No, that's not a printing error, folks. A whopping 23 council candidates and three mayoral wannabes have thrown their hats into the ring in the upcoming municipal election. Decisions, decisions, decisions.
So, what can candidates do to make themselves more electable? Start with a clear platform, light on fuzzy promises and heavy on explicit details. Forget the usual feel-good platitudes about how lucky we are to live in this little patch of paradise. Control the urge to overuse the strained buzzwords "sustainability" and "green." Go easy on the standard-issue promise of jobs, jobs, jobs unless you can provide specifics. Don't try to impress the electorate with a list of committees and associations you've joined. Voters are not looking for joiners; they want leaders. Tell voters how you have helped to take those organizations to the next level.
Avoid trotting out that old election chestnut about municipal tax cuts, unless you have a thorough understanding of the district's fiscal base. Do your homework. Read the 2010 Community Services Policy and Land Development Annual Report. It offers an overview of various key district departments and initiatives like the Official Community Plan and the Oceanfront Sub Area Plan. The report also provides a business development trend analysis. Another source of information is the recently released Draft Economic Development Recommendations which presents a quick overview of the history of economic development and tourism functions in Squamish and offers a comparison of similar initiatives in various B.C. communities.
If you want to get a feeling for where the local business landscape is heading in the near future, talk to the proprietors of a Squamish-based start-up high-tech outfit called Tristorm Product Design. With an employee base that has grown from six to 17 the company is ready to move into the big leagues by cutting a deal with Microsoft. Contact leading members of the Downtown Business Improvement Association, the Chamber of Commerce and the Squamish Oceanfront Development Corp. Get in touch with our recently minted Economic Development Officer about major initiatives his department is undertaking.
Get the book on issues facing various constituencies within the District of Squamish, including the East Indian and Squamish Nation communities.
By all means, be sure to talk to outgoing council members Greg Gardner, Corinne Lonsdale and Paul Lalli. They've got an extensive database of insider information. They may be ready to let a few cats out of the bag. The drawback is you could end up herding cats, an unenviable task at the best of times.
In any event, after everything is said and done, let's not forget that voter behaviour in the Outdoor Rec Capital of the nation is hard to pin down. Two elections ago, Terrill Patterson, our resident eccentric and self-styled council watchdog, whose principal mode of transportation is a bicycle hauling a booty trailer, ran for mayor against the incumbent of the day. He came within a whisker of being elected on a platform based, for the most part, on accusations of chronic mendacity, general incompetence and fiscal mismanagement at muni hall.
