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‘Nice’ if we could afford it

Something has snapped. No letters to Pique or council since I moved here, but now two in as many weeks.

Something has snapped. No letters to Pique or council since I moved here, but now two in as many weeks.

Perhaps I'm confused, but I thought we were broke? Seems to me I remember reading something about that and council having some small problems with the budget and our small property tax increase (yes...that's sarcasm).

I just don't understand how we can't show more fiscal restraint. Currently we have at least three expensive projects that are, as far as I can tell, in the "Nice to Have" column. The $1 million (plus unknown operating costs) upgrade to Meadow Park, $300,000 to pave Lot 4 and the $150,000 debacle of removing the median on Blackcomb Way (and let's not forget at least $200,000 to replace it). That's over $1.65 million of money that we don't need to spend now.

Don't get me wrong, I think at least one of these (the Meadow Park upgrade) perhaps is worthwhile, but when we have the money.

I had naively assumed that when council looked at our budget and our 20+ per cent property increase they would look at all "Nice to Have" projects and schedule them out to match our income stream.

Now, to add insult to injury, I read that the RMOW staff costs increased 12.8 per cent in 2008 (sugar coat all you want about pay increase versus "soft" increases, but it's still 12.8 per cent) and we now have another 3.5 per cent this year, 4 per cent next year and 4 per cent in 2011! How can this in any way, shape, or form be construed as fiscally responsible?

I've run many large groups and when your income drops you compensate by reducing costs and head count and eliminate all "Nice to Have" projects.

And you can do this all without ruining the customer experience... it's done everyday in many successful companies. Nice to do... no. But hard times call for hard decisions. This is the single largest financial downturn in decades and yet we are spending money like there is no tomorrow. Well if we don't stop there won't be a tomorrow.

Rick Doucette

Whistler

When the dam breaks

In his opening remarks Bob wrote about how the visa requirements will diminish Mexican tourist visits to Whistler. On the opposing page there is a declaration of war against pay parking. In the letters Harvey Lim and Greg Diamond rant against the sheer lunacy of removing the beautiful median on Blackcomb way. Erin McCann wrote she's "had enough." Alex Wilde wanted "something for us." Linda McGraw and D.W Buchanan lamented the dreadful service in Whistler.

Leading the "news" there is "Anxiety high among business owners as 2010 draws closer." "RMOW staff costs increased 12.8 per cent in 2008." On the last page Max once more counted the ways the mayor and council have gotten it wrong and again got a bigger number.

Not in Pique but related, there was a TV item this past week about our preparedness for the hundreds of visitors to Whistler next winter who will likely bring with them the H1N1 virus. In the news headlines for the coming week on Global there is an item titled something like "the Games are coming to B.C. and Whistler is going to pay."

On the cover of Pique this past week there was the headline "Voyage of the Dammed" and a picture of two beavers in a mountain lake. My impression was the headline and the picture were not connected. It seems the "Voyage of the Dammed" is about the citizens of Whistler.

Doug Barr

Whistler B.C

www.thelastwhy.ca

A SmartPark suggestion

A few years ago the muni offered everyone a free SmartPark device if you preloaded it with $50 worth of parking time. This is the little yellow square box a few people hang on their rear view mirror around town when parking at pay parking spots. I took advantage of this and found it very convenient. I could turn it on and not have to guess how long I would be gone and when I returned and turned it off, I had only paid for the time used, unless the two hour limit kicked in. (There is a fifteen minute grace period on top of this which costs you double.) This is great when you have to go somewhere like the bank and have no idea if you will be in line for two minutes or 20. I used the $50 in a much shorter time than I would have if I had been plugging quarters and loonies into the machine and probably spent more time in the village as well.

Unfortunately, someone stole my SmartPark and I have spent the last year or so without it. I have been hoping that mine will show up when the thief passes it on.

But I would like to say that without my SmartPark, I have probably spent only about $10 in the parking machines over the same time period as when I had it. Why? I play chicken by not paying. Or I pay less than I think I need to so I'm playing partial chicken. Or I don't go to the village.

The free offer expired and the muni  now charges $50 for the SmartPark machine, plus a first time minimum $50 in parking time for a total of $100, which is pretty steep for some people. If the muni would offer the SmartPark machines for free again, I'm sure many people would prepay the minimum $50 to start using one (after that you can load it as much as you want). And if local residents were offered a discounted price on the prepayment, I'm sure that would go a long way toward easing the public wrath over pay parking.

The advantages for the muni would be that a compromise would be offered; parking prepayment gets dollars up front; less tickets would be issued and therefore less administration; probably higher revenues through higher compliance for pay parking, if my experience is anything to go by; and people choosing muni pay parking over other choices because of payment convenience. For the SmartParkers, there would be the convenience of not having to guess how long you want to be gone, no petty cash hassles, only paying for exactly the time used, and hopefully a discounted rate.

Jinny Ladner

Whistler

Leadership is encouraging

This letter was addressed to the mayor and council. A copy was forwarded to Pique for publication.

