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Sechelt council candidates given first opportunity to impress

MUNICIPAL ELECTION
Sechelt council forum
The 15 candidates seeking a position on Sechelt council had a lively debate moderated by Keith Maxwell, right, at the Sechelt Seniors Activity Centre on Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 28.

Well over 300 people came out to hear what the 15 candidates for Sechelt council had to say on Oct. 28 during a forum organized by seniors advocate Sue Jackel at the Sechelt Seniors Activity Centre.

Candidates Jon Bell, Norm Blair, Darren Inkster, Alice Janisch, Terry Karkabe, Noel Muller, Ed Steeves, Christine Stefanik, Keith Thirkell, Michael Turner and Doug Wright and incumbents Tom Lamb, Alice Lutes, Mike Shanks and Darnelda Siegers tackled questions on issues such as Sechelt’s aging demographics, economic development, zoning, public consultation, jobs and why there were so many candidates running for office.

Sechelt residents will pick six of the 15 to represent them on council for the next four years.

With such a large number to choose from, voters were looking for those who stood out, and two candidates did, for all the wrong reasons.

Turner came in late to the event and was nervous from the start, fumbling his words, shaking and admitting he knew nothing about Sechelt’s new zoning bylaw 530, which could potentially change zoning throughout the entire District and has been the cause of much controversy.

“I’m not terribly familiar with what happened with that bylaw. I’m going to research that,” he said.

Janisch also stood out at the event for her side chatter while other candidates were speaking and her refusal to answer some questions, simply passing the microphone to the next speaker at times. She also had a much different take than the other candidates on supporting the youth and the elderly in the community.

“I don’t think you can babysit everybody who lives here, old or young,” Janisch said.

Most other candidates spoke about increasing jobs in health care and building new facilities to service the aging population as places Sechelt should focus their efforts in the future.

On the issue of zoning bylaw 530, one resident asked incumbents Lamb and Siegers particularly where they were when the new zoning changes were decided “without public input.”

At issue for the resident was the timeline given to the public to respond to the proposed changes, five days, which was extended after public protest.

Siegers said she was on council at the time and that staff decided the timeline for input from the public. Lamb agreed. However, later, incumbents Lutes and Shanks challenged the assertion.

“To blame staff is wrong,” Lutes said, adding that staff takes their direction from council.

“In this case perception was the reality,” Shanks noted. “People saw this as a non-consultative process except for a specific group, and when they detected that, they said ‘Foul. We need to have our input, so please allow us that entitlement.’ And that’s why it has, in fact, been postponed and hasn’t come back.”

On the issue of public consultation, most argued more was needed in Sechelt, and Thirkell made his first campaign promise to ask for a 90-day review of the new zoning bylaw if elected.

“Because I don’t think it’s fair that a special interest group that I won’t mention had numerous months of engagement with council to draft that,” he said.

On the issue of job creation, everyone who spoke acknowledged the need to do more to bring liveable wage earning jobs to Sechelt.

“Liveable wage jobs is the number one issue for young people here,” said Muller, Sechelt’s youngest candidate running for a position on council. “The more we make those jobs available, the more young people who will come over here, there’s no question in my mind about that.”

He pointed to value-added jobs as a possibility for Sechelt.

Bell noted jobs for all citizens not just youth were needed, and Wright said he was in favour of any job “as long as that particular job pays them enough money that they can afford to continue to live in Sechelt and spend their money in Sechelt.” 

The two-hour all-candidates meeting left little time for each candidate to speak before the time ran out. Another all-candidates meeting will be held by the Sechelt District and Chamber of Commerce on Nov. 6 from 6 to 9:30 p.m. at Chatelech Secondary School for those who want another chance to hear the candidates.

You can also learn more in our pull-out election section in today’s Coast Reporter where each candidate has submitted 250 words to introduce themselves.