Only 24.2 per cent of electorate cast ballots
Sylvie Paillard
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Greg Gardner is the newest member of Squamish council after winning a byelection Saturday (June 24) in very convincing fashion.
Only 2,495 out of 10,300 eligible voters (24.2%) cast ballots in the byelection, caused by the death of Coun. Ray Peters who succumbed to throat cancer on March 31 of this year.
Gardner, a local car dealer and community activist, won 1,223 votes (49%), more than three times that of his closest rival, developer and trail builder Ted Prior, with 392 votes (15.7%), and only 70 votes less than the rest of the six candidates put together.
Veteran council watchdog Terrill Patterson placed third with 226 votes (9.1%), while accountant Larry McLennan, who was only 26 votes out of a council seat last November, placed fourth with 210 votes (8.4%).
Randy Lewis of the Squamish Nation placed fifth with 189 votes (7.6%), just ahead of Howe Sound Secondary School grad David Clarkson at 170 votes (6.8%). Environmental advocate Spencer Fitschen placed last in the field of seven candidates with 84 votes (3.3%).
Gardner said he was surprised and pleased by the landslide victory.
"I had no idea, quite honestly, what the outcome was going to be because I had certainly done no polling so it was impossible to gauge the results," he said. "I think that does give me a strong mandate to accomplish some of the things I want to accomplish on council."
Those include issues related to the rapid growth Squamish is currently facing, such as homelessness and affordable housing, said Gardner.
"I want to make sure the land use planning creates a situation where we get what we want in Squamish," he said.
Although many local political watchers expected Prior and Gardner to come in neck-and-neck, Prior said he's not fazed by Gardner's decisive victory.
"To lose is unfortunate but it's certainly not what you get out of the whole process," he said. "I won't be throwing my signs away."
Campaigning was an enjoyable process, said Prior on Tuesday (June 27) just before going on a six-week Winnebago holiday with his family.
"My favourite thing was meeting all the other candidates," he said. "You're finding yourselves all sitting in a row with the community looking at you. Some kind of camaraderie is built there."
Gardner said that although he found the "uncertainty of it all" unpleasant, he was very pleased with the tone of the campaign."We had a good group running and I think we raised a lot of issues and hopefully sparked some debate," he said.
Mayor Ian Sutherland congratulated all seven candidates on their "clean" campaign.
"Our last two elections was, to be honest, fairly negative with a lot of personal attacks," he said. "And this one, as far as I know, there were no personal attacks from anybody directed towards anybody."
Sutherland said despite Gardner's criticism of the Squamish Oceanfront Development Corporation's (SODC) approach to developing the former Nexen lands, which council has so far endorsed, he looks forward to having Gardner on council.
"Greg and I have agreed to disagree on the oceanfront for a while now," said Sutherland. "I think the advantage of Greg at the table - as opposed to what people may think - is it'll be a well-reasoned debate with good facts being exchanged, and we'll go where we go."
Sutherland said he's disappointed with the 24 per cent voter turnout since "local government is the one that affects people most." He said council has ideas for engaging more of the public.
"I talked to the mayor of Fort St. John and they've got an interesting approach, they webcast all their council meetings," he said. Squamish council is debating adopting the strategy, which Sutherland believes will make the "busy average citizen" more engaged in the local process.
Council members said they're happy to once again have a full complement in council chambers and are looking forward to getting on with business.
"The vote reflected his [Gardner's] issues and that of the electorate are the same," said Coun. Corinne Lonsdale. "He now has a strong mandate to bring those issues to the forefront. I believe Greg has many attributes that will be of value and look forward to working alongside him for at least the next couple of years."
Both councilors Patricia Heintzman and Raj Kahlon said Gardner will be an asset to council, and he should anticipate a challenging job ahead.
"He is going to find out pretty quick in council decisions are different and harder to make than personal business," said Kahlon."It's easy to talk these ideals," said Heintzman, "but actually making decisions is a complex challenge in which there are no perfect or universally popular answers."
Coun. Mike Jenson said all council members have a propensity for community volunteerism, so Gardner will fit right in."Being a councilor is just an extension of that volunteerism," said Jenson. "Greg has that."
Gardner said he's rearranging his schedule in both business and volunteerism to accommodate his new workload. He will be stepping down as chair of two volunteer organizations, as vice-chair of another and director of yet another. He said his first order of business is to get up to speed on internal matters within the District of Squamish.
