By G.D. Maxwell
The GLC was awash in a mood of jubilant doom as Mickey’s hands pointed to eight o’clock Saturday night. The earlier arrivers – supporters, volunteers, gophers and a good cross-section of the braintrust – were pensive, like children counting down to Christmas, uncertain whether they’d be thrilled or disappointed when the Great Unveiling finally rolled around in another hour or so.
Candidate Kenny, who may actually sleep with his eyes open, levitated around the room, gorging himself and everyone within the sphere of his personal space on nervous energy that radiated from his fingertips and glistening scalp like blue tendrils of electricity.
Candidate Nancy was hammering back something vaguely vodka-tonic looking and would have been well on her way to table dancing tipsy but for the fact no liquid actually seemed to drain from her glass or pass her lips, each raise of the glass merely a formality nonsmokers perform to keep their hands busy when they’re about to bust out of their skin.
Candidate Zeidler, resplendent in his Ironic Protest outfit of post-consumer recycled sport coat and trousers I seem to remember J.J. donating to the Re-Use-It Centre and a tie last seen blindfolding an ex-Moonie undergoing reprogramming, was holding forth on the macroeconomic implications of resizing the world’s parking spaces to fit only Smart Cars, Segways and motorized wheelchairs, his graphic babble disguising the fact he’d swallowed his tongue an hour earlier in anxious anticipation.
Then the polls closed and everyone amped it up a notch.
By the end of the 21 st hour of the 19 th day of the 11 th month, jubilation had vanquished doom and the GLC was awash in champagne and good cheer. Well-wishers, party animals, the victorious, the curious, a few of the defeated and a clutch of more-confused-than-ever tourists danced naked – emotionally – and talked of turning great dreams into uncompromised realities.
In Whistler, home of dreamers and bums, the dog had once again caught the car it was chasing.
What to do with it now?
There’s been a lot said, a lot written and quite a bit whispered and rumoured over the course of this election campaign about what needs to be done to boost Whistler’s fortunes and steer it into the future. Some of it was good; a lot of it was patently fatuous. Local government is, after all, just local government, not some sleight-of-hand, Wizard of Oz magic show.
The first thing the new-old broom has to do is sweep local government clean of the blues and doom cloud dogging the last administration. Let’s remember, if you’re not having any fun, neither will our guests: the tourists, Weekend Warriors, fresh-faced suckers and all the other supporting cast that give this playground vitality and a purpose for even existing. Yeah, there’s serious work to do but if you don’t do it with a lighthearted touch you’ll be missing the whole point.
The second thing is to knock this election campaign nonsense out of your collective minds. You’re forming local government, not some form of benevolent dictatorship. There are things local government can do, things they should do, and things they’ll never be in a position to do.
Among the many, many things in the last column is the one that seemed to dominate the vote huntin’. Local government can’t kickstart the economy. Oh how I longed for a candidate with both feet on the ground and head in the sunshine who would have been bold enough to answer that question correctly.
Local government can’t kickstart the economy. It can smooth the way for entrepreneurs, startups and small and large businesses to kickstart the economy. It can get out of the way, cut the red tape, nurture a culture of helpful partnership in the gatekeeper departments of Muni Hall and do everything in its power to not kill the economy.
It can engage Victoria in serious, deliberate negotiations on real financial tools that will allow it to shift some of the burden of building and maintaining municipal infrastructure from property owners to… fill in the blank. Fill it in with something more creative and meaningful than just negotiating for a bigger slice of the hotel tax pie. A ‘tool’ is something you can pick up and use creatively, when you want, the way you want. A tool is not asking for a bigger slice of an existing pie. Be bold.
One of the simple things local government can do is clue in to the economy that needs to be kickstarted. For example, the single biggest buzz in town right now – at least now that the election is over – is the beginning of ski season. Remember ski season? It’s why we’re here at all. We should be celebrating ski season. We should be beatin’ the drums for ski season. What are we doing instead? Well if the banners flying from light poles are any indication, we’re celebrating wildlife. Wildlife? Get with the program guys. The banners are nice but they’re TOTALLY INAPPROPRIATE for the excitement we ought to be generating right now.
Very high on the list of things the new administration ought to do is trust the people of this town. Those would be the people who just proved they’re smart enough to elect you to office. I’m warning each and every one of you right here, right now, if I have to be writing about developing a culture of more open and transparent government three years from now I will personally be working tirelessly to boot each and every one of you out of office.
Here are a few exercises in democracy to consider. Mayor Ken ought to set aside half an hour every Tuesday – or whenever – when his door and mind are open to the local media. Anything goes for half an hour. He, and any councillor who values public input, ought to be doing the same thing for the general public on an informal, regular, frequent basis. If you valued our ideas and input while you were running, you ought to really value them now that you’re serving.
Consider extending this exercise in democracy to the new administrator and senior staff. Get them out of the insular world of Muni Hall and encourage them to hear some of the good ideas and feedback they either never hear or only consume in filtered form. If engaging the public is enlightening for you, imagine what it might do for them.
Make 2010 this town’s legacy, not its apex or death knell. Wrestle the Olympic™ juggernaut down to earth and keep it from saddling us with white elephants, Olympic™-sized debt and devastated glory.
Finally – and this is just the short list – build housing. It’s not like you’re spending the town’s money, it’ll be bought by people anxious to spend their own money for Whistler’s social infrastructure.
The time for planning is past. We’re entering the Era of Doing… or else.
