Age:
39
Website:
www.ralphforsyth.com
Occupation:
Entrepreneur/Ski Instructor
Last book read:
The
Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order
by Samuel P.
Huntington
What music are you listening to these days:
Whistler Saints Football Club Locker room mix
(Linkin Park/ 4th Down/ Refused/ Saliva/ Juelz Santana)
Favourite recreational pursuits:
Coaching Football/ Skateboarding
1. Why are you running for council?
The eight most important words a politician can say are: “I did
what I said I would do”, but it also goes without saying that I didn’t
accomplish anything on my own; from council colleagues to resort partners and
most importantly to concerned citizens — I say thank you!
I’m seeking another mandate so I can provide Whistler with
three more years of service. I’ve continually reviewed the things said,
promises made and goals I had set for my council term. By doing this, I’ve been
able to base my decisions and maintain my focus on the priorities that I set,
namely economic sustainability, retaining young families and providing support
for small business.
Examples of my commitment to these priorities include: Voting
in favour of increasing the Chamber of Commerce fee for service funding which
helped pay for the improved spirit program, helping initiate the H.O.M.E
Committee & Shoestring Project to alleviate the housing stress for new
employees, voting in favour of the Whistler Centre for Sustainability,
Riverside Campground & Le Scandinave Spa; projects that diversify our tourism
product and bring thousands of visitors to the resort. I voted to approve
emergency daycare funding and worked to keep Teddy Bear Daycare open that
supports families. I’m also proud to say that this council approved the
development of Fitzsimmons Walk, Rainbow Neighbourhood and Cheakamus Crossing
that will provide hundreds of beds of employee housing.
2. Given that revenue from development is declining and the
municipality is more dependent on hotel tax revenue at a time of economic
uncertainty, how do you propose the municipality balance its budgets the next
few years?
We need to figure out how we will pay for our future municipal
service needs. Tax increases should be the last resort. Like any budget, you
need to raise revenues, cut expenses or do a combination of the two. All orders
of government raise revenue from taxes, typically they raise taxes to achieve
their revenue needs, but municipal governments have some degree of flexibility
when it comes to raising revenues. Municipal council needs to set policy
initiatives that lay the foundations for long-term, sustainable revenue
creation.
Here are a few ideas on how we can generate revenue from
someone other than taxpayers:
1. Generate revenue through sponsorship opportunities; in the
last Community Life Survey, 80% of respondents favoured corporate sponsorships
for revenue growth.
2. Pursue Public Private Partnerships — there are some
excellent examples from neighbouring jurisdictions where this has significantly
increased municipal revenues.
3. Improve our relationships with all orders of government;
this will allow us to secure the extension of revenue sharing tools.
The greatest way to achieve optimal revenues is to ensure that
the resort has higher occupancy rates, thus increasing hotel tax revenues. The
municipality can take a leadership role by supporting initiatives that bring
more guests to the resort, including:
1. Supporting events like Crankworx, Cornucopia and The
Whistler Film Festival which draw guests during times that typically have low
occupancy levels.
2. Developing new tourism products and markets.
3. Effectively managing the Olympic legacy venues, which have
further event and tourism potential.
3. What other important issues does Whistler faces in the
next three years?
Temporary housing, Childcare.
4. What needs to be done to address those issues?
Temporary housing; we need to recognize the urgency and take
action to implement some strategies quickly otherwise we’ll lose the people
we’re trying to retain and attract — this could have a devastating effect
on our ability to host an extraordinary Olympic Games.
We need to convene with the four agencies (RMOW, Tourism
Whistler, Chamber of Commerce and Whistler-Blackcomb) and the local development
community to come up with a solution that will work for all partners. I would
also support the RMOW taking a lead role to see a temporary housing solution
come to fruition, including backstopping financing agreements.
Childcare is a critical component to retaining our young families. Over the last year, I've been active tying to ease the problems facing daycare; initiating the childcare working group to bring childcare providers together to talk about solutions, working to keep Teddy Bear Daycare open and working with the WHA to have ECE teachers on a priority list for WHA Rentals so they can stay in Whistler. I also recently met with Joan McIntyre (our MLA) about making changes to speed up the process to recognize out of province and out of country ECE certification. The minister's office said they would follow up with the Child Care Program staff and the ECE Registrar, and have just hired two more employees and things should speed up. As I mentioned above, relationships with other orders of government are critical to the resort’s success. If re-elected, developing a municipal policy on childcare will be a priority for me in the first year of my term.