Dear Editor,
Municipal Election time is not my favourite season. There’s a kind of hysteria that ensues that belies our bucolic life on Bowen. But being an optimistic person, I’d like to think we’re slowly getting better at being a municipality.
In looking at the slate of council candidates I am extremely encouraged by the exceptional experience at least half of them could bring to the table. Not only are their professional skills formidable and invaluable, but they appear to understand the importance of fostering constructive communication. To me, having council members who are intelligent, truly listen, and treat others and their ideas with respect, is just as important as skill set.
What is unprecedented in this election is having only three candidates who have previously served on council. This is both exciting and concerning. Having a fresh look at an old problem is a vital benefit. But so is historical perspective. And I expect everyone who has served on council will say that they had no idea before serving just how challenging the job could be.
It is so encouraging to have such a diversity of mayoral candidates. I am sharing my thoughts on just two based primarily on performance and communication skills, but must confess that I believe a member of the community who is truly interested in the mayor’s role would choose to run for council first in order to learn what is required to be an effective mayor. Even the specific skills required to run an efficient and productive meeting are best learned from the council member chair.
Murray Skeels has had the privilege of positioning himself in the community as an expert on the municipal workings by virtue of his weekly Bulletin. As a result, his newsletters have played a significant role in the discourse of countless issues in the community over the years. I have felt for years he was grooming the public to run for office so his candidacy was not a surprise. He is articulate and compelling in his language. But unfortunately his content is too often merely opinions conveyed as facts, which are misleading at best, and damaging and defaming in their fabrication at worst. I believe this has had an insidiously injurious effect on public process for years and I am gravely concerned about having such a divisive personality in the mayor’s chair. This concern has been supported by reports from those with whom he served on committees that he was a consistently contentious and counter-productive force in the process.
Tim Rhodes scores big points for me not just by virtue of having served on council – but it is his hard working solid performance on several key committees, his communication skills and respectful approach to working with committee and council members as well as staff. At this point in our evolution I feel that he’s got what we need. He’s not a dreamer, a bully, or an aspiring leader, but a solid person who will direct traffic keep the noise and chaos down; a positive open-minded force who is not afraid to speak up, but always listening.
The current council has built unprecedented foundational stability in our governing infrastructure. Staff is exceptionally strong and healthy, and some critical financial realities have painstakingly been addressed. Despite disparate views about how to achieve goals, there is one common thread through us all: We all love this island. We want to preserve what we love about it while still improving our options for housing, public spaces, health services and our economic stability. It’s challenging, but progress is possible with healthy governance.
Shari Ulrich
