Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Is Councillor Jerry Hong In Conflict??

Hong's Business Could Clearly Benefit From Event Centre
Screengrab from Google
Hong's Facebook profile picture update

Councillor Hong recently updated his profile picture on his Facebook page to display his obvious support for the $100 million event centre the taxpayer has yet to approve.

I would simply pose the question, given Hong's downtown business interest has he put himself in a position of a conflict of interest with his obvious support of the Event Centre project?

A Councillor expressing his support for a project involving 100 million tax dollars is a bit of an eyebrow raiser when they own a business that would clearly benefit from the project.

Whether or not any member of Council should actively align with a group driving a YES or NO vote is another eyebrow raiser for this humble scribe.

This council from the get-go seemed to have little concern for public opinion, given their own survey indicated 91% were not in support of a taxpayer funded event centre. This past Monday, before the result of a referendum is known staff were looking for another half million dollars to spend on a project that might not get taxpayer approval.

Sometimes, the more things change, the more they stay the same in Nanaimo.



allvoices

9 comments:

  1. Yes ... it would appear that not much has changed since the campaign for the general election in Nanaimo that was held on November 15, 2014 .............
    DURING the election campaign, Mr. Hong posted the following to his FB on November 7, 2014:

    -“Huge FREE concert announcement: EVERLAST performs at Diana Krall Plaza in December. Its my way of thanking the people of Nanaimo for their support. Keep watching this page for the date and to see how you can get into the VIP section.”

    -“Don’t forget to invite your friends to the Everlast show.”

    -“EVERLAST live in Nanaimo! A FREE CONCERT”

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jerry Hong is in direct conflict and needs to recuse himself form voting on this. If the project goes ahead property values in the area will increase - he will become richer on the backs of the Nanaimo taxpayers - DIRECT conflict of interest.

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  3. (Not anonymous): Silly claim, Jim. You could say the same for any business owner in Nanaimo. Hong is being open and honest in stating his position.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What is "Conflict of Interest"?
      The Members’ Conflict of Interest Act stipulates that a Member of the Legislative Assembly must not be involved in a decision during the course of public duties with the knowledge that there is an opportunity to further the Member’s private interests. Any other business owner is not a member of this elected council. Interesting take Darrell.

      Delete
    2. You might want to rethink whether being open and honest means you are not in a conflict when your decision can have a direct benefit to your business.

      Delete
  4. There is a common denominator across a few of the big projects over the years. Who is driving the bus to the event centre?

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  5. Are we all in conflict when we have our best interests in mind when we make decisions. I think some have to read what a conflict of interest really is. Then if you believe it, take the wisdom of a city councillor and find 9 other people who agree with you and file a claim.

    ReplyDelete
  6. From the BC Conflict of Interest Commissioner: What is "Conflict of Interest"?
    The Members’ Conflict of Interest Act stipulates that a Member of the Legislative Assembly must not be involved in a decision during the course of public duties with the knowledge that there is an opportunity to further the Member’s private interests.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Well it won't matter now as the Event Centre got voted down in a landslide tonight .

    ReplyDelete

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