Editor:
In spite of the signage indicating otherwise, only three incumbent candidates for council are up for re-election in Gibsons.
It’s informative to compare the overall job performance of the two who are completing their first term in office.
One councillor has a full-time job running a business while completing a degree, has come prepared for meetings, has been an active liaison on assigned committees and has reported concisely on events attended on behalf of the Town.
The other, although retired, is reported by members of his assigned committees as rarely attending (and had to be replaced on one committee by the mayor, who presumably has more time to spare for those activities and evidently recognizes their importance). The councillor’s verbal reports regularly apologize for non-attendance at events of importance to the town, such as the recent presentation on the “Future Business Environment of the Sunshine Coast” that gave context to the 2014 Vital Signs report. (The business proprietor councillor managed to attend the event earlier in the day — and summarized the information for council that same evening.) And the retired councillor often complains about the heavy workload required of councillors.
Both these councillors are up for re-election. Voters should consider job performance over the past three years, then decide whose contract should be extended and who is likely to deliver a solid work ethic in return for the salary we pay them.
Hugh Wilson, Gibsons
