Written by NEIL GODBOUT
Citizen news editor
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Thursday, 13 November 2008 |
During the federal election campaign last month, I complained about the lack of quality candidates facing incumbent Conservative MP Dick Harris in the Cariboo-Prince George riding.
A month later, the opposite problem faces Prince George voters in this Saturday's municipal elections.
Prince George will have a new mayor and residents have two excellent candidates to choose from. With all apologies to Eugene Fetterly and Dane Greenwell, this has been a two-horse race between Dan Rogers and Don Zurowski.
Both Zurowski and Rogers bring extensive experience in municipal politics to the table, along with their numerous contacts across the region and province.
Both men have run civil, professional campaigns with no needless bashing of the other candidate. Instead, they have focused on sharing their vision and ideas about Prince George's future. Rogers has been more articulate and more specific in voicing his plan but Zurowski boasts the more extensive business background and the Rolodex to go with it.
Neither man would be a bad choice. Furthermore, as voters, we can hedge our bets. If the one who wins this year is a dud in the big chair, we can put the other one in three years from now (presuming he would run again, of course).
The choice for eight city councillors is even more daunting.
Six of the incumbents are running again and all but one of them is seeking their third term or more. While many people find that a liability, experience is a powerful tool and shouldn't be discounted lightly. These people aren't running for high school student council. The knowledge they've acquired at the council table and their willingness to let their names stand again for a mostly thankless job is commendable.
The incumbents face a formidable challenge from several impressive newcomers looking to get elected to city council for the first time.
Dave Wilbur is a lawyer with years of experience serving as a director on several community boards, most notably the Prince George Airport Authority.
Garth Frizzell is a former president of the Prince George Chamber of Commerce and is the owner of a successful local software company.
Shari Green is another downtown business owner and active volunteer with the Downtown Business Improvement Association.
Like Frizzell and Green, Cameron Stolz is a relatively young and successful small business owner with an eye on value for money at city hall.
MaryAnne Arcand has been a hard-working advocate for forest sector safety with the B.C. Forest Safety Council.
Those are just five of the challengers. The other people running are worth a serious look, too.
If you still haven't made up your mind, see if you can track down the election special section we ran last weekend or visit our website (www.pgcitizen.ca).
The most impressive and heartening fact about this year's election is the eagerness of both incumbents and challengers to get elected and address the serious challenges facing Prince George over the next three years and longer.
Besides the meetings and the mountains of paper to plow through, these citizens are willing to subject themselves to a constant stream of criticism, both publicly in letters to the newspaper, editorials and opinion columns, as well as the barrage of phone calls and e-mails and even confrontations while they're out grocery shopping about why their tax dollars aren't being spent this way or that.
The pay the eight elected councillors will receive certainly won't compensate them fairly for their time, particularly since they'll be sacrificing time they could be spending with family and friends.
The desire to serve should never be taken for granted. We're free to disagree with the stances of local politicians but we can't disagree about their heart.
To a man and woman, they all care about Prince George and its future and they believe they have something to offer to make that future better for everyone.
We all owe ourselves the time to assess each candidate and thoughtfully pick the best men and women willing to shoulder the responsibility of leading the city through the uncertain times ahead.
Neil Godbout is The Citizen's news editor.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 13 November 2008 )
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