Editor:
When the present campaigning ends, votes are counted, and new hands are raised in an oath of office, I wish for the new crop of politicians to strive to govern wisely for our communities more than to govern expeditiously or out of narrow self-interest.
“Wisdom,” according to Wikipedia, is “the ability to think and act using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense and insight.”
As a 20-year coastal resident, it seems to me that collaboration and candour are wise qualities to keep on hand, as well.
Our communities, increasingly integrated and stressing, to some degree, from close contact with each other and overloaded infrastructures, need wise oversight to help us address burgeoning development, water collection and distribution, highways and roads, etc.
In its last act before dissolving, the Gibsons council performed an act that is obviously “un-wise” – the unanimous approval of the Gospel Rock Village Development, that will lead to a major suburban development truly in the middle of nowhere, with no infrastructure in place and no plans to mitigate traffic other than dump traffic into Area E and onto Pratt Road. Why and how this happened is a matter of public record, which will reveal that Area E residents, myself included, presented near-unanimous disapproval of this plan to Gibsons council last spring. Alas, the council didn’t give a rat’s butt cheek for our concerns, and in a final gesture, officially green-lighted this project and roundly congratulated themselves for doing so.
This isn’t wise governance in the face of infrastructure and emergency services and growing traffic problems for Gibsons, and it is greatly increasing rancour with Area E residents who are determined to push back.
It also raises the issue of unchecked developments, now sprouting like fall mushrooms from Port Mellon to Egmont. When is enough enough? How do we say no to development when it isn’t wise, when it will exacerbate existing problems, increase risks and increase community divisions when we need to foster cooperation? These are the issues our new politicians will face and I hope they have the tools and are enabled to act wisely, on behalf of all of us.
Michael Maser, Gibsons
