A Pitt Meadows city councillor convicted of sexual assault earlier this week has resigned from his post, according the city’s mayor.
In a Facebook post, Mayor John Becker said Sunday that David Murray has submitted his resignation.
“As promised, I am writing to report that today I met with David Murray and obtained his resignation from City Council. There are matters that are required to be addressed by Council in a closed meeting. I will be tasking staff to organize a special closed meeting for Monday, October 30, 2017. I am not going to be releasing any more information on this matter until presenting my report to City Council for direction.”
John Becker says he will be reaching out to the provincial government to change the rules so council can deal with the problem.
“The status quo is absolutely unacceptable. A mayor and the rest of council cannot work in this environment of uncertainty when the public is clamoring for action, and we are absolutely powerless to make it happen within the time frame that we all wish we had.”
Councillor Bill Dingwall, who had previously called for Murray’s resignation, said he learned about the news on Facebook and he still has some questions.
WATCH: Pitt Meadows councillor charges
“I have no idea if it’s effective immediately, whether there is any sort of paid leave, unpaid leave,” he said. “I don’t know any of the details around this because I’m getting the same information as the public is.”
David Murray was found guilty Wednesday of an offence dating back two decades, but remained on council.
More than 1,000 people signed an online petition calling for Murray to be removed from council.
At least two councillors, Tracy Miyashita and Dingwall, also called for Murray’s resignation.
–With files from Kyle Benning
Comments