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Election Question ~ #1

Whistler Votes 11:16:2002 On Nov. 16, Whistler residents will go to the polls to vote for a mayor and six municipal councillors for the next three years.

Whistler Votes 11:16:2002

On Nov. 16, Whistler residents will go to the polls to vote for a mayor and six municipal councillors for the next three years.

While there is a tendency to belittle small town politics, Whistler is not your typical small town.

Our next local government will be called upon to make several key decisions on major issues such as the Olympics, which the current council hopes will bring with it expanded boundaries and a community land bank for future employee housing.

The municipality is also in the process of updating its Official Community Plan, moving towards social, economic and environmental sustainability through the Whistler. It's Our Future initiative. We are the first community to approach sustainability at this level, and the world is watching.

From a community perspective, Whistler will reach build-out within the next few years when the bed unit cap is reached. Will that mean the end of new development, or the beginning of redevelopment?

And what about the future of green spaces and development rights which are still up in the air.

Long term affordability and employee housing continue to be front and centre when it comes to election issues, despite the commendable efforts of the Whistler Housing Authority.

This spring will see the release of the provincial government's new Community Charter which could give the municipality new financial tools to reduce its dependence on the hotel tax and property taxes. What will this proposed resort tax look like and how will it affect us?

And the nightly-rental tourism accommodation issue has yet to be settled, despite having its day in court.

Two major issues on the minds of voters and candidates are the huge capital projects Whistler is currently involved in and how will they be paid for. The library, the new fire hall and the sewage treatment plant come to mind. And some are concerned about what they perceive as a lack of community consultation on major issues.

It's going to be a challenging three years for the next council.

To enlighten voters and clarify what the 20 different candidates stand for, Pique is running a four-part series during the election.

For the first two parts (Oct. 18 and 25 issues), candidates were given 200 words each to answer questions on the Whistler. It's Our Future sustainability process and the Olympics posed by the Pique.

The last two parts (Nov. 1 and Nov. 8 issues) are the candidate profiles in which all of the contenders will have an opportunity to discuss their own priorities and present their election platforms to the voters.

In addition, Pique will continue to provide election coverage of campaign events such as the Chamber of Commerce all-candidates meeting on Nov. 2, and the WORCA/Pique candidates meeting on Oct. 29.

Question 1:

How do you feel about the Whistler. It's Future sustainability process to date?

RESPONSES

Dave Davenport - Candidate for Mayor

The original concept for the Comprehensive Sustainability Plan was excellent. However to date it is failing due to bad execution.

If the mayor and council had not immediately rejected the team recommended by the community, more of the public would be engaged in the process. Instead the resulting number of people participating in workshops has been driven from hundreds down to dozens.

Instead of leading the debates, our politicians have watched the process from the sidelines. Awash with consultants and PR people, Whistlerlites are now wondering who will be responsible for guiding our community in the future - leaders from the community or U.S. based consultants?

As only the first two phases of the four-phase plan is in the budget, taxpayers can rightly question whether the process will ever lead to anything more than a shelved document and expensive computer model.

Finally the mayor and council should have recognized that $740,000 was a huge amount of money to put at risk in an experiment.

All this said, it remains that Whistler must be successful and develop a new plan. This plan can only be properly developed if the new Mayor and council show stronger leadership, a better understanding of how to engage the public, a greater desire for action, and a better grasp of what things should cost.

Hugh O'Reilly - Candidate for Mayor

This is a challenging and complex project for Council, as well as the community, from recognizing the need to develop a long-term sustainability plan to getting the community involved.

In choosing the consultants, we were faced with pre-selected teams, none of whom had clearly addressed the criteria for a successful resort community and a sustainable community. Yet, this criteria is fundamental to the process, providing the touchstone against which future scenarios will be evaluated, so it was important to pick the right team to research and develop the draft criteria. As much as we respect the public input, I think getting off to the right start was first and foremost in Council's mind.

While attendance has not been what we'd hoped in the open meetings, the private meetings have been extremely successful and valuable. We're already using the material we've gained in our discussion with the provincial government about the unique needs of a resort community.

