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Myths About Municipal Council and Some Frequently Asked Questions

Originally published in the Whistler Question November 9th 2017

 

When my boys were little, they would always groan when we went to the grocery store, “how long is this going to take?” they would whine, “do you have to talk to every single person you see?”. I would respond with “Well boys, you know people like to talk.”-“No dad… YOU like to talk!” they would correct.

So, here dear taxpayer, is a compilation of frequently asked questions I’ve fielded over the years.

Term Limits: There are no term limits for Council or the Mayor in Whistler, or any other municipality, in fact there are no term limits for any elected office in Canada. Constitutional scholars and decisions by the Supreme Court suggest that term limits would be a violation of section three of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The most famous example would be “Hurricane” Hazel McCallion who served as mayor of Mississauga Ontario for 36 years, her record was bested last year by Gord Krantz of Milton Ontario. It turns out that Canadians like experience in their politicians.

You can’t run for both Mayor and Council… Think about it. What if you won both seats? You either go for it all, or not. Strangely though, at least in British Columbia you can run for Mayor or council of multiple municipalities! Anyone remember Jag Bandari? In 2008, he ran for Mayor of Whistler and for a council seat in Surry (he lost both). You also, don’t have to live in the town you run in, sounds crazy but it actually works, a great example would be Pemberton’s former Mayor Jordan Sturdy—he lives in the SLRD, not Pemberton.

Financial things the RMOW can and can’t do: The RMOW (or any Municipality) can’t lend or give money to businesses, can’t run a deficit, and can’t charge a sales tax.
Municipalities only have two basic sources of revenue, property taxes and user fees. The RMOW already has a third source-the hotel tax. When the resort was incorporated, the province endowed us with our own act (The Resort Municipality of Whistler Act) which allows the RMOW to collect development charges, and Tourism Whistler to levy assessments on members who reside on resort lands. It really showed a lot of foresight by the Province to permit these tools to control development and enhance tourism.

The most frequently asked questions and the ones that community members have the least understanding of-surround housing. First, and let me be emphatic—the RMOW does not build housing— the RMOW does not use your tax dollars to build someone else a house. The next time I hear someone say “just take the money from the soccer fields and build housing” I’m going to scream! Here’s how employee housing gets built: a land owner has, let’s say a 10 acre plot, but it’s only zoned for a single family house, said land owner thinks “gee I could make some more money by subdividing this lot and building more houses”. When he takes this idea to council, council will say great, we’ll rezone the property but we’ll need you to build some employee housing units on the site as well. It really is that simple, and there is no cost to the taxpayer—unless you count the staff and council time to handle the rezoning application—but hey that’s their job. I’ll save all the multitude of other ways to build housing, for another column, till then dear taxpayer, if you have any other questions about politics and how it really works, next time you see me in the produce aisle… ask away!

Ralph Forsyth is an entrepreneur and ski instructor, he served as a Whistler Councillor from 2005 to 2011, He’s never been accused of being the smartest guy in the room or the calm voice of reason.

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Social Media and how it’s ruining politics

It’s a lot harder to say nasty things to people if you have to say it to them face to face.

Originally printed in the November 28th 2017 edition of the Whistler Question

In 1841 Abraham Lincoln, a masterful orator gave an address to the Temperance Society in his hometown of Springfield Illinois, he warned the crowd that that if they continued to denounce both sellers and drinkers of alcohol in “thundering tones of anathema and denunciation their cause would accomplish nothing. He encouraged them to take the approach of an “erring man to an erring brother”, and reminded them that “a drop of honey catches more flies than a gallon of gall”. Lincoln was famous for being able to see both sides of any issue, and his leadership was masterful because of his incredible empathy towards his fellow man.

Even after the incredible cost and bloodshed of the civil war Lincoln used his second inaugural address to encourage a sympathetic understanding for the nation’s alienated southern citizens: “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.”

 

Currently this kind of understanding is in short supply, and the culprit could be social media. Most of us have, to some degree, an instinctual empathy towards others, yet according to Molly Crockett a PHD at Yale University social media’s influence may be enhancing social divisions and indifference to our fellow man.

 

In a paper “Moral outrage in the digital age” Dr. Crockett explains that because of the homophily inherent in social networks, people are only willing to share their views with people who already agree with them, so its’ difficult to see how we can overcome divisions, or move forward when confronted with contentious issues that require collaboration. On line discourse it turns out may not be the best way to come to understanding with people you disagree with, the reason is the reduced dimensionality of social media. It’s easy to type vitriol to a two dimensional avatar. It’s a lot harder to say nasty things to people if you have to say it to them face to face.

 

As a councillor I was a heavy user of social media from its infancy, it connected me to an audience that I never would have otherwise met, but it was incredibly inefficient, and left no room for nuance. I certainly endured some nauseating moments on social media, but in retrospect it seems pretty tame to the contemptuous commentary I see today. I’m so glad I don’t have to engage with social platforms as a councillor now. For a local politician the face to face contact is what you crave, it’s certainly the part of the job that I miss -epically the ski days talking politics. Lucky for you dear taxpayer it’s easy to access your local councillors, and in fact Jack Crompton and Jen Ford regularly host coffee talks with constituents.

 

Remember dear taxpayer it’s okay to have arguments, we all understand that most public issues involve trade-offs, and in most arguments, there are two partially true points of view. But rather than taking to twitter or freaking out on facebook, talk to someone, share a beer, a coffee or a few turns on the mountain, do something that activates the empathy which is essential for bridging political divides.

 

Ralph Forsyth is an entrepreneur and Ski Instructor, he served on Whistler Council from 2005 to 2011 He’s not the best skier on the mountain, but he’s got tremendous style.

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