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Rome wasn’t built in a day….

Election reflections

As Pique got ready to cover last Saturday's election following a feisty mayor's debate Friday night there was a certain anticipation in the air.

Obviously there had been hours of office chat about who would be elected, what skills each person brought to the table and so on. After all, reporters are in a somewhat unique position in that we get to ask lots of questions of the candidates and learn about the people running and what motivates them.

It was surprising then, as we headed into the weekend, how reticent we were to actually confirm who we thought would win the seats.

It was obvious that Whistlerites had reached the end of its collective rope when it came to paying taxes, or what some believed was an almost cavalier attitude at the Hall, which may have resulted, for example, in the asphalt plant operating without proper zoning.

But what would that look like at the polls?

Sitting in the conference centre setting up my laptop in preparation of covering the vote counting I watched carefully as people filed in to vote. Were voters excited, triumphant, cautious - what I wondered was the mood?

After a couple of hours I was struck with the realization that I was the only excited one - I would describe most people as being determined and perhaps somewhat wary.

It was as if people knew that change was coming and while accepting it needed to happen it was worrisome - perhaps it that's old adage "better the devil you know than the devil you don't."

But in no way was I prepared for the landslide that Mayor-Elect Nancy Wilhelm Morden was handed Saturday night, Nov.19.

Even as I listened to the count, 2636 votes for Wilhelm Morden, I found myself checking my own notes. Surprising too were the top votes won by Roger McCarthy and Duane Jackson.

These were two men who arrived in Pique's offices just a few short weeks before with a spring in their step and an almost cheeky demeanour that left us a bit perplexed. On paper they looked impressive - no doubt - but pointed questions on the budget and other specific municipality business were answered a bit vaguely.

Nor did they swamp the social network airwaves with messages or comment as the resort revved up for election day. It was low-key - it was a "look to the skills we bring" kind of campaign.

And here is one of the lessons for all of us - people in Whistler understand what skills look like, they understand you've got to have them in tough times.

Being at the council table is not a time to learn leadership or management skills - at least not this time around. We need "proven winners" so to speak.

I do believe that there were people at the council table in the last session who were equipped to make the decisions Whistler needs to move forward but the "community" painted all the incumbents with one brush for good or bad.

My hope is that the incumbents will stay positive and lend the learning they have gathered over the years to Whistler as it moves forward. There are still plenty of boards and groups that need good leadership as we move forward.

As has been said in these pages before - small town politics is not meant to be a career.

There is no doubt that Wilhelm Morden ran an organized and clear campaign and I believe voters were looking for some positive and meaningful suggestions about how to keep the resort moving forward.

Her ten campaign promises are:

• No new taxes in 2012

• Zero-based budgeting in 2012. There will be savings and cost efficiencies.

• Pay-parking in Day Lot 1 only (This week she tells Pique that she hopes to have the pay-parking strategy in place by Christmas).

• Illegal space. Non conforming use properties - bring them in.

• Transit - have to fix it.

• Complete cultural plan

• Diversify the economy through education.

• Management of our forest makes sense. Logging old growth to do it doesn't. Go back to the Victoria to talk about this.

• Reduce the mayors salary by $10,000

• Restore trust between Municipal Hall and the community.

Time will tell whether the promises will be met and it must be remembered that Wilhelm-Morden is not the only one at the table. Six others must weigh in on these issues and staff at the municipal level must be engaged. But I do believe those conversations are already happening and we may see some initiatives fairly soon.

But it remains to be seen if Whistler can really afford some of these promises - the income from the pay parking, for example, may be too pivotal now to the financial sustainability of the resort to just cut it off at the knees. Surely, though there must be some reorganization that can happen at muni hall, which will lead to cost savings.

One wonders though if Wilhelm Morden's promises mean that yet more consultants will have to be brought in to investigate the viability of implementing them?

For now Whistler is waiting with baited breath for a new era on the political front.

I would offer these words of caution to my fellow residents: Give it time. This is a big change and our newly elected team will likely need months to get up to speed. And the rest of us can't just shirk off the responsibility of staying engaged just because we voted in record numbers.

As the old saying goes: Rome wasn't built in a day.