As we start the new year, it’s time to offer the members of our recently minted council some hot tips about navigating the turbulent local political seas.
From the beginning it will be essential to learn the fine art of compromise because any initiatives councillors propose will have limited success unless they can convince their colleagues to buy in. Avoid loose-cannon pronouncements during council meetings, or other forums; anticipate what impact your declarations will have, both short and long term. Stay focused on community issues. Yes, healthy eating habits are important and so is climate change, but council meetings are not the primary podium for pet dietary theories and personal global vision statements. Nor should they become platforms for animated lobby groups seeking a rubber stamp for ongoing bylaw violations. Last April’s skatebowl under the Quest University bridge fiasco is a prime example of that scenario.
Remember to reinforce the “Squamish is open for business” message. The district has re-zoned large tracts of industrial land to residential, thus limiting space for new manufacturing, or other light industries. As well, a lack of affordable land zoned for heavy industry is undermining the booming local forestry industry.
A planned four-storey spiritual centre, complete with a multi-purpose hall, a restaurant, a bakery, a bookstore, an art gallery and affordable housing, has recently been mothballed by the frustrated proponent because of municipal zoning delays. That site, located on the south end of Cleveland Avenue near the Howe Sound Brew Pub, is now for sale. At the moment it is just another empty lot, joining the pantheon of vacant weed and debris-strewn properties downtown.
Former Squamish mayor and retired councillor Corinne Lonsdale warns new councillors “the amount of reading material is mind-boggling and time consuming, and nothing happens overnight, or fast enough. Bureaucracy gets in the way and it seems to me we are constantly adding to that bureaucracy, more staff and new criteria.”
She adds that recently elected councillors frequently talk about more transparency, but “they will be amazed at how much privileged information council must deal with. In-camera regulations are always strictly adhered to and policed by the municipal clerk.”
And the final word goes to Bryan Raiser, a recent graduate of the muni hall school of hard knocks. He recommends that new councillors get “used to being scrutinized every second of their lives... there are people in town who now hate them. Most won’t say anything to their face but will actively do so behind their backs... so a tough skin is essential.”
