I Walk the Line

Sorry for the lateness of this Newsletter – to those that noticed, it’s been over a month since I’ve said hi in this format.

I assure you the lag is not for lack of interesting things happening. Far from it, there are monumental things afoot everywhere and it surely is exciting times. However, this month I keep trying to write this newsletter and keep having to stop because… well for many reasons.

One thing’s for sure - I very much miss my column in the Chief. Those were the days when everything I knew was public knowledge and when I saw something wrong I could simply rant, “just what the hell is going on?!” and create debate.

Now however things are certainly different. I still have more than my share of “what the hell” questions, but now I’m kind of left to my own to figure out how to best reach the desired solution. Even with simple things, who and what you ask can drastically change the playing field come time for the public debate. And sometimes things aren’t even debated. Often things just happen by following the process that either existed or one we created.

So in this arena when things tick me off and I just want to yell and call something out for being complete and utter horse pucky… it’s very rarely beneficial to actually come out and say that. Instead I have to figure out how this plays in the bigger picture and leverage as much as I can.

So as fun (and sometimes therapeutic) as it is to just let it all out and tell it like you see it – you can’t. That is a bloody hard thing to do, for me at least, but it’s politics and a bridge you burn even by accident could be one you need soon. There in lies the evil rub of this game.

I know this all sounds kind of cryptic without examples but basically what I’m trying to say is that politics is not an easy job/game. Thankfully it’s one I enjoy but I’m not naive enough to think I will ever know it all.

…in other news…

Congrats to Cindy Turner for organizing the 10th annual balding for dollars. I still consider it the best haircut of the year. And speaking of “holding your tongue” I actually ran into Gordon Campbell at a conference and got him to pry $20 out of his wallet for this cause. That felt good and it was very difficult to smile and say thanks when a million HST and cutback jokes were flooding my head.

There you go. As always, please don’t hesitate to drop me a line with anything that is on your mind (that’s what this job is all about). As well if you could pass this on to others who may be interested – that would be fantastic.

Have a great one eh’
Bryan Raiser
Councillor, District of Squamish
604.848.9343
braiser@squamish.ca

PS. Here’s a cool carpool initiative that launched this week straight out of Squamish:
Skwez (pronounced "squeeze") is a next-generation ride sharing site – it’s flexible, interactive and FREE. Check it out and be one of the first to test drive/ride it http://skwez.com.

PPS Live music in Squamish? Hell ya! Check out a great idea at http://www.squamishmusiclive.ca and never miss a gig again.

PPPS. Hungry for “official” District of Squamish updates emailed regularly? – email communications@squamish.ca to get hooked up.