PENTICTON HERALD: You once worked for municipal government when elections were held annually. Was that crazy?

RDOS CAO BILL NEWELL: That was decades ago and, at the time, it worked. As the complexity of issues increased and the knowledge required to run a large corporation increased, provinces started moving to two-year terms, then three-year terms and now, British Columbia is moving to a four-year term for municipal politicians.

Administrators always hope for some continuity in a board or council after an election, but governments perpetuate and those newly elected individuals have to learn how to work on an elected body in a short period of time. They need to know the legislation and how to get things done. The longer the term, the less time should be required for orientation and more time should be available for setting direction and accomplishing goals.

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