I don't remember the exact time, but sometime this year I discovered I have spidey-sense. Not that I can see the future or shoot web from my wrists (no matter how hard I try), rather it's just the feeling I get when I'm really excited about something big.
This could be anything from planning a bottomless powder ski trip to thinking about what my kids are going to be when they grow up. I'm also very happy to report that my spidey-sense has been going crazy since being elected councilor.
This happens when thinking about our Oceanfront possibilities as well as the first time I watched the new Tourism Squamish Spirit of Squamish videos.
Recently there have been two big ones I'd like to share. First is the new conference center at the Railway Park. This building is holy-cow exciting because having a venue that can handle 1,500 people opens up our town to a whole new universe of events.
To fully appreciate the space one needs to check it out from the balcony to see that with the proper sound engineering this place is going to go-off.
The latest excitement comes from something I can at least take partial credit for as a member of council. It's kind of funny. Lately when discussing some important issues I've had a few people comment "You knew what you were getting yourself into."
This cracks me up because it's absolutely true. But whereas they use that argument to say I wasn't elected to actually change anything, I see it as further encouragement to do what I promised to do.
So it is with great excitement I announce that one of the things I knew had to change is being changed. (Insert trumpet fanfare here) Introducing the Service Squamish Initiative!
Say what?
In a nutshell it's the plan to fix the district. In our community there are very few things absolutely everyone agrees on. Perhaps the most widely held belief is that the District of Squamish was a broken dinosaur of an organization.
I say "was" because now we have what I hope will be the beginning of our productive future. This initiative addresses (among other things) effective communication, streamlining process, transparent long term-strategies, aligns resources, and best of all it rewards leadership in the organization. This is amazing.
Plus there are benchmarks that will tell us exactly where things are and where they are going.
It is exciting times my friends and it's important to note it could not have been done without our CAO Kevin Ramsay who in six months has certainly met some very high expectations.
That's about it for now. I'll end by encouraging you to sign up for my monthly e-newsletter at www.bryanraiser.com - or just email me at [email protected].
This newsletter is handy to give you a glimpse into this nutty job as well it serves as a reminder that you can contact me at any time. And that point is huge since this job is all about communication.
