It really couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
Prince George City Council decided Monday to name Cliff Dezell a Freeman of the City. It's the greatest honour that city council can award a local citizen for exceptional service to the community.
If Prince George had royalty, Dezell would be noble born. He was the son of former mayor Garvin Dezell and the incredible Bea Dezell, who died earlier this year at the incredible age of 105.
Cliff was first elected to Prince George city council in 1983 and served until 2005 with a three-year break from 1990 to 1993.
During his council years, he held various positions with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, including chairman of the B.C. caucus and third vice-president of the national organization. Furthermore, he was part of a Canadian delegation to a United Nations conference on racism and intolerance held in South Africa in 2001.
Bruce Strachan, himself a former city councillor as well as an MLA and provincial cabinet minister, said Dezell was likely the best city councillor Prince George has ever had.
"Cliff was a fiscal conservative, chairman of the finance committee, but he also had a lot of genuine good interest in social issues. And 99 per cent of the time he was right, and brought a lot of depth to the debate, and that made him a very good councillor," Strachan said in 2008. "I don't think he would have fit into either of the camps in the political machines like we see in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. There's a scenario that would not include a really bright guy like Dezell."
Cliff worried about the pennies but he spoke fearlessly on social issues and was often out in front of his council colleagues and the rest of the community. Dezell and Dan Rogers stood alone in 2001 in trying to convince Mayor Colin Kinsley and the rest of the city council of the day to endorse a Pride Day in celebration of the city's lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer and transgendered residents.
He wasn't always right. In his last year on council, he fought adamantly to keep Prince George as the only city in the Western Hockey League that didn't allow fans to drink beer in the stands. To this day, the city's gradual and grudging acceptance of drinking in the stands for hockey and other events is from Dezell's passion on the subject and his influence on other city councillors, particularly Murry Krause and Brian Skakun.
Cliff's political accomplishments, however, are just part of his exemplary dedication to the betterment of Prince George.
Some of the local groups he has supported in the past include the B.C. Mental Health Society, Northern Interior Health Society, and the Multicultural Heritage Advisory Committee. After leaving political office, he led the committee that turned the Northern Sport Centre at UNBC from ambitious dream into splendid reality. The facility may bear Charles Jago's name but it's the house that Cliff built.
A 2007 finalist for Citizen of the Year, Cliff is no doubt both flattered and embarrassed at being named as a Freeman of the City. He joins an illustrious group that includes his father Garvin, Carrie Jane Gray, Harold Moffat, Anne Martin, Lance Morgan, Kinsley and, most recently, Shirley Gratton. Hopefully he follows Gratton's lead and takes advantage of a special power that only the holders of the Freedom of the City wield. Last August, just a few days before the start of the B.C. Northern Exhibition, Gratton brought a cow to City Hall and let it graze on the front lawn.
It's a great way to promote the fair and it will appeal to Dezell's quirky humor.
These days, Cliff hosts a weekly hour-long radio show on all things politics called Radio Roundtable each Friday from 1 to 2 p.m., where I am an occasional member of the panel discussion in the second half hour. The next time I'm on his show, I won't be surprised if he thanks me for the editorial and then asks me, with that well-known little smirk and glint in his eye, what I'll write for his obituary.
My reply will be that kinds words are fine in a eulogy but the recipient should get to hear it while they're still around to accept the compliments and praise.
Congratulations, Cliff, and thank you for your contributions to Prince George.
