Corinne Lonsdale has spent 25 years in a leadership role in Squamish - nine years as mayor, 16 on council. And during a recent interview with The Chief, she reveals (below) that even though she's not running in this election, she may not be done yet.
She also has lots to say about the challenges facing the community, and about the current crop of candidates. Last week, in the first part of a two-part series of Q&As with Lonsdale, she talked mostly about the past -her public persona and the triumphs and frustrations of her time in public life. This week's focus is on the present and future - the challenges the community faces as it goes the polls to elect the people who will lead it over the next three years.
What appears here is a transcript of the interview, but with short segments edited out for brevity. Those segments are signified by an ellipsis ().
CHIEF: Why did you decide in 2002 not to seek re-election as mayor? Did you just decide to step back a bit?
LONSDALE: I actually worked in a bank for 30 years before I was elected mayor, and I resigned from that when I was elected because I believed it was a full-time job. I still think it is.
CHIEF: It was still a part-time job at that point?
LONSDALE: It's never been a part-time anything. It is what you want it to be. It's not a job. It's a hobby. You cannot get unemployment insurance; you do not pay unemployment insurance. It's a community service. It's not unlike other things, just on a different scale in terms of volunteering. And you do get a stipend.
I viewed it as full-time; you can't do it any other way, particularly at that time, it was a small staff so it is what you make it. It is what you want it to be. Some of the things I did when I was mayor - I sat on the regional district as well I sat on UBCM (Union of B.C. Municipalities) and got elected to that. And those other things took time too. So I was really involved regionally I'll bet I was involved in 15 or 20 different organizations. And when anyone invited the mayor to an event, they really wanted the mayor. They didn't want a councillor. So I really made an effort to attend every function that I was invited to. I tried. My personal life really took a back seat; my family took a back seat. So after nine years I just thought it was time that I made time for my family again.
After that I felt like being a councillor would be more like a hobby, and over the past nine years I've enjoyed every minute of it and I'm just so thankful that the people of this community have continued to put their trust in me. Not too many people have had the opportunity to serve the community like that, but I have.
CHIEF: It sounds like the last few years have really been rewarding for you, with the ability to take things at a more measured pace
LONSDALE: Yes. I've really enjoyed being a councillor. Not to say that I would never run for mayor again. Who knows what happens in the future? I'm leaving now, but leaving local government is a little different than leaving the bank or wherever. I could go back to the bank and maybe get my job back at Municipal Hall, I could go back and I could put my name in there in three years, and if I can still gain the confidence of the people, I could go right back and do it again. So I know that the door's not actually shut
CHIEF: What do you think are the most significant challenges facing Squamish over the next five to 10 years?
LONSDALE: Certainly SODC, the Oceanfront lands - certainly require a lot of work in the future. The airport - you know, the more things change, the more they stay the same. The Oceanfront lands have been an issue for the last 20 years as well in one way or another as well as the airport. Garibaldi at Squamish (GAS) - I don't believe we've seen the last of that one. It may surface again.
CHIEF: How do you feel about it (GAS)?
LONSDALE: I didn't like the last proposal. It was something quite different from what opened the door for them if they came back with what they were looking for back in '93 or whatever, maybe that would be feasible. It had a lot more emphasis on jobs and it was more compact but this is a very different [most recent] proposal and I don't support it. And on the other hand, the climate has changed in the last 20 years. I don't know whether what they proposed back in '93 is even feasible
Transit is huge. That's something that the new council has going to deal with right off the bat, as it's right out there. Landfill operations and the expansion, that's a big issue for us. I think this council has done a lot of good work setting the groundwork for the future
Managing our resources is critical we've got aging infrastructure that needs to be upgraded and I think it's really going to be a challenge to try to match the resources with the need. So that'll be an issue
CHIEF: Do you have any thoughts to offer about the current field of candidates?
LONSDALE: There are so many of them [laughs]. I know that we're [council meetings] televised, but you can't determine what it's all about by watching TV. You really need to be in the room, and I know that I've only seen maybe one or two of those council candidates at our meetings [as of Oct. 14, when the nominations period closed]. I'm really concerned about that because I'm not sure if they know what they're getting into. I'm not sure that they do. It's a huge commitment and it's not something to be taken lightly
Something I've learned that I would pass onto all of them is that it doesn't matter what you think. It's what the community thinks that is right. If they've decided that something is right, then the elected officials better figure out how to make it work. I've learned that with the airport and lots of other issues I've had to deal with.
CHIEF: Isn't there a certain element of the mayor or councillors needing to lead public opinion, lead the discussion?
LONSDALE: That's part of it. In some sense if there's a split there, the leaders should have done a better job of bringing the issue forward
Communication is so, so important. Some of the problems can be averted if you're engaging the community right from the get-go. Engaging the community is really a frustrating task, because as much as people say they want to be engaged, they rarely come out
If there's any other advice I'd have for councillors it to keep an open mind. You have to keep an open mind to perform the job adequately. I didn't say well, just adequately
CHIEF: I've been told that every time a new council is sworn in, it's a huge learning curve for the new members.
LONSDALE: That's true. If you've got a mayor who doesn't understand what the Community Charter is all about, who doesn't know the Local Government Act, the Procedural Bylaw - how meetings are supposed to be conducted at Municipal Hall -there's a huge learning curve, too much of a learning curve.
CHIEF: A couple of council candidates have said, 'Well, Squamish needs to attract another anchor employer'? Do you think that's realistic and is it something that should be pursued?
LONSDALE: You know, we have got an economic strategy. A lot of people are saying that they're really disappointed in what we've not done as opposed to what we have done most people are not involved, they're not in the council chambers. They really are only asking, 'Why isn't that happening?' And I think a lot of people may not even understand that we actually do have an economic development, er, sustainability officer. We're working on Phase 1 of our economic plan. I think if most people understand that we're working on a plan, which should done in about a year it's like you don't actually invite anybody to your house unless the table is properly set for dinner. Well, right now, we're making sure that our table is set
I just wish those that were running had more insight into what exactly is happening already. In a bad economy, we're no different than any other community in the country where it comes to attracting jobs. In fact, I would venture to say that over the last two-three years, we've done better than most.
