Five people from diverse backgrounds are seeking to represent Electoral Area D on the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) board for the next three years.
Two realtors (Lisa Ames, Nancy Hamilton), a stone mason (Maurice Freitag), a semi-retired dentist (Bruce Bessie) and a film industry worker (Debra McBride) are all seeking to fill the seat being vacated by three-term board member John Turner. The winner of the Nov. 19 contest will represent about 900 people living in Furry Creek, Britannia Beach, Ring Creek, the upper Squamish and Paradise valleys and Pinecrest/Black Tusk on the regional district board.
Ames is currently sitting on the Village of Pemberton council but moved to Squamish about a year ago. Some friends urged her to run for Squamish council, but she said she felt as though she was "too new" in town to have a strong knowledge of local issues.
Ames does, however, profess to have good connections in local political circles and a grasp of the big picture when it comes to corridor governance, she said.
She said a meeting with Turner, who has represented Area D on the regional district board for the past nine years, at the recent Union of B.C. Municipalities "planted the seed" for a possible run at the seat.
"I have experience sitting as Jordan's (Pemberton Mayor Jordan Sturdy) alternate at the regional district board. The SLRD is doing a new Official Community Plan. I've just been through that in Pemberton, and I've had some involvement with the Governance Restructuring and the Regional Growth Strategy as well, so it seemed like a natural," Ames said.
"There are a lot of similarities with the SLRD and how the rural areas deal with the more urban parts of the district, and there are some skills and knowledge that I think I can help with there."
Hamilton, who also lives in Squamish, said she has a good working knowledge of the area through her work as a realtor. Hamilton touted her experience working with the Squamish Helping Hands Society, of which she has been a board member, as well as with the Squamish Chamber of Commerce and the Callaghan Local Organizing Committee (CALOC), of which she was a founding member.
Hamilton said she plans to visit all the Area D communities to get a better sense of what people's most pressing concerns are. She was generally supportive of the idea -which has been mentioned at the SLRD board table -of having Britannia, Furry Creek and Porteau Cove explore the possibility of becoming a new municipal entity that's been tentatively branded as Howe Sound East.
But she said she would consult with residents before taking the next step.
"I've got to get out and make sure I hear everyone, know what's going on, and work to be sure I can deliver on what citizens want," Hamilton said. "I'm an action-oriented person. I want to see what kind of things you can ignite and what kind of things you can make happen."
Freitag has lived in the area for seven years, the past four in Britannia Beach. He served as president of the Squamish Chamber of Commerce for the past 10 months, a position from which he has taken a leave of absence. He said he also contemplated running for Squamish council before deciding to seek the Area D post instead.
"I drove around (Squamish) city hall for a good half hour last Friday with both sets of papers set to go and I said to myself, 'What is really right?' And I think what's right is for me to run where I live," he said.
Freitag said that while each community in the area is unique, all require strong representation at all levels of government.
"I definitely have accumulated a decent amount of experience in the last seven years sitting on various boards in Squamish," he said. "I'm very comfortable with our provincial MLA, Joan McIntyre. I've met with (Member of Parliament) John Weston on at least half a dozen occasions on issues."
Bessie has lived in the corridor for 40 years including stints in Pinecrest, Whistler and now Furry Creek. He has served on the Select Committee on Tourism in Squamish, has served as president of the Furry Creek Community Association and as chair of the Oliver's Landing Strata Corp. He also was a contributor to the formation of the Howe Sound East Fire Department.
Bessie said that while the communities in Area D are diverse, it's important that the person elected to represent them stay in regular contact with the various community associations to keep abreast of the issues that are important to residents.
"If you really want to get the heart and soul of the community, you have to be in regular contact with the community associations," he said.
He said he's a strong supporter of enhancing the corridor's tourism marketing and infrastructure.
"I strongly support businesses and embrace the notion of this being a tourism corridor," Bessie said. "I've heard sometimes that there are regulatory hurdles and I want to see if those increase the difficulty of developing in the corridor. I also don't feel there's a lot of openness and transparency at the SLRD level, and I'd like it to be totally open."
McBride, who is also seeking a seat on Squamish council, said she used to live in Britannia Beach and found it an extremely friendly community. "People don't pass you at the bus stop and they don't leave you at Save-On. They give you a ride," McBride said. "It was a very wonderful experience to have lived there."
A strong environmentalist, McBride said she has been helping with the restoration effort on the Cheakamus River in the aftermath of the 2005 toxic soda spill. She said she believes the corridor's long-term future depends to a large degree on the continued improvement in its environmental health.
"Nature is restoring itself after our major industries have left and we need to take advantage of that and use it to enhance our survival," McBride said.
"We've found a way to bring people in off the highway and promote Squanish as a place to have fun. This is a great thing - it's a non-polluting industry that helps enhance our survival."
