With 21 candidates running for seven positions, there was more defeat than victory during the municipal election Saturday (Nov. 15). But the unsuccessful hopefuls took their loss graciously. Defeated incumbent Jeff McKenzie hovered at the election site at Brennan Park awaiting results. McKenzie had a positive spin on the final tally."You win if you win and you win if you lose," he said. "You don't have to have your private life out there."McKenzie added he would remain active and involved in community issues, specifying support for Garibaldi at Squamish as a top priority. The second defeated incumbent, Mike Jenson, who lost his seat on council by 85 votes, said he was disappointed, but he's saving his signs."I thought the last three years were good and I enjoyed myself on council."Jenson said the new council is a good group that was able to get along and listen to each other during all-candidates meetings. However a few of them may be surprised at the workload, he said."Terrill Patterson talks about all these secret meetings - well, we have an in-camera meeting twice a month, or three times a monththere's an awful lot that goes through our agendas." Jenson had one parting piece of advice for the new council members."To be an effective councillor you have to be on the street, talking to people and being involved."Jenson said he's taking time to decompress after the campaigning, and will travel to Cuba at the end of the month. Patterson, who lost his bid for mayor, saw the results of the election as a victory for his cause."I had two goals, I wanted to push the turnout between 4,500 and 5,000, I wanted to get rid of at least two of the existing council, and we fulfilled those things. So that to me was worth the effort."Donna Billy said she was encouraged by her 1,299 votes."I thought I did pretty good for first time running, myself. I've never ran before. I thought I had a really good response, so I'm not going to stop trying. I'm going to run in another three years."In the meantime, she said, she hopes the new council focuses on social issues. "They're not listening to the common person. Sure money does a lot of things. Corinne [Lonsdale] and Patricia Heintzman are right down with the homeless and trying their best to get that solved. But we need community involvement before that will happen."Billy also said she wants to continue building relations between the district and Squamish Nation. "They don't have the bridging with the Nation and I was hoping to be that. Maybe there was small things, tiny steps, but common now, it's 2008. Let's with the picture here. Squamish Nation does a lot of economic development and so do a lot of other First Nations like Mt. Currie."Catherine Jackson, who was celebrating re-elected councillor Patricia Heintzman's win in Brackendale rather than bemoaning her loss Saturday evening, said she continues to hope for great things for Squamish. "I hope we all make progress and work together to a prosperous future that builds on our strengths and appreciate our natural assets. I hope we all communicate and listen to each other to achieve prosperity."The youngest candidate to run, 21-year-old David Clarkson, said he wasn't surprised by the loss, and already has plans set for the next three years."I was talking to my mom earlier today and I said 'Either I get in and I do this for three years or I'll focus on school and traveling for the next three years."Not all defeated candidate took as positive a view of events, however. Alan Forsythe, who received 636 votes, delivered his opinion over voter turnout in an online news article entitled "Greg Gardner's mandate built on limited numbers.""Yes Greg Gardner was running against what amounted to two protest candidates, but why did no serious candidate step forward?" he asks. SLRD error causes furorThe Squamish Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) also held its election Saturday evening (Nov. 15). And for many residents of Area D, which encompasses Furry Creek and Britannia Beach, the evening's results caused a minor furor. Emails flew fast and furious after the provincially-administered Civic Info website and The Chief website ran with SLRD Electoral Officer Allison Macdonald's reversed results. Her results shows Terrill Patterson, who traditionally throws his name on the ballot, had 114 votes while longtime SLRD director and former chair John Turner with 18. It took several hours for the error to be remedied."Fortunately, Allison had called me earlier in the evening to let me know the results of the election," said Turner. "I received calls from members of the community who had helped me with the campaign saying that they had a sleepless night wondering how this could have happened. Obviously, it was cleared up fairly soon and I guess mistakes can happen."Upon hearing of his victory from a Chief reporter, Patterson exclaimed: "I hope not!" Afterward he said he knew it was a mistake because "there's no way they would were going to allow me to take a seat there or anywhere else."
