Voters on Nov. 15 made a clear statement by electing a new mayor and voting down long-time councillors Ed Steeves and Mike Shanks in the District of Sechelt.
Just 38.5 per cent of the District's possible voters made their way to the polls, but keeping that number in perspective, Connie Jordison, co-ordinator of council and community affairs, said, "We are very happy with that. The overall average in the province was 22 per cent."
Of the 2,803 people who cast a ballot, close to 70 per cent of them chose Coun. Darren Inkster for mayor versus re-electing Cam Reid.
"Being mayor will have its challenges," Inkster said. "There are four new faces to this council table and a number of things to do I'm going to try my darnedest to make it cohesive, try to assemble a team, but we won't agree on everything."
Coun. Keith Thirkell received the popular vote of 1,682 ballots. He rejoins council for another term and said he is interested in finding a way to return Sechelt to being a marine community after a long hiatus.
"Our logo is a sailboat," he said. "Connecting Sechelt to Georgia Strait with a permanent, year-round float at the end of the pier is important. There has been no boat access in Sechelt for 30 years." Thirkell said this will attract tourists and bring economic growth to the town.
Re-elected Coun. Warren Allan finished with 1,665 votes. "The community has high expectations of this new council," Allan said. "I don't want us to load up our plate with too many things. We need to make a list of things that are attainable and finish what's in front of us."
New to the council table with 1,677 votes is Fred Taylor. "It's time to get down to work. We've got a big agenda," Taylor said.
Alice Lutes took 1,351 votes, finishing fifth. "It's time to make some calm decisions around sewer, development and water," Lutes said.Ann Kershaw has plenty of experience on council and garnered a seat for the next three-year term with 1,311 votes. She said she was pleasantly surprised to be elected, as all she was hearing from the community was "change, change, change. I guess I was considered a part of the old guard." Kershaw said she expects it "to be quiet on the development part and busy on the infrastructure part" with this newly elected council.
Alice Janisch received 1,667 votes, finishing third. "I think the out-going council got so excited about the development that came here they forgot about housekeeping," Janisch said, adding that the Supreme Court challenge regarding the Target Marine Hatcheries land rezoning needs to be addressed quickly.
Inkster commented on the Supreme Court challenge and said it will come down to "whether 'winability' will incur too high a cost to the District. Staff and legal council will make up part of our decision, and yes, some of us disagreed with it [the rezoning to allow a processing plant at Target Marine] but I'm going to use a fair and open approach and let council decide," he said.
Reid served two terms as a councillor before being elected for two terms as mayor. In his 12 years of service to the community, he said he thought local government dealt well with development and economic growth.
"Twelve years ago nothing was happening and nothing had happened in a long time. We suddenly felt the pressures of extreme growth moving in on us," Reid said. "The zoning was already there from 1986 for people to develop their land."
Reid said the community should be proud of the creation of the community forest and on-going efforts to improve the highways and airport. He also said the councils he served with were the first to take on social issues such as homelessness, which is a provincial mandate.
"Social service was not our role, and then we recognized we had to be there and then the province was there with us," Reid said, citing the recent announcement that eight units from the 2010 Olympics will be donated to Sechelt, among other initiatives.
While Reid said he is disappointed not to be able to finish projects left on the council drawing board, he said: "The people have spoken, and it's obvious they would like a change in leadership. I fully support the outcome and encourage everyone to support the government and work with them rather than criticize."
Reid's fourth grandson was born on Monday, making the election loss easier. He said his wife has been very supportive of him throughout his role as mayor, and he is looking forward to family time and rethinking what they would like to do in the future.
