Desperately Seeking SAM

Ok, a few weeks ago I sent out an email saying how frustrated I was that I couldn’t publicly talk about some things I wanted to talk about. This puts me into a tough spot because I was elected by many to be a shit disturber. But I was also elected to make this town better so I’ve been working really hard to figure out how to ‘let er rip’ in a productive way. I’m happy to say I’ve been making great strides in that department and those strides will continue. Still though, the most difficult thing about being a councillor is people telling you the following:

“Councillor conduct is such that when a decision has been made you should not go out into the public domain and start being publicly critical of that decision. Once a decision has been made you support the majority decision. The rational is that a good council will stick by their decisions whereas a dysfunctional council will spend all their time sniping at one another.”

I’m having a tough time with this since it’s very difficult to publicly support something you feel with all your being is wrong. For instance, with this logic I probably shouldn’t say I’m totally pissed off SAM the Axe Man was removed from the Adventure Center. I’m not sniping or pointing fingers but I am definitely upset and I’m going to tell you why.

First of all it is quite apparent that SAM is a very emotional issue as highlighted by the fact the day he came down he received national coverage. The reason for this passion is understandable since he is both a giant tacky tourist lure/bylaw infraction as well as a tip of the hat to our forestry roots. Both these things bring out passionate debate.

Personally, I’m a big fan of kitsch and it doesn’t get kitschier than a 50-foot logger. As for the heritage – well, I see no reason not to be proud of our community’s history.

However. SAM is great but he doesn’t tell the whole story. This town also has a phenomenal outdoor recreation history as well as future so why not simply combine the two? Sure SAM looks like a trail builder but he needs some accessories. Get him a bike and rope or windsurf or kite board. There are countless possibilities. Just a few months ago I was very heartened to see hundreds of Squamish residents had signed a petition to have SAM stay at the Adventure Center so he could be accessorized to tell the whole Squamish story.

Sadly it was decided he be sent packing and immediately every business on the highway clamored to get SAM on their property. Of course they did, he was a guaranteed way to get people to stop. So now he’s at the gaming center and instead of getting people off the highway to our Adventure Center he’s getting people to gamble. That’s kind of sad.

Which brings me to my final point on this giant topic. Regardless of your opinion of tacky tourist lures or our logging history, it is undeniable that he actually got people off the highway and out of their cars. Our community has spent countless millions of dollars trying to figure out a way to get people to do just that and when we finally do, he gets removed. Sigh.

So what now? Well this isn’t over so now I would hope we once again enjoy this year’s Squamish Day’s Logger Sports and hopefully next year SAM will come back home. In the mean time I look forward to changing our bylaw so we can legally welcome him back with open arms.

As always, if there’s something on your mind please share and if you know anyone who would be interested in subscribing to this email, please pass it on.

Have a great one and see you around,
Bryan Raiser
Councillor, District of Squamish
604.848.9343
braiser@squamish.ca

Ps. Here’s a great made in Squamish iPhone app – What’s on Squamish (the local social calendar) has made an iPhone app.
Personally I’m waiting until iPhone comes out with an MRI app but if you have one of these phones this might be handy...
http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/sea-to-sky/id376789647?mt=8