Next month’s municipal elections will be held on the last quarter of the waning moon; when those hopeful of basking in the glow of city hall’s klieg lights will stand before the electorate like so many sacrificial lambs for the slaughter.
There are already a few contenders announced in Parksville; some unknowns, some retreads, and at least one hoping for redemption.
We, the electorate, hold the keys, and when given a slate of candidates on Election Day, some of us may remember past actions that turn us away from a particular candidate.
Of the six current members of Parksville city council, two are remnants of the regime of Randy Longmuir, a one-term mayor remembered for leading a unanimous vote that changed our city’s waterfront for ever.
His entire council disregarded pleas from the voters at public meetings, and went full steam ahead to build the eyesore known as The Beach Club.
I’ve never again voted for any politician who was part of that decision, nor the one to create the traffic chaos on the section of Alberni Highway that we now ruefully call Snafu Avenue.
Two current councillors came aboard when Sandy Herle served her single term as mayor, never forgotten for trying to force a fire hall renovation that would have cost taxpayers over $11 million after compound interest was paid, and for mocking and trying to silence the only councillor who stood up against the monetary mayhem.
When citizens used their constitutional rights to force, and win, a referendum to void the contentious proposed fire hall loan, they received more mockery from the powers-that-be. Another awful legacy of that regime — to whom public opinion just didn’t seem to matter — is the $ 500,000 sandy dirt berm built on a section of the beach, now resembling a part of Tripoli after the NATO bombers paid an uninvited visit.
Two other current councillors were elected with the half-term Mayor Ed Mayne, and totally supported his ill-fated Transportation Master Plan, which turned out to be yet another all-expenses-paid boondoggle for consultants and bureaucratic buddies.
I’ve always known that municipal powers will never impose term limits on themselves, so I will never vote for those who have betrayed the electorate’s trust on serious issues in the past.
It’s a form of voters imposing term limits, if you like; at most municipal elections I usually find only three or four candidates worthy of my vote. On November 19, I urge your readers to research before entering the polling booth, and come out in large numbers.
Bernie Smith, Parksville
