Seldom do people say nice things about committees.
Robert Copeland said a committee should consist of no more than three people, two of which are absent. Maybe that's because Elbert Hubbard said it takes a committee a week to do what one person can accomplish in an hour.
Regardless, as Ernest Benn once said, this is the age of committees.
And so the District of Squamish appointed members to six new committees, negativity be damned.
Councillor Doug Race will chair the Community Development and Planning Committee. Mayor Greg Gardner and Councillor Patricia Heintzman will also take a seat at the table.
Councillor Paul Lalli will chair the Economic Development Committee. Gardner and Councillor Rob Kirkham will join him at the table.
Kirkham will chair the Finance Committee, and Counillors Corinne Lonsdale and Lalli have also been appointed.
Lonsdale will chair the Protective Services Committee and Heintzman and Race will also sit at the table.
Councillor Bryan Raiser will chair the Operations Committee. Joining him will be Lalli and Lonsdale.
Heintzman will chair the Parks and Recreation Committee. Race and Raiser will join her.
The old committees are still in effect. Heintzman will sit as a non-voting resource on the Advisory Design Panel. Lalli will sit on the Accessibility Advisory Panel. Lonsdale will chair the Select Committee on Seniors Issues, and Kirkham will sit at the table, as well. Finally, Raiser will sit on the Smoke Bluffs Park Committee.
According to Gardner, the idea is to rotate appointments so that all councillors can have a run at the different agendas.
At the end of the meeting, during a public question and answer session, perennial mayoral candidate Terrill Patterson accused council of violating its procedures bylaw while making the committee appointments. According to section eight of the bylaw, the first member of council mentioned must be the one to chair the committee. At one point, by way of explaining his participation, Gardner mentioned himself in advance of proposed chairs. Council did not respond to Patterson's charge.
