A byelection provides the electorate with a unique opportunity to put fresh ideas onto a city council.
First, a look back to what’s been lost when Al Greir announced this week he is leaving his Parksville council seat due to health concerns.
Al Greir cares about this community and the way it is governed and the way it taxes its home/business owners. Often he was the lone voice in the wilderness, always first to ask how much something would cost and how the city would pay for it.
Greir, a long-time business owner, was also often was the only person on council who didn’t automatically take the word/direction of city staff. He understood the people of the city voted for the councillors, not the staff. Sadly, that simple fact is lost on some former/current members of council.
Greir, it should be noted, was the only councillor in this current government to speak against the onslaught of in-camera (behind-closed-doors) meetings being conducted in this term.
Always right-of-centre politically and never afraid to reveal that, Greir was getting pretty lonely on this council. He was pretty lonely when it came to demanding transparency. He was pretty lonely when it came to hard questions on spending and the city funding initiatives that were, in his view, beyond the purview of the municipality.
And for all those reasons, Al Greir will be missed.
Thing is, if residents were to send an Al Greir clone to council in a byelection, he/she will likely have little effect. Mayor Marc Lefebvre seems to have a defer-to-staff mandate. He also seems determined to get into social issues and there’s no shortage of willing council comrades to go along.
This council would rather spend time trying to end world hunger than spur economic development. You can decide which of the two a municipal government can have more success with.
Every one of the people who currently sit on this city council seem to be people who truly care about the community. That is not in question, at least not from our perspective. We are not sure, however, what some of these councillors thought they were signing up for.
It’s a municipal government. Think potholes, zoning and making the city attractive for investment so people can get good, private-sector jobs that fund the tax coffers. The senior governments who continue to download responsibilities are loving Parksville’s social zeal. If they are paying attention, these senior governments might also be happy to see a man like Al Greir leave.
— Editorial by John Harding
