Pitt Meadows councillor David Murray's handed in his resignation Sunday, four days after he was convicted of sexual assault—and he might still have a job if the mayor hadn’t convinced him to voluntarily resign.
Now, Pitt Meadows mayor John Becker is calling on the province to step in and make it easier for municipal governments to remove elected officials convicted of crimes.
"There's no power in the hands of city council to suspend or remove a city councillor in these kinds of situations," Becker said.
Becker said it took hours of meetings with councillor David Murray to procure the resignation.
Murray was convicted on Oct. 25 of sexually assaulting a minor. The assault took place more than 20 years ago, but only came to light in 2016. Court documents show the victim was under the age of 14 when the crime took place.
The former councillor spent years coaching basketball in Port Coquitlam at Terry Fox secondary school. He was first elected to Pitt Meadows council in 2011.
Murray gave his resignation to mayor Becker on Sunday, and Becker tabled it at an emergency council meeting on Monday.
His resignation doesn't officially take effect until Jan. 2, 2018—instead he's been placed on unpaid leave effective immediately. Becker said Murray wanted to do that to avoid automatically triggering a by-election. By January, a byelection won't be required because the 2018 municipal election will be less than a year away. Becker said the city council is expected to decide whether or not a by-election will be called by the end of November.
The resignation came after days of mounting pressure from the public and other councillors for Murray to resign.
"He should've resigned originally. I don't know the reasons why he didn't, but I'm happy that he finally has now," one Pitt Meadows resident told CTV News.
Becker said it's a problem from time to time across B.C. when elected officials are convicted of crimes but don't step aside.
He referenced the case of former Port Coquitlam mayor Scott Young who was arrested in 2002 and 2007 for allegedly assaulting his wife and ex-girlfriend, then pleaded guilty to two counts of assault in 2008 – all during his term as mayor.
"That gap in our legislative authority is something that I will be following up with [the province]," he said.
Becker added that once the titillation of a councillor being convicted and then being asked to resign blows over, he hopes the focus shifts to support systems and services for victims.
"What is that we don't have… that delayed [this person] for 25 years before feeling confident enough to pursue this through the judicial system?"
