The Similkameen News Leader
Editorial
November 18, 2008
YEP, I WAS MORE THAN A LITTLE WORRIED
For the most part, I'm happy with the results of the November 15th election.
The Town of Princeton has elected an incredible Town Council with the right mix of experience and new faces that convinces me we are going to see some great things happen in the next three years.
With so many candidates running, there was a very real possibility of a completely new Town Council with five people elected with little or no previous experience in local government.
While that may have been attractive to many, I argued often that the need for some level of consistency should have been a higher priority. I also argued that previous experience in the local government level would be an asset to Princeton Town Council. There are a lot of issues coming that require a little more than an election win to tackle and tackle maturely and solve with business sense.
I also think the suggestion of each member of Town Council form their own individual 'advisory committee' be taken seriously. Each member of Council should have four or five volunteer representatives from different segments of the community to consult with on a casual, yet regular basis.
I think this will not only make Town Council somewhat stronger, but will keep the members of Council 'tuned in' with what residents really want and how they feel about issues facing the community in the coming months.
The 'advisory committee' idea could also assist in reducing the amount of money being spent on consultants who don't know the community and base decisions on results spewed from stats and numbers that fit into formulas.
The 'advisory committee' idea would give Town Council a real feel for what is really happening around them. It would also be a support network for decisions made by Town Council following consultation with their volunteer advisors.
We have a 'brand new' Town Council that will be pushing our community forward and now is the time to start making use of the talented people who already live in the community and have valuable input that may be useful on more than one occasion.
Yes, I'm pretty happy with the results of the November 15th election.
I think the people of Princeton voted with their brains and saw through the smoke and mirrors and put in power the most powerful combination of candidates they could and now it's time for those newly-elected candidates to show us what they can do.
I know I can rest easy at night knowing that the future of our town is in good hands.