I'm an author and sustainability-communications consultant based on Bowen Island. I am not a regular Whistler visitor, but I am a former Outside magazine senior editor, and I keep in touch with a wide group of American influencers in the active-adventure space. I'll be telling those folks that your pay parking policy is an example of strong local leadership and encouraging them to spread the word.

Given the climate emergency, anything we can do to discourage vehicle use will make a difference. This is especially true given that for much of the year your economy relies on snowfall. Thank you and the rest of your team for your leadership.

P.S. Please use as much of the revenue as possible for transit.

James Glave

Bowen Island

Listen to the people

Here is the icing on the cake...  I was "forced" to use the pay parking at the conference centre on Friday afternoon. I live in Pinecrest and am injured and was picking up a delivery from the loading bay.

I put my $4 in the machine, as I understood it to be $2 an hour. What a shock to see the ticket that I purchased at 4:24 was going to expire at 6 p.m.! By my calculations that is only an hour and a half. So I read the little print that states $2 per hour or a portion thereof. What a rip-off! Can we not at least GET an hour of parking for our $2?

And don't even get me started on the $150,000 to rip up the median on Blackcomb Way! Council's decisions are becoming more and more ludicrous and I am beginning to wonder what VANOC feeds them at their meetings?

Have council ever given the slightest thought to parking for the patients that have to come to the health care centre? Perhaps we could have a corner of the Celebration Plaza land for parking? The construction, to bring a much-needed CT Scanner to our facility, has reduced our parking to about 10 spots. After that is full, the patients have to either go to Marketplace or across Blackcomb Way. Neither route is easily navigated if you are injured.

Mayor and council, please listen to the message that we are trying to send you... your management and the decisions you have made and are continuing to make have a lot of us very upset. We are all going to be here in March; VANOC is not! Make your decisions based on what is best for the people of this town - the ones who voted you in!

Bobbi Sandkuhl

Pinecrest

Mayor's comments insulting

Folks are upset. It feels as if 20 per cent of the community is going to absorb 80 per cent of the benefit of this two-week party in February. A lot of money is being spent on these "Games," and a pervasive sentiment in the community, is we are not getting what we wanted, and what we had seems to be slipping away. Whistler appears a little out of control.

With all of this drama, we will still be the volunteers, the cheerleaders, and the spirit of Whistler. We will receive lasting benefits from these Games. But last week's Globe and Mail story (Whistler's Olympic wipeout, July 11) changed my position on our leadership from skeptical to offended.

Can you imagine what it must feel like to have a community's support and faith in you? Can you imagine what it must feel like to have people take time out of their day to cast their vote for you? Would that be rewarding? For the constituency to align themselves with your way of thought because you promised to deliver an open-minded and cautious approach to our community plan. It is a rare individual that sees that scenario come to fact.

Our mayor was given the opportunity to represent us and he has chastised us in a national paper, labeling us "a crabby, cantankerous lot." I was rocked by this one. It is time to go Mr. Mayor. You have been rude, and embarrassed us because you feel we aren't the "laid-back" gang we used to be. If you don't like us, don't represent us.

The annual cheque that each family writes on July 2 nd , paying their escalating taxes, gives them the right to be disappointed and voice their opinion. The cheque that the mayor cashes requires he work with us and for us, not insult us. It is ironic that his position as a councillor was anchored by the fact he was the crabby, cantankerous one. The long-time Whistlerite believed he would go against the grain and take some punches to get another opinion to the forefront. Now he expects his constituency to accept what he does and be happy about it.

A condemning statement like this also tells us he is not running for mayor after this term. No one with respect for their team casts such dispersion in a national paper if they thought they needed them anymore. Coaches get fired for this sort of stuff.

We aren't going anywhere as long as we can afford this place, so we want someone who can toughen up when the lights are low. We want a motivator and a marketer, a mentor and a bridge builder. Calling us a crabby and cantankerous lot shows a lack of respect and belief. You don't motivate a town into volunteerism by embarrassing them publicly.

John McBean

Whistler

Where am I?

Last night I had over $1,000 worth of equipment stolen out of my truck in my driveway. Today I fought traffic jams on the highway. Could someone please tell me where I am? When did the charming little resort community I used to live in get replaced by a city? Will it return after The Big 'O'? I sure do miss it.

Bryce Anderson

Whistler

All this and free parking

Diamond-encrusted platinum-plated kudos to Andrea Mueller and all the staff at the Whistler Arts Council for their hard work showcasing all the Funky Function Junction businesses during the inaugural Function Block Party.

People came in droves and had a ball discovering and re-discovering all the hidden treasures of "The Southern Ghetto of Whistler"! See people, it's not all heavy industrial down here, plus you get to park for free!

Look out for the second one on the 21st of August. Thanks again guys.

Harvey Lim

Whistler

Should sanity prevail?

Change rooms, Meadow Park Rec Centre; enter a friendly conversation with a lady taking care of her two young children. She's from Hong Kong. They've been to Whistler before, though not in the summer. Kids LOVING it (find me a kid who does not!) - never tiring of energy, mum and dad affording them a myriad of activities, from Ziptrek and the Peak 2 Peak, to tonnes of free fun running in and out of the lakes.

