude or behaviour. Such abuse of power is fundamentally unacceptable to me. These negatives have been further compounded by his poor judgment on a number of important issues. The final straw for me was his recent high-handed decision to appoint himself as Council’s representative to the DBA (Downtown Business Association), without consulting either the DBA or Council.
The bottom line is that I no longer have confidence in the Mayor’s leadership, and hence could not stand for re-election as a CRMG candidate. But I do want to assure the Mayor and everyone else that I’m proud of what we’ve all accomplished together.
I shall continue working with all members of Council to provide the best possible service to the people of Mission. And I remain dedicated to fulfilling the promises and upholding the values of CRMG, especially openness, accountability and integrity