March 8, 1991

NEWS photo Stuart Davis

Stolen moment

THREE PEOPLE face break and enter and possession of stolen property charges following the
March 4 ransacking of a home in the 5400-block of Marine Drive. According to a West Van-
couver Police spokesman, two Vancouver men and a woman staked out a house and stole
approximately $2,000 worth of property. They then calied for a cab to leave the scene. Police
were tipped off and arrested the three. Facing the charges are Allan Lucian Frechette, 23;
Miliana Arentsen, 19; and a 16-year-old mate youth. All are of no fixed address.

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84 pages 25¢

Conflict charges denied

Allegations fly over
deprivatization of
garbage collection
in North Van City

TWO NORTH Vancouver City aldermen have vehemently
denied conflict of interest allegations levelled at them

Monday night by a fellow

alderman over the issue of

deprivatizing garbage collection in the city.

The allegations, made by Ald.
Rod Clark against Aidermen Bill
Bell and Barbara Sharp, dominat-
ed Monday night's debate over the
proposed $410,000 acquisition of
trucks for the in-house collection
.of city garbage.

By Pamela Lang
Contributing Writer

Opposing the motion to in-
troduce an acquisition byiaw for
the three trucks, Clark again criti-
cized the process that had led to
council’s recent decision to
deprivatize the city’s garbage col-
lection.

Council voted 5-2 on Feb. 18 to
deprivatize ine collection of gar-
bage in the municipality and give
the job back to unionized city
employees.

Laidlaw Waste Systems Lid.
had been collecting the city’s gar-
bage since 1983, when council
took the work away from city
employees and tendered it to the
private sector.

Clark said that, with no public
input, no public tender and an in-
side track for CUPE (the Cana-
dian Union of Public Employees),
“the process has hardly been
fair.’”

And because CUPE endorsed
and possibly helped fund the re-
election campaigns of Beil and
Sharp, Clark maintained that the
two aldermen were in a conflict of
iiterest position on the garbage
collection issue.

“Surely Ald. Bell and Sharp are
in conflict of interest when the
reople they sit in judgement of
have given money to them for re-
election,’’ Clark said. ‘‘l call on
Ald. Bell and Ald. Sharp to ex-
empt themselves during this item
due to a conflict of interest.””

But in a prepared statement
released after the council meeting,
Bell stated that ‘‘Ald. Clark is ig-
norant of the law around conflict
of interest and slander. His
vicious and premeditated attack
on the good reputation of myself
and Ald. Sharp shows a complete
disregard for the entire council.
He's obviously been watching too
much BCTV news.

“There is no conflict of inter-

NORTH VANCOUVER
CITY COUNCIL

est, and if Ald. Clark had
bothered to check his false ac-
cusation out with the Union of
B.C. Municipalities’ lawyer or the
city solicitor, as we have, he might
not have made his irresponsible
statements. I’ve called for com-
plete disclosure in the past and
council in 1988 decided against

Bell stated that he and Sharp
had called for strict election
disclosure faws for municipal can-
didates following Monday's
meeting.

He added that ‘I’ve never hid-
den anything and have actively
publicized my position during the
1985, 1987 and 1990 municipal
elections on the matter of
deprivatization of garbage and the
support that I have received from
various unions, community
groups, businesses and CUPE.”’

At the meeting, Bell accused
Clark of ‘‘grandstanding’’ and
debating a previously passed mo-
tion.

He said Clark’s comments con-
stituted ‘defamation of another
council member”? and a ‘‘very
serious accusation’’ about which
he hoped Clark had consulted a
lawyer.

Sharp said that many groups
endorsed her campaign and she
cannot be called in conflict on
issues related to every supporter.

“Does this mean because | was
endorsed by CARA that I should
not have voted in favor of
dedicating the parks on the public
referendum?’’ Sharp said.

According to Derek Corrigan, a
lawyer representing Sharp and
Bell, the two aldermen had receiv-
ed advice from both the city clerk
and the solicitor for the Union of
B.C. Municipalities stating that
Bell and Sharp were not in a con-
flict of interest situation prior to
Ald. Clark's statements on Mon-
day night.

Corrigan has demanded Clark
publicly retract his statements
about Bell and Sharp at the neni

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