Editor:
Re: Memorial delay ‘not going to be cheap,’ Oct. 25; Utility price disclosed, Oct. 25.
The importance of a healthy, respectful dialogue in this ever more highly charged and contentious world we live in cannot be understated and is clearly in major decline in aspects of private and public lives.
Success in achieving our goals and objectives lies in the ability of people to create a positive and respectful line of dialogue and nurture relationships that bring us what we look to gain from them in a win-win outcome.
Our mayor seems to be woefully lacking in his ability to grasp this concept.
I have just finished reading the PAN reports concerning the city’s dealings with SFN, Epcor and the provincial government, and they are littered with what appear to be ‘shoot from the hip’ remarks from the mayor that serve to sow the seeds of negativity in any discourse he has with those he has dealings with and can only result in further resentments, antipathy, antagonism and dislike.
His rhetoric is both confrontational and fuels disdain and suspicion.
I am saddened to hear: “They ambushed us”; “It’s been like pulling teeth”; “They were reluctant partners in the first place”; and “Since they were unwilling partners, they were unwilling negotiators.”
These are constituents whom he still has to have direct dealings with, and he treats them with disrespect!
Mayor Wayne Baldwin, your office demands better and more from you than you are giving, and will lead only to exacerbate your efforts to find success in these dealings in the end and will impact all of us both from a community goodwill perspective as well as a financial perspective.
Let’s see respectful, meaningful dialogue in the remaining year that you are in office. We the citizens deserve nothing less.
Michael King, White Rock
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Re: Large group wants growth, Oct. 27 letters.
My sensibilities were offended by the letter putting blame on the Semiahmoo First Nation for the delay instead of where it belongs – at the foot of the mayor whose arrogant behaviour and lack of respect rebuffed the SFN issues and recklessly signed a contract without addressing historical rights to ancestral lands.
I am aggrieved by the statement made by letter-writer Dale Mumford that anyone who opposed what the mayor and council approve is part of an anti-growth movement. This is far from the truth. Most citizens agree that growth is necessary for a thriving community but as taxpayers would like to have some say in how to achieve that.
This has been difficult in our city. Question period has been canceled, the OCP blatantly ignored and a mayor and coalition who have accepted campaign donations from developers and Realtors who seem to have more influence on the future of our city than its taxpaying citizens.
Vickie Darts, White Rock