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LETTERS: Time to listen, time to lead

Setting aside the question of why mayor will not back down, where do the other people we elected stand on the regional growth strategy?

Editor:

Setting aside the question of why White Rock Mayor Wayne Baldwin will not back down on his preposterous position on the regional growth strategy (A city in turmoil, Sept. 16), where exactly do the other people we elected stand on this?

Couns. Helen Fathers and Dave Chesney are visible at open houses, and take the time to listen. However, it seems that some on this council need to be reminded – again – that they are employed by every taxpayer in White Rock, and that just maybe their employer would like to see some actual engagement in the important issues.

We elected six councillors and a mayor last year; seriously, is it too much to ask that the majority of them show up at developers meetings so that the people who elected them can solicit feedback on the votes they intend to make on our behalf? (Editor’s note: Coun. Grant Meyer responded last week to a Sept. 9 PAN editorial challenging council members’ absences at public-information meetings, saying the city lawyer and planner have advised them not to attend. He did not explain why.)

We placed a trust in this mayor and council, and we expect them to carry out the promises that they made during the election – and controlled, well-thought-out development was one of those promises.

If there are councillors that disagree with Baldwin’s assertions on growth (Legally obligated to grow, Aug. 28 letters) they need to stand and be counted, not remain silent and hope for the storm to pass.

We are now stuck in a vicious cycle where the more vocal the public becomes over the lack of transparency at city hall, the harder the mayor and majority of council try to make the workings of council more opaque – excessive in-camera meetings is a prime example.

It is vital for practical reasons, even if not for moral ones, that politicians operate to a higher standard of conduct than those they purport to lead. Time for this mayor and council to listen and vote based on the wishes of the citizens, not the developers.

Steven Hughes, White Rock