With 5½ months to go before the Nov. 15 municipal election, a former White Rock councillor is eyeing a comeback.
Margaret Woods said Tuesday she decided to aim for a seat at city hall – though she’s not yet decided if it will be a councillor’s seat or the mayor’s – after years of watching from the sidelines and feeling frustrated at what she saw.
“I just think it’s time for a new, fresh appearance at the council table,” Woods said. “I leave those meetings just shaking my head.”
It’s been nearly a decade since Woods sat on council. She served a term that could be described as colourful after winning a seat in the 2003 election. An altercation shortly after with fellow councillor Cliff Annable – he said she jabbed him in the face with a pen, she said she slapped him – gained international attention and led to calls for her to step down.
But Woods said she is not worried that the incident – along with an unrelated now-dropped civil suit she filed against Annable in 2011 – may impact her chances at the polls in November.
“I don’t think that’s an issue,” she said. “There are bigger things in this city to be looking out for than some things that happened in the past. People saw it for what it was.”
Among the bigger issues she sees, top of the list is overtaxation.
"I always say – Scottish people, we're always looking out for other people's money," she said.
“The city’s collecting it, but I’m not of the opinion they are spending it appropriately.”
Woods, a fraud examiner, said despite celebration by the current council over deciding on a smaller property-tax increase for 2014 than initially suggested, taxes are still going up and residents are not getting their money's worth.
“I find that those people making the decisions are not listening to the people, and I happen to be one of the people.”
Spot zoning is also a concern, Woods said.
“I have many concerns,” she said.
“The city seems to me to be in a bit of chaos.”