Marcus Madsen, who is the spouse of a Port Moody city councillor, stepped down from the Port Moody Police Board before he got a chance to serve on the volunteer body.
Madsen, who is the husband of PoMo Coun. Hunter Madsen, was appointed to the governing body by the provincial government after submitting his application.
But yesterday, Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General confirmed Madsen had stepped aside from the police board post to avoid any perceived or actual conflict of interest.
“This turn of events is extremely unfortunate. The board member has volunteered to step down and we appreciate his understanding. We believe he would have made a great member of the police board.
"His decision will avoid any perceived or actual conflict of interest for both the board member and the councillor, and will maintain the independent nature of police board."
The spokesperson also wrote: “Moving forward, we have a list of other qualified candidates that, on recommendation of the director of police services, the minister can appoint when cabinet sits in the fall 2019.
“Ministry staff will be reviewing its screening process with [the Crown Agency and Board Resourcing Office] to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
As reported last week, the posting had surprised the city’s outgoing acting mayor, who is staying on as chair of the police board as long as Mayor Rob Vagramov is on leave due to a sexual assault charge.
The next Port Moody Police Board meeting is July 8.
Meghan Lahti, whose acting mayor term ended June 30, told The Tri-City News last week the decision by the B.C. Policing and Security Branch was “out of the ordinary” because board members are supposed to be independent of council to do their job properly.
“While there isn’t anything explicit in the Police Act, I do know that there is always an effort placed to ensure there is no connection between members of the board and members of council,” Lahti said.
