Whistler – Municipal election signs are already gone from the Whistler landscape and unsuccessful candidates such as Surrey’s Jag Bhandari are becoming just a memory. Mayor Ken Melamed has been chosen to lead Whistler for a second term, through the 2010 Olympic and Paralympics, and four new councillors are soon to be saddled with 500-page Council packages.
But the pesky municipal budget doesn’t seem to be fading with all the other distractions in the post-election wind-down. In fact, what proved to be a hot election topic will likely continue to be a large focus for Council and the community in coming months.
“The budget is a huge challenge,” Melamed said Tuesday (Nov. 18) — the day after the outgoing Council’s last official meeting, where municipal finances were again front-and-centre. “Everything is going to be analyzed and scrutinized.”
While he said he’s feeling positive in the days after his re-election on Saturday (Nov. 15), he’s also “nervous” because of “the size of the challenges we have in front of us.”
Melamed said during the campaign he faced a lot of fear in the community about Whistler’s financial state in the midst of high capital spending, the first property tax increase above the rate of inflation in years, and the meltdown of the global economy. He also faced a lot of questions and frustration about the high cost for projects such as the composting facility and the new library.
Moving forward into the new term, Melamed said the first steps will be to get the new Council up to speed on the budget situation and begin the community dialogue to which he committed. Additional meetings and special intensive budget sessions will likely be necessary to give the new councillors enough comfort to make budget decisions.
Melamed said he’ll also encourage the new team not to analyze every purchase, but to review and direct the budget from a policy standpoint.
Whistler Election Results
WHISTLER MAYOR
x-Ken Melamed 1,527
Kristi Wells 1,218
Brian Walker 63
Miro Kolvek 54
Jag Bhandari 3
WHISTLER COUNCIL
Tom Thomson 1,682
x-Ralph Forsyth 1,612
Chris Quinlan 1,606
x-Eckhard Zeidler 1,495
Ted Milner 1,418
Grant Lamont 1,321
Jack Crompton 1,132
Bob Lorriman 1,046
David Sharpe 577
Wayne Escott 382
Stephen Milstein 381
David Buzzard 323
Bill Overing 247
Shane Bennett 105
Will Pullinger 101
Simon Briggs 81
Christopher Reading 40
WHISTLER SCHOOL TRUSTEE
x-Chris Vernon-Jarvis 933
Christine Buttkus 584
Amy Allen 556
Rachael Lythe 514
Connie Rabold 356
x - incumbent
Meanwhile, he’d like to hold a community dialogue event before year’s end to start talking about how far Whistlerites are willing to go on cuts to services to save money.
Adding to the budget challenge is Administrator Bill Barratt’s idea to pass a two-year budget this year to avoid having to go through the budget process during the Games in 2010, he said.
Though Melamed said he’s “surprised” incumbent Councillor Bob Lorriman wasn’t re-elected, he thinks the community chose well for its new Council. In addition to sitting councillors Ralph Forsyth and Eckhard Zeidler, the newly elected Tom Thomson, Chris Quinlan, Ted Milner and Grant Lamont have a long history of community involvement, he said.
“I’m optimistic that we can build another great team,” Melamed said.
Orientation is critical, and it will likely take the first-time councillors about six months to get acclimatized, he said. Sessions on the municipal work plan, team dynamics and goal setting for the term will take place, and the new councillors will be encouraged to attend the Union of B.C. Municipalities’ councillor training program.
Melamed said one of his goals for the coming term is to work on communication and engaging the community in the political process.
“Despite our best efforts to communicate from the hall, it’s very clear to us we need to do better,” he said.
He’d also like to address the sense in the community that municipal staff is making decisions for Council. During the campaign, Melamed said he would ask Council to pursue a review of municipal hall. He said this week that previous reviews suggested an increase in staff, but Council will have a conversation about staffing levels and the organization as part of the budget process. Lawmakers will be asked if they want to hire an outside consultant at a cost of $50,000 to $100,000 to complete an organizational review, he said.
Melamed said this term he’d also like to “reach out” to Whistler’s business community, the developers and the realtors — the demographic that supported his main challenger, Kristi Wells.
“I’d like to engage better within that community to see if we can’t bring them on the side of Whistler 2020 (community vision),” he said.
Melamed beat Wells by about 300 votes. He said he congratulated Wells on a good campaign in interviews after the election, but so far he hasn’t heard from her to congratulate her personally.
Despite the challenges ahead for Whistler’s new Council, Melamed said overall he’s confident in Whistler’s position and strong community moving forward. It’s important to remain positive and create a good future, he said.
“I don’t have a concern in the world. This is such a fantastic place and we have dealt with challenges before,” Melamed said.
