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Pemberton council shot with blanks at all-candidates meeting

Incumbents extol record they're proud of, fend off criticisms
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Pique, Nov. 3, 2011

In any election, the incumbent politician is placed on the defensive. They must account for decisions made while in office.

Pemberton resident Rebecca Craig put her council on the defensive Oct. 26 when she attended an all-candidates meeting that drew about 200 people to the Cottonwood Community Centre.

The co-owner of Cedar View Estates, a bed and breakfast and agricultural property located on the Pemberton Meadows Road, she asked incumbent Councillor Ted Craddock whether he would reverse a decision in April to disallow weddings at their property, events that could not be held there under its zoning.

"For those of you who don't know, in our first year of business, we had 14 weddings, we employed over 25 people and generated over $250,000 of revenue for the Pemberton businesses and tourism sector," she said.

"My first question is to Ted Craddock who is the only remaining council member who voted against our application. Would you choose to change any decisions that you have made over the past three years? If so, why?"

Craddock's answer was simple: "Speaking specifically to Cedar View, no, I would not change my decision," he said.

"I want to thank the Craig family for helping keep those events in the community. They worked hard with the other operators who are able to legally work with those businesses, so for you and your family, thank you.

"As far as supporting what was going on, no, I can't support that."

And the audience applauded him loudly.

Craig tried to ask a follow up question, pointing out that the Cedar View decision was ranked in Pique's "Best of Pemberton" (Pique Sept.29,2011) survey as the worst one taken by council, but moderator Paul Selina cut her off before any candidates could answer.

The rest of the meeting was taken up with incumbent councillors praising their work over the last three years, and a group of candidates looking to take their first stab at public life.

Al LeBlanc, the other incumbent running for council, took a populist approach, remarking on what a "good-looking group" was running for election this year.

"What has happened since three years ago?" he said. "I'm three years older, with a little less hair and that distinguished grey look."

He stressed the advances Pemberton has made when it comes to recreation. When LeBlanc ran in 2008 he made youth a central plank of his campaign.

The current council saw a skate park, a bike park and a water-spray park go up during its tenure, alongside other amenities including a new bridge over Pemberton Creek, the One Mile Lake Nature Centre and a seniors' centre that's expected to open in February.

The community also saw the advancement of an Official Community Plan, a successful boundary expansion that has brought a number of new properties into the Village and new hiking trails around One Mile Lake.

James Linklater is one of the new candidates. A Pemberton resident for 16 years, he got the audience chuckling when he asked if living in the community for 16 years was long enough to describe himself as a "long-term."

Affable and soft-spoken, he took a series of questions from the audience while others had hardly a chance to answer anything. He even brought a prop to his closing statement: a big rock.

"In the days leading up to today, people said to me, you're a rock, or you're a rock star," Linklater said. "Here's my rock and I'm prepared to do the heavy lifting. And if it's your bidding, I will roll this rock uphill."

Robert Szachury, the owner of Turbo Plumbing, danced with controversy in extolling his support for the Ravens Crest development, a proposed neighbourhood of 230 units on the Pemberton Hillside that has drawn community support along with concern about whether there exists demand for such a development.

Responding to a question about what he considers "Smart Growth," he said it is "building jobs" through an initiative like Ravens Crest.

"The Ravens Crest property will bring a private school, with jobs, permitting costs for the community, long term jobs, people will have to clean it," said Szachury. "That is smart growth. We're not putting a coal-fired power plant, they're putting in a school."

Niki Vankerk put forth her experience as a co-organizer of the Slow Food Cycle and said Pemberton could benefit from promoting similar events.

"Really the key is to have a low impact on the environment and bring some injection," she said. "I think there's other simple ideas we can implement to continue connecting our community. I think a commuter trail would be great, I think transit is a great way to bring the Pembertonians around the Village, as well as get to Whistler and back without relying on cars."

Mike Richman, the former owner of the Pony Espresso for 14 years, said Pemberton needs a "diversity of industry" while offering a "supportive business environment."

"If we do a good job building our community, then our housing needs will continue to grow with them," he said. "Housing developments often have the potential for being divisive issues in our community. For this reason, I think it's important we continue to build on and include a lot of community involvement, a lot of community consultation with regard to our housing developments."

Candidate Jessica Turner, a reporter for Shaw TV's The Express, said the Village of Pemberton needs to be careful about how it communicates with its residents. She said it's easy to get bogged down in big terms like C-2 zoning bylaw and the Village needs to change that.

"It's a problem a lot of municipalities face, is trying to have an open and honest relationship with their constituents," she said. "When they're communicating with the community, put it in layman's terms. People don't always understand bylaws."