It’s not just a rhetorical flourish to say that Michael Lewis, arguably the most wisely centrist of West Van councillors, will be difficult to replace.
But under B.C. law Lewis’s council seat must be filled through a byelection Nov. 19 – coincidentally the anniversary of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address of 1863, speaking of boots hard to fill – with nominations opening Oct. 4 and closing Oct. 14.
Opportunity? Candidates who didn’t make the charmed circle of six winners in the 2014 municipal election come naturally to mind. Current buzz: Joanna Baxter and Jim Finkbeiner. Peter Lambur had strong advocates.
And is Vivian Vaughan tempted? Her mayoral bid in 2008 was sunk by the controversially late entry of John Clark, which assured Pamela Goldsmith-Jones’s victory.
Would Carolanne Reynolds, deeply committed to the town and its politics, run again? At this writing she hasn’t answered my question.
But, roll of drums – Coun. Mary-Ann Booth has spotted two fresh entrants: Andy Krawczyk, a retired high school principal (he chose not to discuss his candidacy now out of respect for Coun. Lewis’s memory and family, and “for the electoral process”), and Tom Dodd, a retired businessman whose widespread business and community activities hardly sound like retirement. Booth won’t endorse any candidate, but “I would be happy to work with either of them on council.”
Mayor Michael Smith is understandably non-commital: “The District of West Vancouver is a large and complex business, spending $140 million a year. Michael Lewis had both management experience and an understanding of corporate governance. I believe our residents would be well served if this knowledge is replaced.”
The name Shannon Walker, who retired from council in 2011 to raise her children, kept popping into my mind. And out. Still raising children, and busy expanding the Walker Group family business.
Bill Soprovich, who merits the title of council’s senior statesman, makes a smart point: “Get out and vote. If voter turnout is low then more chance for a special interest to move in with a candidate and perhaps be successful. I would like to see a candidate who represents the entire community.” Soprovich adds: “I truly miss Coun. Lewis. He was a great friend and colleague. Another loss similar to the late Allan Williams.”
Coun. Booth similarly adds to her email: “We are all still reeling from the sad passing of Coun. Lewis. I sat beside him for five years at the council table, and appreciated his knowledge, advice and friendship. I will miss him.”
Timely reminders that the byelection is no small matter. Breathlessly, we await the choice of the West Vancouver Citizens for Good Government.
• • •
Did you feel it? The earthquake. The shaking, when the Christy Clark government – as insiders and sharp outsiders knew was coming, and acted accordingly – imposed a 15% tax on foreign real estate purchases.
It wasn’t quite The Big One. The immediate effect, in the first half of August, was a swoon in houses sales – 83% in the only place that counts (rarely in less than seven figures), West Vancouver. Only nine sales in those 15 days.
Responding a year or so ago to the clamouring to Do Something about the preposterous rise in Vancouver real estate prices Clark gently slid in a be-careful-what-you-wish-for wake-up: Pricking the free-market bubble would endanger the equally preposterous wealth of existing home-owners. A sobering thought, for those who have become millionaires merely by buying early and thereafter breathing in and out.
The better news is that the ‘quake hasn’t lowered sale prices. Not yet, maybe never, or until the real Big One comes.
• • •
Love those public apologies. Statements that are politically incorrect, imprudent, unscriptedly dumb, and let’s not overlook the ones that are on-target accurate – followed by the apology in the cold light of dawn, frequently groveling.
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte recently called U.S. president Barack Obama a “putang ina,” which doesn’t sound so bad unless you know the phrase translates, crudely, as “son of a bitch” – or, so offensively that Reuters and other news reports forewarned delicate readers, it can also mean “son of a whore.”
Duterte thought it over, and apologized. And added that he meant “nothing personal.”
Rich comedy.
Which recalled – local angle! – the occasion when former B.C. attorney-general Wally Oppal, a delightful, decent man and public servant, was on a public platform with aboriginal leaders debating a heated issue.
Oppal and the leader seated next to him conversed politely. Then the man rose and spoke. His words clearly intended to tear Oppal into small, bleeding pieces.
Then he sat down and whispered to Oppal: “Nothing personal.”
It’s a classic.
Former Vancouver Sun columnist Trevor Lautens writes every second Friday on politics and life with a West Vancouver bias. [email protected]
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