I am writing in response to letters to the editor in the Oct. 30 edition of The News penned by Frank Horner and Ted Smith.
I am not certain that either of these gentlemen understand the democratic process. The voters of Qualicum Beach elected a mayor and four councillors.
This group of five have an equal voice as they share the responsibility of running our town. Each member has a vote and majority rules. Once an item is voted on they will move forward.
When the mayor fails to share information council has the right to address their concern with the mayor at a council meeting as Dave Willie has done on two occasions. In both instances, the mayor has admitted that the information was not shared as protocol dictates.
This lack of information sharing with all members of our previous council, in a timely fashion is why the mayor was not re-appointed to the RDN board. Perhaps this is an area that our mayor needs to work on, bringing it forward in a respectful manner, at the appropriate table is the best way to address it.
I, like many in our community, am pleased with the current council and would like to allow them to run our town. They are all dedicated, hard-working individuals who were elected to do this job.
What I would like to see is a little less of the name calling from Smith and Horner and his gang of letter writers who feel compelled to lash out in print each time a member of council disagrees with our mayor.
Horner has continually made it clear that he agrees with our mayor and dislikes the majority of council. He made this clear before they were ever elected, yet the majority of voters chose to vote for them. Though Horner is entitled to his opinion, I challenge him to leave the campaigning to the next election, to let our council run the town and allow the voters to reserve judgment based on council’s achievements at the end of three years.
Perhaps it is Horner’s continual sniping at council that is the true embarrassment and shows “an immature character completely at odds with public service.” We have the council that the majority of voters elected, please let them do their job and if you are unhappy you have the opportunity to add your name to the ballot in the next election.
Maria Perpick
Qualicum Beach