Four candidates are now in the running for mayor of Gibsons after Coun. Silas White withdrew his candidacy, citing health and personal reasons.
Candidate Bill Beamish withdrew his council nomination to run for mayor instead last week, and Blake MacLeod also entered the race, filing nomination papers on Sept. 21.
Two more candidates, Les Thomson and William Moysey, entered the race on Sept. 24, just ahead of the new deadline for nominations.
Beamish, a 72-year-old former chief administrative officer for the Town, has also worked as interim CAO for the District of Sechelt and as a consultant with other jurisdictions. He helped craft a resolution on behalf of the Village of Queen Charlotte opposing the Northern Gateway pipeline and the bulk shipment of crude oil in coastal waters and worked with the Peace River Regional District on the impact of the Site C dam on local communities and municipal infrastructure. Most recently he was in Tuktoyaktuk working on a community-based climate monitoring project.
Beamish said after knocking on nearly 500 doors already during his council campaign, “I’ve got a good sense of some of the concerns of people and feel there’s some support for me as councillor and hopefully that will translate to support for mayor.”
Beamish said the issues he wants to focus on are the same ones that originally prompted him to put his name forward for council: having a strong working relationship with the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD), especially on water, addressing affordable housing and development pressures, and road and drainage infrastructure.
He also said his administrative experience will serve him well in the role of mayor.
“It does look like there’s going to be a significant changeover with this council, so my experience might be beneficial to everybody, including my experiences elsewhere,” Beamish said.
Blake MacLeod, 59, is a newcomer to municipal politics in Gibsons. He’s lived in the town full-time for the past two years after 25 years in Vancouver. MacLeod told Coast Reporter that he was a frequent visitor to the area during those years. He currently owns a commercial and residential property on Winn Road in Lower Gibsons and is semi-retired from his construction and renovation business.
MacLeod said he’s thought about running before and the withdrawal of White, and a lighter work schedule, made this the right time.
He said he is active in the World Federalist Movement-Canada, which he describes as “an organization that advocates for the establishment of international and global democratic institutions,” and has experience working with government representatives on issues at the local, provincial and national levels.
He also lists volunteer work with the Sunshine Coast Association for Community Living, the Gibsons Public Market and the Sunshine Coast Roller Girls.
As a property owner in Lower Gibsons, MacLeod credits both the current mayor and council and “citizen advocacy ” for steering the controversial George Hotel and Residences project toward something he’s able to support.
“I firmly believe that without those pressures, that project could very well have looked completely different,” he said.
In the release announcing his candidacy, MacLeod said he “aims to continue the cooperative relationship with the SCRD and other municipal partners, expand sustainable development and affordable housing options while improving local infrastructure, and looking for innovative ways to make the best use of tax revenues.”
Fifty-year-old Les Thomson is one of the partners behind More Café & Bakeshop in Upper Gibsons, although he lives just outside the town in SCRD Area F. He told Coast Reporter this week that he had also considered running for mayor before, but felt that White had broad support and decided not to run against him.
Thomson said he sees a rift in the community between “yeas and nays” and “my ambition right now is trying to bring them together, make it all about us. Let’s work together.”
Thomson said as a businesses owner he thinks it’s important to work on issues of affordability, while fostering enough development to allow the Town to grow to a size where it’s able to better support the businesses that rely on a seasonal upswing.
He told Coast Reporter that while he generally supports development, he thinks council hasn’t always succeeded in striking the right balance. “It’s important in a community like ours to listen to people, listen to their frustrations. We’re not a happy place at the moment, people do have frustrations on either side of the spectrum. Let’s get them together, let’s have a win-win situation.”
Thomson said he doesn’t see the fact he lives outside the town boundary as an issue. “You don’t have to live in Gibsons to make Gibsons good again,” he said. “It can be done different ways, it doesn’t have to be run by somebody that lives in Gibsons, it can be done by somebody who lives on the Coast.”
William Moysey, 54, is another mayoral candidate who makes his home outside the town proper. Moysey has been on the Sunshine Coast for the past three years, and currently lives in Langdale, but he doesn’t see that being disconnected from Gibsons.
“My address says Gibsons, I do my shopping in Gibsons,” he said. “I spend my time in Gibsons unless I’m going to the city to work or going to Sechelt to work.”
Moysey has worked in the performing arts as a composer, sound engineer and designer as well as working construction. He said that experience has made him a good troubleshooter, and someone who can find creative solutions quickly and on tight budgets.
“I bring a lot to the table,” he said. “I’m a very hard worker, I’m very focused, I’m a good team leader. I care about the community here… I think I can bring something to the table that would be beneficial to the community.”
Moysey said he supports development, largely because the Town needs to improve its tax base to look after things like roads and water.
Moysey said Gibsons and the whole Sunshine Coast has to be ready for an influx of population as young families leave the Lower Mainland looking for a more affordable lifestyle.
“We need to be on top of that, and with that much tourism going on we should be making way more money off of it.”
He also said, from his perspective, the Town could do much more to promote local arts. “Downtown Gibsons during the tourist season should look something a lot more like Granville Island. When you come into town the arts should be obvious… It should be everywhere.”
You can hear our interviews with the mayoral candidates on the Coast Reporter Radio episode available Oct. 28 at coastreporter.net/audio.