In terms of the cost versus benefit, Whistler is a billion-dollar-a-year economy, and we are spending approximately four percent of one year's budget to complete a plan that will guide us for the next 10 to 15 years. I'm satisfied to date.

Shane Bennett - Candidate for Council

Fresh, potable water is the only thing that is self-sustaining in this community.

Meanwhile the ability to offer goods or services by locals for locals and other markets is being diminished daily.

It is very common now for employees and business owners to live outside of Whistler. Their livelihoods are dependent on Whistler but they do not have a democratic say here because they legally live outside the boundaries. This fact alone has been slowly distorting and harming Whistler's future.

To have proper sustainable growth all contributors and stakeholders should be represented and consulted. If the local community cannot provide a basic self-sustaining environment, our the self-generating actions - such as offering goods and services to locals and visitors - will surely fail in time.

The two fundamental reasons for this are greed and a lack of ethics, the same factors that have been the demise of some of the biggest economies in the world. An economic community cannot be sustained absent of the core components that nature requires to sustain itself.

As seen and witnessed in the last three years, the longer that the longer these unethical individuals and greed prop up the economy, the harder and more dramatic the plummet to reality is.

Bob Calladine - Candidate for Council

I feel the Whislter.It's Our Future sustainability process should have been initiated three years ago when the OCP was coming to an end.

There is a possibility that the Olympic plans took precedence during that time period and maybe rightfully so, as the Olympics will create an eight-year plan for our future development.

The process that has finally been initiated started poorly. The present council sent a brief for sustainability to four consultant groups, had the public listen and vote on their ideas, and then ignored the process that was set up by selecting bits and pieces from the various options. I felt that this was a public exercise that seemed meaningless.

At least the process has actually started. The official public meetings were somewhat stilted as again we were presented with a series of ideas and options to choose from. I noticed that the participants tried hard to make it full of local input, but even so, the local AWARE meeting seemed to have the best response from Whistlerites. Information has been collected from many sources and when the presentation of ideas is next out for public comment, we should all attend.

Nick Davies - Candidate for Council

The process has not been perfect.

However, we began knowing that no other community has gathered their citizens, government and consultants to prepare a plan for the sustained economic vigor, environmental health and livability of their community. There have been challenges. Selection of the consulting teams was problematic. Council, by a close vote, exercised some sober second thought to ensure that the consulting team was qualified and free of bias.

The process has taken longer than hoped, but was more complex than anticipated.

Attendance at open house meetings has been disappointing, but the numerous smaller, targeted sessions have been attended by a wide spectrum of community stakeholders. The quality of the participation at those smaller sessions is consistently outstanding.

The criteria for "success" and "sustainability" identified by the community will form the variables for a computer model which will help to publicly "woodshed" complex scenarios of what our community might become in future.

The result will be a rigorous plan based on community preferences and hard data. Without the current process, any plan for the future would not be supported by facts or corroborated by community consultation. Such a plan would be neither credible nor useful.

The process will succeed.

Ralph Forsyth - Candidate for Council

I believe we need a Sustainability plan, a shared vision of what we want our community to look like down the road. I also think some bad decisions have been made in this process, but I will not belabour them. What is important now is to put our criticisms of the process behind us, and work to make this project a success. I believe we can accomplish this with a few simple steps.

We can create a shared vision by developing a marketplace of ideas through the many community groups that exist. Using these distribution channels would provide an opportunity to revive interest in the process, at a much lower cost.

Next we could establish our core values to provide council with the direction to make decisions that truly reflect the values of our community.

Finally, we should set targets and timelines to ensure accountability in the successful pursuit of our vision.

Having been a participant in most of the workshops, my experience tells me that by creating a simplified process we make it easier to tackle the complex issues of sustainability. Let's begin the next phase with enthusiasm and a more meaningful and cost-effective public consultation process.

Dave Kirk - Candidate for Council

This year, RMOW council commenced a public process to develop an enhanced sustainable approach to community development in order to manage limited growth, yet still accommodate economic and social change.

Phase I to date has produced a variety of successes with a few bumps along the way. The public workshops have been attended at a level less than expected but ideas have been freeflowing. The time of year for any project nowadays never appears to satisfy everyone.

