Whistler – Chalk one up for the technologically challenged.
Tom Thomson garnered the highest number of votes in the Whistler Council race on Saturday (Nov. 15) in spite of the fact that he did not have a website, does not own a cell phone and has to go to a friend’s house to use email.
In final, official results released on Monday (Nov. 17), Thomson edged incumbent Ralph Forsyth for the top spot, drawing 1,682 votes to Forsyth’s 1,612. Newcomer Chris Quinlan was a close third with 1,606. Incumbent Eckhard Zeidler (1,495) and newcomers Ted Milner (1,418) and Grant Lamont (1,321) round out the new council.
Thomson doesn’t own a computer, though he says a friend is sourcing one for him and plans to teach him how to operate it in preparation for his new part-time Council job, which begins on Dec. 1.
Still, Thomson insists he’s not a Luddite.
“I ride a very sophisticated mountain bike,” said the 67-year-old retired teacher, present-day painter and longtime Whistler volunteer. “I am very technical when it comes to ski gear, the cross-country stuff — I don’t have planks and old leather boots with the snap-on bindings that gave you purple toes. I’ve been through that, so I am not a Luddite.”
Thomson said his experience teaching history — including governance and current events — stood him in good stead during the campaign. Working with friend Mike Hawes, whom he described as “another fellow who’s a little long in the tooth,” the two devised a campaign strategy that focused on Thomson’s strengths, including his easily recognizable face and his public speaking ability.
His campaign signs — which included just his face, his name and the fact that he was running for Council — seem to have had the desired effect.
“I had some ideas what I thought would work and how to present myself, being somewhat from the outside looking in,” he said. “I couldn’t go at it with a lot of facts and figures, but I was trying to working off of what I could bring to the role as a councillor. I guess enough people had enough belief in that to elect me.”
Though he admitted the fact that he’s about to get an email address “scares me,” Thomson vowed to get up to speed on the computer front as soon as possible. “I understand the importance of municipal data that’s downloaded, or uploaded, or whatever they do,” he said.
A few months ago, Thomson was happily enjoying his semi-retirement: painting, volunteering at the Whistler Off-Road Cycling Association (WORCA) Loonie Races and elsewhere, and snowboarding.
That’s when, about six month ago, “I attended some council meetings and I was discouraged. I didn’t see a process taking place. I saw tremendous delays in situations that I don’t think required a delay. And consequently those delays led to cost overruns.
“I think there should be a process, but I think decision making needs to take place in a responsible period of time for both parties.”
Thomson admitted that running for Council might not seem like a logical choice for someone in his place in life.
In stark contrast to giving of his own time in a volunteer capacity, “This puts me front and centre,” he said. “Why would I leave what everyone in their life strives to do? The answer, I think, is that I care too much about this community and I want to make time to make a difference.”
Lamont also eschewed at least one of the trappings of most modern political campaigns — he didn’t put out campaign signs. Zeidler also did not. Lamont admitted his decision might have cost him some votes, but “I hate them,” he said, then launched into a rendition of the 1960s anti-sign anthem, “Signs.”
On a more serious note, Lamont said he was encouraged by the make-up of the new council.
After calling Forsyth “a hard worker; a pit bull,” Lamont said, “What we’ve got to focus on is our strengths. I mean, Quinlan is on the housing thing, and I’m on the event marketing thing, I think. Ted Milner has the financial thing well in hand. I’m not the world’s best macro-economic guy, but as far as dark clouds and things to be looking out for, he’s kind of an early warning system. I call him Gary Powers, the U2 pilot.”
Both Lamont and Forsyth said relationships with other governments in the Sea to Sky corridor are among their top priorities early in the new, three-year term.
Lamont said he thinks he’s got Pemberton more or less covered — his wife, ex-Whistler councillor Caroline, is planning manager there — but added, “I really want to shore up relationships in the corridor, which have been *&%$# and *&^%$ all over for the last little while.”
Forsyth didn’t go that far, but he did say, “Just like Council, we’re going to have a relationship, so we should do whatever we can to make sure we have the best relationships with our neighbouring communities that we can have.”
Forsyth also acknowledged the ongoing problems with daycare in Whistler, saying he plans to see about devising a municipal policy on child care.
“That, to me, is a huge one,” he said. “What I’d like to see is that the community comes together to solve the problem. It’s like housing — everyone thinks it’s someone else’s problem, but it’s everyone’s problem and we need to do what we can to fix it.”
Lamont also made note of the WORCA connection: Of the seven new lawmakers, only Milner and Zeidler are non-members. Melamed, Lamont, Quinlan and Thomson are all extremely active with the club.
Quinlan, who finally broke through to win a seat on Council after two unsuccessful attempts, declined to list his top priorities for the first part of the term.
However, he said, “My biggest concerns are just our financial accountability to our taxpayers. There are some tough decisions to be made and we’ll make them, and we’ve got to get some seasonal housing going, no question.”
Milner echoed the “tough decisions” theme.
“The first priority is to understand where we are with all of our capital projects, to get a hold of those, control and manage them. But at the same time we need to make sure that we preserve our core services, find a way to do it without raising taxes and find another $10 million in revenue over the next few years,” Milner said.
Zeidler, speaking at Mayor Ken Melamed’s election-night party on Saturday at Buffalo Bill’s, agreed that fiscal management is at the top of his list.
“I hope the way we handle the next budget is going to be a defining moment, energizing everyone in the community,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of hard work to do and everyone’s got to come together.”
He expressed sadness that Bob Lorriman — the only incumbent seeking re-election who failed to win a seat — won’t be at the Council table during that process.
“I’m surprised that Bob is gone, but I congratulate the newcomers,” Zeidler said. “All I’m trying to do is speak for this community in the best way I know how. That's why I’m there.”
