Two-hundred eight votes may not seem like a lot, but it represents a significant increase in voter turnout in Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) Electoral Area D.
The area that includes Britannia Beach, Furry Creek, Ring Creek, Pinecrest/Black Tusk and the Upper Squamish and Paradise valleys, after all, has less than 1,000 residents and during the 2008 municipal election, just 132 people cast valid ballots for the two candidates seeking to fill the area's one seat on the regional district board.
The 208 who cast ballots on Saturday (Nov. 19) represent a 57.5 per cent increase -a level of interest at least partly attributable to the fact that five capable, engaged citizens stepped forward to run for the seat being vacated by three-term Area D director John Turner this time around, director-elect Maurice ("Moe") Freitag told The Chief on Tuesday (Nov. 22).
Freitag, a Britannia Beach stone mason who took a leave of absence from his role as president of the Squamish Chamber of Commerce to run for the seat, won the race with 85 votes, followed by Bruce Bessie's 66, Nancy Hamilton's 33, Lisa Ames' 23 and Deb McBride's one.
Freitag, who under Chamber bylaws must step down from that role before taking the SLRD oath of office, said that during the six-week campaign he spent more than 40 hours knocking on doors in the far-flung electoral area. It was time he said he thoroughly enjoyed, adding that he plans to spend a lot more time meeting with community groups over the next few months.
In fact, he said, he's already busy laying the (ahem) groundwork.
"Emails are coming in and everyone wants to meet the new guy," he said, adding that he planned to meet with Turner later this week to catch up on issues and initiatives and plans to ask Turner lots of questions over the coming weeks.
Freitag said he's flattered to have won the voters' confidence given the quality of people who were seeking the job. "Anyone on that list would be more than able to sit on [Squamish] city council," he said.
He added, "I really worked adamantly to get the vote out, and you know the geographic region is huge. I did 40-plus hours of knocking on doors and talking to people. In some cases I got invited in and was there for 45 minutes. A lot of people were really excited to see someone out knocking on doors and listening to what's going on."
The director-elect said that he plans to ask community groups "to be respectful and to just give me a couple of issues to start with in the coming months, because realistically if they give me 20 things, it's going to be overwhelming."
The political future of Britannia Beach, Furry Creek and Porteau Cove is one issue that will undoubtedly be high on the list for those communities. It has been suggested that they may wish to form a municipal government, tentatively called Howe Sound East. Freitag said he plans to continue consulting residents on whether to accelerate that process or whether the status quo is fine for the time being.
In talking with residents so far, Freitag said he has found no support among residents for amalgamation with the District of Squamish. Similarly, few, if any, in Pinecrest/Black Tusk seem supportive of any suggestion that those communities consider becoming part of Whistler, he said.
"John has done a fantastic job, because the geographic area is huge," Freitag said. "I've walked most of it, and the issues are so diverse, but we'll get to work and do the best we can."