Focus groups such as Intrawest, Tourism Whistler, WORCA and Whistler Realtors have been excellent, as were some living room sessions. What is very important to recognize is that a very reasonable level of participation has been achieved.

Historically, RMOW has attempted to engage the community with an inclusive, non-restrictive approach. Stakeholders, special interest groups and individual citizens are given equal opportunities to present ideas and perspectives.

We now need to concentrate on bringing the process back on schedule as much as possible. Missing the time mark, while slightly inconvenient, is not unusual for a process that will determine our direction over the next 25 years. Phase II promises to be very exciting and will begin in the spring of 2003.

Personally I am reasonably satisfied that the process is workable and it is working to date.

Caroline Lamont - Candidate for Council

The initiative to develop a community plan for Whistler that works within the sustainability framework is a forward thinking concept that if done effectively may allow Whistler to overcome the downfalls experienced by other declining resort communities. I have been committed to the CSP exercise, reading background materials and attending eight related meetings (even helped organize the WORCA session).

Unfortunately as a community member and professional planner, I do not believe that the direction the Municipality is proceeding is appropriate, specifically:

The work program and deliverables are poorly defined.

The first phase of the project has already used a substantial budget with no end in sight.

There is no recognition of existing baseline data and policies.

The "so called" criteria were not engaging; our well-informed community needs focused information to effectively set priorities.

The community has not been able to identify issues or preferred scenarios, rather the project is relying on the criteria and a computer model to chart Whistler's future .

Regional neighbours are not actively at the table .

Public workshop sessions have been underwhelming. Community outreach programs must more innovative and far-reaching to get better representation.

Council has not provided strong leadership for the initiative.

There is minimal local understanding of and involvement in the project.

Gordon McKeever - Candidate for Council

As a concept, our goal to become an innovative leader in sustainable practices is very worthwhile, and passes its own three-way scrutiny.

Environmentally, nature gains the most when a sustainable approach is applied, as environmentalism gets grafted to the best of social and economic values of the past. In addition to obvious gains locally, we are in a unique position to help shape thought globally.

Socially, the concept's a hit. A sustainable community is healthy and stable and most certainly needs to be affordable.

Economically, there are often gains when adopting sustainable practices.

Far more significant are the advantages of being branded as a resort that leads in this field. Green is a very popular colour. This is callous, but true.

In all fairness, it must be stressed that Whistler is exploring new ground here. Once again, there is no map to guide us. Commendably, there has been a strong effort to involve a broad spectrum within the community.

That having been said, I feel the mail-out kit was premature, yielding low results versus cost. The consultant selection workshop still angers many who participated. This disgruntlement has led directly to low participation.

The program also demonstrates, yet again, a fondness for expensive

consultants.

Ken Melamed - Candidate for Council

I try to remain optimistic about the process. Despite the upset, which occurred when some members of council changed the rules after having decided they didn't like the team favoured by the community, staff, and three members of council. I was looking for something more illuminating than what we got from the consultant's background reports.

There is a sense, however, that Whistler is breaking new ground, and those who have chosen to become involved are to be congratulated for participating in what is often tedious, dry work. The harder, but more rewarding phase of creating the options for our sustainable future is to begin soon.

It is important to remember that we are building the foundation necessary to revising our Official Community Plan. I expect this process to be as controversial as the last OCP rewrite back in 1988, when Whistler broke all the rules by self imposing the Bed Unit limit at 52,500.

I think many of us are ready for a radical new approach to the future, because we understand that current ways of doing business are unsustainable. Whistler has been called upon to lead the way, I believe we are up to the challenge.

Ted Milner - Candidate for Council

The Comprehensive Sustainability Plan process comes at an important "cross-roads" for Whistler as we struggle with our success. The CSP will replace the Official Community Plan . The OCP process almost 10 years ago was just as painful and controversial.

Council appreciated the community input and with the benefit of written presentations and credentials, a first rate Canadian/international team of consultants was formed to facilitate the process. All three "legs" of the sustainability "stool" have to be balanced without undue advocacy focus.

