Retiring councillor Tony Scarcella reflects on five terms at the council table, and the future – 2
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Wed., November 12, 2014 www.revelstoketimesreview.com Vol. 117, No. 46
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Handmade Parade – 10
Election 2014
Election signs crowd the roadside at the intersection of Fourth, Townley and Victoria Road. Revelstokians head to the polls this week.
Alex Cooper/Revelstoke Times Review
How important is the 2014 municipal election?
On Revelstoke by Alex Cooper
The campaign signs are everywhere — along roadways and on people’s lawns. There are ads in the newspaper and my Facebook feed is filled with election-related posts. Outgoing councillor Tony Scarcella is calling this Saturday’s election the most important in a decade and
one that will define Revelstoke for the next century. That’s a bold statement. Will it help get people out to vote? In 2011, only 36 per cent of Revelstokians voted – a pathetic amount, though perhaps somewhat impacted by the lack of a mayoral election. This year has seen a politically charged campaign. It’s seen our mayors of the past 12 years – incumbent David Raven and his predecessor Mark McKee – go up against each other, with a third candidate, the previously unknown Michael Brooks-Hill as the alternate choice. What’s interesting is that McKee and Raven used to be good friends. When Raven ran for mayor in 2008, he was regarded as McKee’s handpicked successor — the BC Liberal candidate of choice to sit in the
mayor’s seat. I don’t know what happened between the two to trigger their split, but it’s clear they don’t care for each other. Raven has been campaigning as the man who’s slowly and quietly been trying to put Revelstoke on a stable financial footing, while maintaining a balanced economy. Depending on who you ask, he’s either a competent manager or a cold bureaucrat who hasn’t had to scramble for a dollar in his life and has no idea what it’s like to run a business. For McKee, the last six years has seen city finances reach a precipice, while city hall has been closed off and development driven away. McKee is either the successful business man who brought in Revelstoke Mountain Resort and the boom that came with it, or he’s the mayor who
failed to act as many families were driven out of Revelstoke by skyrocketing housing costs. Then you have Brooks-Hill — the unknown who has put together a strong campaign, showing an awareness of the issues and putting forwarded some good ideas. As he puts it, he’s the true candidate for change — the city’s problems being the result of the previous 12 years when his competitors were in charge. Still, his complete lack of leadership experience is a definite knock against him. Revelstoke does face challenges. The financial situation, while perhaps improving, has been getting steadily worse over the past 12 years. That can be seen by reading Graham Inglis’ annual financial performance reports. Twelve years ago, they were pretty sunny.
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They’ve slowly grown more ominous, warning of increasing debt and declining reserves. The city’s debt was about $6.3 million in 2002 and climbed to $13.1 million in 2008 and $17.9 million last year. The debt is largely a result of big infrastructure projects like the water treatment plant, new police station, aquatic centre, and various sewer projects. Still, it’s also a result of lack of reserves. When infrastructure funding came forward in 2009, the city had to borrow substantial sums in order to match the available money. It has also borrowed for things like road repairs and a new fire truck — capital spending that should have not required borrowing with proper planning.
see Election, page 6
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