In a little place called Lillioet - about an hour and a half north of Pemberton with a population of 2,324 and a trading population of 7,324 - residents' have seen both their Mayor Ted Anchor and Councillor Kevin Taylor resign from municipal office yesterday (Thurs Jan 5th) - just a shocking 47 days after the last municipal vote on November 19th, 2011. See the explanation from former Lillioet Mayor Ted Anchor here and former Lillioet Councillor Kevin Taylor here. See media coverage from Global BC here and CBC here and see the story in the local paper here.
Update on Friday, Jan 6th at 9:14pm - Lillioet Acting Mayor Wendy Parker "blindsided" by resignations - see more details here
Meanwhile - Squamish-Lillioet Regional District Area 'A' Director (and former WL City Councillor) Deb DeMare says on Twitter - Not good however you look at it
Two prominent issues in the community (and widely speculated by media) that could have led to the resignations were:
1) Flooding and the necessity to borrow $2.5 million leading to a 11% property tax hike
2) Recent decision by Lillioet Council to cancel 'Public Question Period'
Lillioet Acting Mayor Deb Parker told Global BC that she would be moving at a special Lillioet Council Meeting today to receive the resignation letters of both Ted Anchor/Kevin Taylor
Once these letters of resignation have been received - the by-election should quickly follow including the standard election process of nomination and formal vote (if more than 1 person files for either Lillioet Mayor or Councillor). It is fair to say that because of this action by Mr. Anchor and Mr. Taylor that Lillioet taxpayers' could be on the hook for thousands of dollars but, in public statements, both Taylor/Anchor state that their principles/integrity will be intact and their actions were absolutely necessary
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