Hard work has developed the base criteria of a sustainable mountain resort community. The web-site has had almost 2,000 working visits. Several hundred Whistlerites have attended work-shops and presentations.

We need more participation and the development of alternate scenarios with the Quest computer program will be a more interesting and rewarding phase.

A result of the toil to date gave us key sustainability factors for our Provincial Government discussions to gain their support for Olympic land banks for resident housing, a resort tax for affordability initiatives like a Whistler "home-owner grant" and a current review of our aberrant, over-sized school tax charges.

We're shooting at a Spring'03 completion but we'll take as long as necessary to plan our future.

Tyler Mosher - Candidate for Council

Whistler. It's our Future

. is the visionary and implementation process for amending the current Official Community Plan (OCP).

Having participated in four workshops, including the WORCA and @Work real estate workshops, I'm looking forward to seeing the actual detailed plan.

Once we have a plan that suits our needs we should put it to work immediately - solutions to issues like affordability, employee housing, and the long-term viability of this community depend on it.

To move ahead, council will need to make some critical decisions in the next three years. A planned boundary expansion, the results of the Olympic bid and the new provincial Community Charter are just around the corner. What our town will look like in 20 years will depend on the kind of decisions we make today.

Backed by my degree in environmental planning, my business experience, and my common sense approach, I can help council make informed decisions on land-use issues, zoning, infrastructure and long-term planning that meet our commitment to sustainability.

To date the process has been slow, expensive and at times confusing for the community.

A real plan with details will help people to better understand and get excited about the benefits and philosophy of a Whistler-wide sustainability program. I hope everyone gets involved.

Shelley Phelan - Candidate for Council

Frankly, I think it's missed the mark. so far, at least. First off, there was simply no justification for spending $750,000 on an expensive outside consulting firm to help us figure out where we want to go. There is no lack of talent, experience or opinion in this valley. A few focus groups and brainstorming sessions with a cross-section of Whistler residents would have cost nothing and yielded more valuable feedback.

The reports themselves with their endless criteria are dry, wordy and hugely uninspiring. That likely has a lot to do with the minimal turnout at the various workshops. They've failed to ignite public enthusiasm.

My sense is that there is a lot of confusion, disillusion, and even alienation with the process to date. While I applaud the Municipality's intention to involve the community at large, the one or two per cent that have participated thus far is hardly representative.

One can only hope that when the information is pared down to three or four "possible futures", the visions are :

1. Presented in a simple and straightforward manner that people can actually get their head around, and;

2. Compelling enough to motivate significant public response.

It's not too late to turn this into a worthwhile process, but we need to take back the reins.

Chris Quinlan - Candidate for Council

The Whistler. It's OurFuture sustainability process shows two fatal flaws with the present Mayor and council.

Firstly, the whole process shows the inability of council to take the direction that we have given them time and time again and make decisions.

Instead of listening to us the first time at the town hall meeting, council has seen fit to enlist the aid of consultants to assist them in deciphering our input. The folly continued with council asking us for our opinion on which consultants to use. After many people gave up their day to participate in this "process", council rejected that input and made up its own team from the participating firms.

Now we have been asked again to participate in a new dog and pony show which seeks the same answers to the questions we answered years ago. The sentiment is that now that the answers have been paid for, to the tune of over $750,000, they are validated.

This illustrates the second flaw, which is the inability of council to properly manage the human resources of Whistler. Our productivity, or input, was thrown into the landfill.

The money spent on the processes continues to be diverted away from the solutions, which must be enacted soon if Whistler is to even remotely consider true sustainability.

Mitch Rhodes - Candidate for Council

My feelings are mixed!

Ordinarily, municipal planning documents are prepared internally and are taken to elected officials for approval. The approach taken by Council and staff is unique - it promotes and relies upon community input. Being unique takes courage and I admire them for that.

No doubt many masters and doctorate students will use Whistler's current planning process in their thesis papers. I feel proud to be living and actively participating in a community that's bold enough to be leading edge in it's thinking.