The children are about to go to summer camp here (at Myrtle Philip, I think she said). Mum's looking forward to the break! They've been nothing but impressed so far - hadn't realised how much Whistler has to offer this time of year. Pretty positive story by all accounts - until, that is, I learned that the reason they opted for a summer visit was because of the incredibly inflated prices being demanded by many a Whistlerite next winter season, a.k.a. 2010.

"Many of the prices are up by 100 per cent," she began, "so we decided to go to Japan for skiing next year instead." She went on to explain that for "regular" seasons, Japan offers similar pricing to Whistler (their "resort of choice" up until now), but they simply could not justify the inflated Olympic prices so they made the decision to give another resort a chance.

I suggested prices may go down, but was told this was of little help to them. "Even if sanity does prevail," she remarked, "long haul flights from Hong Kong are too much in demand - so we always book at least a year in advance to be sure we can get the flights we want. We could not risk the wait."

Fact is that, as a consequence of this season's challenges, for the most part, prices are already down for next year - just not around the Games weeks. Problem is, it's these prices that are governing our market's perception. It's created a negative focus causing valuable messages promoting Whistler to be sorely missed.

Never before had the concept of out-pricing ourselves struck home more than in this moment. Here was (in all probability) a pretty wealthy, extremely pleasant family - loyal Whistler clients turned off from the idea of coming here because they sensed greed. Can we not learn from mistakes made in Beijing, where (I've been reliably informed) there was a fire sale at the last minute because so many hotels were holding out for the big dollars? Smart hotels (the Sundial for one) are apparently already sold out - they went for the VANOC approved rate.

IF they sell, the inflated prices for accommodation are (in my view) exceedingly short-sighted. We have a chance to impress and inspire the world - to show off Whistler and all our wonderful community. If we succeed, the long-term gains will be great indeed (for prosperity of spirit as well as purse strings). However, go as we seem to be right now, we run the risk of pulling the rug from under our feet - big time. If they don't sell, the story gets even worse and it's not just the hoteliers and landlords who'll feel it.

Some gambles are worth it, others simply make no sense.

Come on Whistler - someone tell me... where's the sanity in that?

Caroline Smalley

Whistler

Editor's note: The following response to the above letter was sent from Tourism Whistler President & CEO Barrett Fisher.


Yes, Tourism Whistler has undertaken a number of initiatives:

• One-on-one meetings with hotel general managers throughout Whistler to communicate the importance of working with VANOC, and in hosting media, national organizing committees, corporate sponsors and spectators; but not at any cost, as these clients will stay in Vancouver if we price ourselves out of the market.

• Three written communiqués to all of our members from myself and the Mayor of Whistler, communicating competitive pricing in former Olympic destinations and highlighting the importance of fair pricing if we want to fill the Resort during Games time.

• Hosting two public accommodation forums: one to all business members, and one to the Whistler community, in which Tourism Whistler presented research from Park City/Salt Lake City, Torino and Beijing highlighting the various Olympic audiences interested in visiting, what they are prepared to pay and again, sharing the negative results from other Olympic destinations with regards to decreasing prices and empty hotel rooms for those who held out for an unrealistic price.

• Interviews with local and regional media, highlighting research from more than 1,500 customers who were on a Whistler.com waiting list for accommodation in February 2010, finding out what types of rooms they were interested in purchasing and at what level of pricing. In all cases, the feedback was that customers expected to pay a premium (ie: a total price of up to $600 a room), but refused to be gouged (thousands of dollars per room per night).

• Working with our tour operators in all of our national and international markets to encourage them to bring their regular ski clientele to Whistler in December, January, February, March and April of 2009/2010, and motivating these operators to sell Whistler through hosting them for a "Bronze-Medal Familiarization Trip" two years ago, a "Silver-Medal Familiarization Trip" last year, and a "Gold-Medal Familiarization Trip" in 2010.

• Tourism Whistler has also proactively produced postcards and advertising campaigns in order to bust the myths about 2010 - ie: venue construction is complete; the highways will be improved, upgraded and open; the ski hills will be 90 per cent open for skiing; and there are accommodations available at fair pricing.

• In addition, Tourism Whistler has created a Value Strategy, which we have shared with our Board of Directors and the Chamber of Commerce's Board of Directors, and will be rolling out to the membership in September. This strategy recommends a "fair value program" where retail and restaurant businesses can sign up, offer their regular annual pricing, and will be recognized through listings and official stickers that their pricing is competitive and fair.

The good news is that almost all hoteliers have participated with VANOC in hosting the IOC family and media and are providing accommodation to host spectators and regular skiers, and many more accommodation providers have come forward with rooms the past few months, which have filled much of the demand.

The bad news is there are still some private owners holding out, who are convinced that if they wait until the last minute they will reap top dollar, despite the fact that history has shown that this is the exception, not the rule.

As we know, the Olympic Games are not just about the 17 days... they are about the 17 years thereafter, where 10,000 media will be writing about Whistler, and 3 billion television viewers will be watching Whistler, in all of its glory... so let's take this very precious opportunity and maximize it for our entire community, building tourism for the long-term.

Hopefully, letters like your's will continue to grow awareness!

Barrett Fisher

President & CEO, Tourism Whistler