A new year, a new council. Hope springs eternal. Popular writer, community advocate and second-term Coun. Bryan Raiser believes "Squamish must be a place where opportunities still exist to own your own home, make a good living and raise a family."
Former bank manager and newly minted Mayor Rob Kirkham tells us the priorities of this council "will entail making decisions based on thoughtful consideration of fiscal responsibility and long-term consequences." Retired trial lawyer and second-term Coun. Doug Race says, "It is important to ensure that money is well spent and that we are careful about setting priorities for spending."
Third-term Coun. Patricia Heintzman, a former president of the Squamish Chamber of Commerce and a previous board member of the Squamish Oceanfront Development Corp. (SODC) believes in "finding solutions to complex challenges" and "making Squamish a leader in sustainable community development."
Council rookie Ron Sander is the manager of a major port operation on the North Shore and a prolific community volunteer. He's all for "developing a strong local economy with family supporting jobs, a solid tax base and revenue from District-owned lands."
Susan Chapelle, another council newcomer and small business operator who was selected the Registered Massage Therapist of the Year for B.C. in 2010, says, "In times of limited finances and shrinking budgets, as well as more complex and difficult issues, we need creative ideas and innovative solutions."
Ted Prior, who is also sitting on council for the first time, is a past president of the Squamish Trails Society and a former member of the SODC board. He says he wants "to provide a live/work/play community for my children, your children and all our families and friend."
Great stuff - let's hope many of these ambitious seeds sown on the campaign trail grow to fruition. Although every member of council wants Squamish to succeed, the exodus of good jobs, sagging property values and a stagnant tax base will be tough to reverse in the next three years.
A strong case can be made for moving ahead with the multi-million-dollar Oceanfront development project. The hard part will be finding a developer with plenty of loose cash to buy into the dream scheme at the same time as similar projects in the immediate vicinity of the Oceanfront property sink deeper into insolvency.
The company that proposed building 1,300 housing units along the Mamquam Blind Channel is suddenly up to its armpits in foreclosure red ink. On the other side of the channel, Aqua at Coastal Village has been in fire-sale mode for some time now after being forced to ingest a heavy dose of receivership hemlock.
There is no question this newest edition of council has a high level of competence, energy and vision. But all seven should remember what the Red Queen told Alice on her journey through Wonderland: "Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do to stay in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!"
