A funny thing happened online this week. Well, actually, two did. First, video of yours truly being interviewed about this newspaper's role in the municipal election was posted on MySquamish.com. Fourteen minutes of far too many umms and ahhs, it was. This writer's not about to give up his day job for a career in broadcasting, eh?
The second funny thing happened when Bianca Peters, who is working with Denise Imbeau and MySquamish.com to shoot a series election-related videos, posted a link to the video on the Facebook group Squamish Speaks. But she didn't say what it was. Someone named Tammie - pleased to meet you on Facebook - asked what yours truly thought was a legitimate question: "Bianca, what is this it looks like spam." Another group member chimed in, "It's a video of David Burke from The Chief talking about the election."
To which yours truly added, "In other words, Tammie, it's spam."
If you're a non-voter or an extremely cynical one, of course, it's all spam. But at least some of it really matters -"it" being election-related discussion/writing/talk. And while sometimes it's difficult to get excited and engaged right on schedule, every three years, this election offers Squamish-area residents clear choices - two (formerly three) mayoral hopefuls with distinctly different experiences and styles, 23 committed, capable people with great ideas and a willingness to serve by receiving part-time pay for what's often nearly a full-time endeavour, four articulate people seeking two seats on the School District 48 board of trustees, and five people from diverse backgrounds running for the right to represent the far-flung Squamish-Lillooet Regional District Electoral Area D.
The great thing about the process is that it's you who gets to decide what's spam and what's legit and, using your own powers of deduction, come to a decision about who would best represent yours and the community's interest on our local decision-making bodies. You can weight those factors any way you like -if you're most concerned about rising taxes, you can vote mostly based on your own self-interest; if it's transit or the Oceanfront or trails that concerns you most, vote for someone who has pledged to take us down the "right" road on those fronts. You determine which route is "right."
This week The Chief received a letter, signed by most of the candidates in tomorrow's (Nov. 19) local elections, stating their "collective goal to make Squamish and surroundings the community with the highest voter turnout in B.C." That, coincidentally, is just what yours truly said at the outset of that 14 minutes of too many umms and ahhs - that we at The Chief measure our success in voter turnout. We urge you to follow the candidates' urging, using the contents of this newspaper, online social media, the many candidates' forums, candidates' websites or printed literature, signs or even tarot cards as your guide. But you might want to give a certain MySquamish.com video a miss, eh?
- David Burke
