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Skeels has staying power

Dear Editor, Having been on this island for over ¼ of a century now and still hanging onto some remnants of sanity because of it, we would like to pass on our views of Mr. Murray Skeels.

Dear Editor,

Having been on this island for over ¼ of a century now and still hanging onto some remnants of sanity because of it, we would like to pass on our views of Mr. Murray Skeels.  He and his wife Janice were two of the first people we met here and they could not have been more welcoming.  At the time, the island was just over 1000 people and had just started to show signs of increasing population growth.  Our house that we bought and still live in was the first ‘spec’ house to be built on this island, the island was that under-developed.
We watched as the residents voted down the first referendum seeking municipal status, then again 4 years later when more were living on the island and the referendum passed.  For the first election as a municipality, we watched as someone ran for Mayor who had just moved here.  They left the island after about 2 years.  Our turnover on this island is quite great and quite often, those with the loudest voices demanding change are often gone just after 4 or 5 years of island living.
Those with staying power, such as Murray Skeels, have been through it all, witnessed the myriad changes, adjusted to the ever-changing times and learned to live with compromise and, above all, to listen.  This last,  “to listen”, is very, very important.  We have many grand talkers on this island who can spiel on for hours on end about how and what they will do for the island’s residents but few actual “doers” who have listened to the various voices and taken these differing views into effect.  Murray Skeels is a listener and a doer.  He does not make empty promises and his record, if elected, will demonstrate that.  Too many of our latest council have just talked a good story but really let many of us down.  Forget the rhetoric and the fancy spiels, just observe the record of past election promises by some who are running again.  Actions really do speak louder than words.
Murray would be a most excellent Mayor.  His business experience, his social acumen, his grasp of local issues from ALL sides is acute and, most importantly, “he walks his talk”.  What comes out of one side of his mouth is exactly the same as what comes out of the other side of his mouth.  There will be no double-speak from this Mayor.
We have not been so involved before in any of our elections, but this one has brought us out as we were so very disappointed with what we have just had to go through these past 3 years. We feel that what so many of us came to this island for is slowly being eroded by a few for personal gain only. For this reason, and for how well we know and respect the views and introspection that Murray Skeels will bring to the table, we fully endorse this man as our next Mayor.  For those of you who have kept out of this fray or do not really know any of the candidates running for mayor, you will not be disappointed with Murray.  In over 26 years, he has yet to disappoint us.  He is a man of his word

John and Sue Barr