In the Jan. 14 edition of the Boundary Creek Times, a concerned citizen gave a “slug” to the paper for commenting on the future byelection necessitated by the passing of Councillor Nola Tutti and all the “hoopla” surrounding it, in the same edition of the paper in which her obituary appeared.
I don’t quite understand their issue. Nola’s passing, two weeks earlier, was tragic, especially so considering the death of her husband just two months prior to her own. A terrible loss to her family and anyone close to her, but also a loss to Greenwood. We’ll never know how great a loss.
Her professional background and global experience brought a perspective to Greenwood which Greenwood sorely needs, and as she settled in to her position as councillor, I’m sure her contribution to our city would have been substantial. That alone, in my opinion, makes mention of the byelection completely within the bounds of “decorum”.
I think, however, that the mention of potential “hoopla” surrounding the byelection is what irked the slugger, and I think its mention might have irked them at any time.
But given the contrast between Nola’s cooperative personality and, what seems to me to be the chronically disgruntled and ego-driven behaviour of some of the people who might want to fill her tragically vacated position, making mention of the discordant situation our town might soon face only increases our awareness of the value of the person now lost to us—even to those of us who didn’t know her personally.
As an aside: from my understanding, Nola and Ed, though never having served on Greenwood council before, inherited the responsibility for a lawsuit directed at a previous council. That being the case, anyone interested in becoming a councillor might want to consult a lawyer prior to entering the ring . . .
Curtis Chamberlain, Greenwood
