We were frankly blown away when we read Christine Wood’s latest dispatch from Sechelt council on the ongoing saga of the Regeneration sculpture standing in Spirit Square. Or rather half standing, since one of the two burnt stumps blew down in a recent windstorm.
At council’s April 13 meeting, the decision was made to leave the piece in the centre of the square. But not until after a strange interlude in which 1) a staff person advised council that moving the piece would, essentially, hurt the artist’s feelings and 2) Mayor Bruce Milne told his councillors that they weren’t qualified to have an opinion about where public art should be placed.
The centre of the square, said Milne, who obviously considers himself qualified to speak authoritatively on such matters, was the only place that makes “aesthetic sense,” and councillors’ varied opinions showed “why we should have an arts advisory committee and not let elected officials start tinkering around with public art and how public art should be placed. Because,” he added, “elected officials simply don’t bring the comprehensive understanding of public space and art to the discussion.”
That being the case, one has to ask, how could council decide if the art was worth buying in the first place?
The dysfunctional episode ended fittingly with a 4-3 vote, barely in favour.
Meanwhile at the same meeting, prior to council giving its 2016 budget third reading, two astute members raised all kinds of red flags around the district’s financial health. Coun. Doug Wright voted against the budget, saying the district needs to “work a whole lot smarter and a whole lot more efficient” to climb out of the fiscal mess it’s in. Coun. Noel Muller pointed to $40 million in potential capital requirements over the next five years, severe limits on borrowing, an operating budget that exceeds revenues by almost $4 million – all representing “large-scale threats to our financial position that will take years to fix.”
While not agreeing entirely with the two councillors’ bleak outlook, Milne acknowledged there would have to be “some significant fiscal realignment in the next two years and our work will be to prepare the community for that.”
The ray of hope for Sechelt is the arrival of a permanent chief administrative officer, Tim Palmer, and a new director of finance, Douglas Stewart. Both Muller and Wright conceded as much, with Wright saying the new administration and management team was council’s “only hope” of moving the community in the right direction.
After almost a year and a half in office (which would be half of the term under the previous three-year system), Sechelt council does appear to be spinning its wheels, coming off as elitist and ineffectual despite all the good intentions of its members.
We’re glad they’re finally getting some professional help.
