As the Olympics rapidly fade into the rearview mirror, we need to address some of the nagging questions that were temporarily ignored by Mission Control over on Second Avenue.
For starters, how can the district reverse our growing reputation as a development minefield? The showcase Skye project is in financial disarray.
Last June at least two dozen workers lost their jobs when the site stopped construction. Meanwhile, the Garibaldi at Squamish four season resort proposal languishes in the Byzantine confines of the provincial environmental assessment offices in Victoria.
Everybody involved with this potentially lucrative tax and job-generating development is keeping their cards close to the vest.
Whatever happened to the Klahanie Shannon Falls Luxury Resort and Spa, which is, according to their website, "an extraordinary opportunity...destined to be the pre-eminent resort destination of its kind in Western Canada"?
After much initial hoopla the project seems to have disappeared from the radar.
To top it off, the DOS is being sued by a group of developers for close to $900,000 over an alleged conflict of interest issue. If that suit succeeds, taxpayers could be on the hook for the full tab, and a number of district operatives could quickly join the growing roster of ex-muni officials who either jumped ship, or were forced to walk the plank.
Who can forget the much publicized rancorous ouster of fire chief Ray Saurette? Former deputy chief administrative officer Brent Leigh bailed out before the axe came down on the Squamish Sustainability Corporation. Director of finance, Ralph Hughes, resigned with untimely haste this past January, in the midst of the budget process. CAO Kim Anema preceded him, as did engineering manager Doug French, and operations manager Gord Prescott.
On the surface this appears to be a natural process of attrition due to staff retirements and relocation. Some of these resignations may fit that description; however, the DOS management brain trust seems also intent on unravelling the tangled good old boys network that has lead to accusations of stagnation and inefficiencies at muni hall.
With budget deliberations well underway, the question becomes how much will this accelerated house cleaning cost the community in the form of hefty severance packages and other disbursements?
On another front, our much-ballyhooed official community plan promises to create a "vibrant" downtown. Now that we know business was a bust for most retailers during the five ring circus, there are already questions about why the transit hub wasn't situated somewhere nearer to the long suffering downtown core, so riders could avail themselves of local services.
Up the road, the Adventure Centre did yeoman duty during the Games.
About 1,000 bus passengers who travelled between the Vancouver International Airport and Whistler stopped in daily. The Homestay Program was based there and the NBC network, operating out of Anchorage, Alaska, broadcast live onsite over multiple days.
But the Olympic euphoria has worn off, and our $5 million showcase structure appears to be suffering from its own version of post partum blues.
With empty office space and costly maintenance and staffing issues, the powers-that-be need to address the AC's perpetual identity crisis.