Although some of the best resort planning experts and sustainability experts reside in our community, the level of mistrust, cynicism and lack of belief in ourselves directed the political sensibilities of the RMOW to hire non-local consultants. A significant amount of the $700K+ project budget will be paid to them. I feel that Whistler needs to foster an atmosphere that creates greater capacity to believe and trust in ourselves.

Staff and Council requested community assessment of the consulting teams. When the results were ignored, people turned their backs on the process and valuable support and input were lost. I'm disappointed with that result.

Involvement in creating my community's future energizes me. I recommend it to everyone.

Stephanie Sloan - Candidate for Council

Whistler has reached a critical point in its development. With build-out on the horizon it is time to address our future and revise our strategic planning documents.

Through the Whistler. It's Our Future planning exercise, our Comprehensive Development Plan will be replaced by our Comprehensive Sustainability Plan, with our Official Community Plan amended accordingly. We are spending three per cent of our budget to determine one hundred per cent of our future. In my opinion, these dollars are well spent.

With your input, WIOF will address fundamental issues such as capacity, delivery of public services with limited tax burden, protection of our water and air quality, maintaining recreation and the natural environment as a cornerstone attraction, and affordability.

Since I have been on council we have built/approved 4,311 employee bed units. How much further above our bed unit cap should we build to supply resident housing? As an Olympic Legacy, we have secured land banks in the Callaghan Valley and Cheakamus area. These sites give Whistler up to 300 acres as option sites on which to build resident housing - do we want to go this route?

Whistler. It's Our Future

is an opportunity to work together to define our vision of a successful, environmental, social and economically sustainable future and how to get there.

Amar Varma - Candidate for Council

Phase I looked into the essential elements, or criteria, that make a destination resort community both successful and sustainable. To date the Whistler. It's our Future sustainability process has done OK with the consultation process with our local community.

I find that although these events are advertised in the papers that there has not been nearly adequate participation from the local community, with none of the sessions exceeding even 150 participants, so it really becomes the vision of the people who have the time to show up to such get-togethers.

The future that we seek with Whistler. It's Our Future is one that includes all residents, not just the people who show up.

Something as important as this process needs a more concerted effort to ascertain the desires and wants of the community. Maybe they could have been heard if we had sent all residents a letter asking for their input and opinions, or had done phone surveys.

There are many people who live here who would love to have their opinions heard but were for whatever reason not able to participate in these workshops.

With the end of Phase one now complete Whistler. It's our Future has done "OK" in my opinion.

Kristi Wells - Candidate for Council

If the CSP is successful in meeting the goals as set out in the original terms of reference, then this plan will one of the most important tools our community has to achieve our vision as we move into the future.

However, the key phrase here is "if it is successful". As we move into Phase II of the process I have expressed my disappointment with the unimaginative communication methods used and the corresponding lack of widespread participation.

The outcome of this report will only have meaningful impact and lasting value if the community believes in the process and unfortunately that enthusiasm is weak.

I believe that we should alter the program to re-establish the operating guidelines, rework the budget and resource allocation, and restructure to include a community driven task force to direct the consultant team. These steps would maximize the efforts to date and help put the CSP in a better position to truly be a community priority.

Marianne Wade - Candidate for Council

After talking with community residents about Whistler. It's our Future it appears many locals are confused about what the process is and how they can make a contribution.

Furthermore, there is a feeling of mistrust about the process that started with the initial public meeting to select the consulting team. Does the community feel that they are being represented and that their opinions are being heard? I am not sure they feel embraced by the process.

As I recall, many environmental, economic and social attributes were raised at the Town Hall meetings and many "best practices" were done in the late eighties and early nineties to clearly identify our priorities.

I must say we established some good, basic, sustainable policies like an Employee Housing Works and Service Charge to provide employee housing, environmental preservation, a trail network, transit, recreation facilities, and many other vital elements that have made Whistler a number one resort community for both tourists and residents.

I think we are already a good model and many valuable recommendations to improve our environmental, economic, and social attributes are sitting on the shelves in RMOW but have rarely been implemented.

Why did we not start with these well-researched papers commissioned by the RMOW and build from there?

Rick André - Candidate for Council

I feel the Whistler. It's Our Future sustainability process, to date, could have got more done than it did.