The District of Squamish council this week elected a new board to help steer the future of the Oceanfront development, a move criticized by some councillors and others.
At a special business meeting on Tuesday (Oct. 25), council voted to reduce the size of the Squamish Oceanfront Development Corp.'s (SODC) board from nine to seven and appointed six new directors, leaving one seat empty.
Three SODC directors - chair Bill McNeney, Matt Fraser, Gregg Smyth - were re-appointed to the board. The newly appointed members included former SODC CEO Drew Stotesbury, Coun. Paul Lalli and Mayor Greg Gardner.
With Gardner absent from the meeting and Lalli having declared a conflict of interest, council's vote was split 3-2, with Coun. Bryan Raiser and Patricia Heintzman against the appointments.
Until now, the board's goal was to gather public consensus. With the Oceanfront Sub Area Plan in place and rezoning on the table, the board's next tasks involve business planning and marketing.
While Heintzman said she understands the restructuring, she doesn't think council's appointments achieved its objectives. Heintzman said she has nothing individually against the people appointed, but she wanted to see the board made up of more industry specialists, people who could take the project out into the marketplace.
"One of the biggest goals with trying to repopulate the board was to get that expertise," she said. "And we didn't do that with this nomination."
Council has been considering changing the makeup of the board since June, Coun. Rob Kirkham told The Chief. Council was seeking "a board that is a smaller, more dynamic board that can drive the project ahead," Kirkham said.
Stotesbury has worked on large projects similar to the Oceanfront development, Kirkham said. He was also a part of the management team that helped create the project's Sub Area Plan.
Gardner and Lalli will be huge assets to the board, Kirkham said. As mayor, Gardner has forged relationships with First Nations and both the provincial and federal governments - all potential partners needed to push the Oceanfront development forward, Kirkham said.
"Greg Gardner and Paul Lalli are absolutely committed. They have given their lives for the last three years, at least, to our community," he said.
However, Heintzman said she believes the optics on the appointments make it appear there was a lack of transparency. Although the process, such as interviewing, is kept private to protect those applying, that rule becomes blurry when council members bid for the job, she said.
With Gardner and Lalli - who are not seeking re-election - now sitting on the SODC board, they will be unable to participate in council decisions about the Oceanfront until after the Nov. 19 election because of conflict-of-interest rules, Heintzman said. This issue arose at a Committee of the Whole meeting when council discussed the SODC's debts. To avoid that dilemma, council should have handed its appointment recommendations to the new council, she said.
"There wasn't [a] need to do it before the elections, is my personal opinion," Heintzman said. "I would have preferred that a new council choose the direction of the board."
Until Tuesday, Tom Bruusgaard was a SODC board director, having served in that role for the past seven years. He applied to be re-appointed and was interviewed, he said, but was not named to the new board. Bruusgaard said he was surprised when he heard of the appointments.
"I was told that elected persons on district council should not be a board member by virtue of fact it could be a conflict," he said, noting that three years ago, Lalli and Coun. Doug Race resigned as SODC directors for that reason.
Bruusgaard said his concern lies with the project itself. The district and community have put a lot of time into the Oceanfront to get it to rezoning, he noted. Bruusgaard said he doesn't want to see the optics of board appointments hinder the plan's execution.
Although council has nominated new board members, until the SODC board meets, its members are not are not participating ones, Kirkham said. He said the situation is similar to the municipal elections in that once candidates are elected, they are not on council until they are sworn in.
"As far as I have been able to determine, there is nothing that precludes us from being board members as well as councillors," he said.
The appointments couldn't wait until after the elections because there are upcoming issues, such as the debt, that need to be dealt with now, Kirkham said.
"It [wouldn't] be appropriate to leave it to the next council to start that process all over again," Kirkham said. "We have a responsibility to our community and to the Squamish Oceanfront Development Corp. to provide the support that they need to get this up and running."
No matter what happens to the SODC board, it shouldn't affect the future of the project, said Mike Jenson, former SODC director, former councillor and current council candidate. The new council can stick with this board or appoint a new one, but the project's blueprint is in place, he noted.
"This is the community's project," Jenson said. "It doesn't matter which council or board is in place; they have to listen to the community."
