Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Thank You!


This morning - November 28, 2018 - until about 10:30, I will be the Regional District Director for Area A, SLRD.

At 10:30 or just after, our new Area A Director, John Courchesne will be sworn in.

I went into being the Regional District Director following in the shoes of Russ Oakley.  I wish John the very best in serving this community.

Yes, that's an agenda.  Happy reading!
My intention when I got elected was to work very hard to increase communication with ALL the property owners in the area not just full time residents.   In the same vein, I wanted to decrease the rumor mongering and gossip mill and deal with the facts.  Decreases anger and builds credibility!



A second goal of mine was to build relationships and advocate every single day with other elected officials at all levels, ministry officials and so on.  I do believe by the end of the 7 years, the first thing that occurs on MOST (not all lol) days to these folks is they need to consult with someone in the Bridge River Valley before they just land stuff on us.
$9 million repaving funding announced for Rd. 40


My third goal, was to ensure every conceivable dollar available anywhere could come into this area to HELP with community development.  While many of you come to this community to enjoy some relaxation and wilderness, the simple facts are services are based on population, no population no services.  No jobs, no local economy, no amenities, no housing, no cultural amenities and crappy access means no population means no services and decreasing property values.  Something YOU should care about.

My fourth goal was to ensure we moved from the culture of defeat and small-minded insular thinking to thinking we CAN do things but we have to be smart about it .....pay people instead of relying on volunteers with such a small population base...use technology and online stuff and finally do everything in my personal power including getting down in the dirt and working very long hours to ensure nothing fails.  We have made progress here but not as much as I'd like and it has been very very hard.

So overall I am satisfied and I know I did my best.

Along the way what I have learned about this area and the people who have come and gone is remarkable. This is an amazing place to live, amazing.  And so much satisfaction and so many thank you's from all of you, it is truly appreciated.

I will be carrying on with many projects I have on the go.  I do hope to be doing them though with about 1/2 as much time devoted.:-) Dock, margueritas, South Chilcotin Mtn Park, my grand children, keeping the old fart oiled and moving, and just enjoying where I live.  I live the dream.


That said, I'm going to switch over to another blog (so it isn't perceived as political) called Living in the Bridge River Valley.  So you'll being hearing from me again.


I really need to say a huge thank you to our staff at the SLRD.  Were there times they pissed me off, did a shitty job, and so on, sure.  But 99.5% of the time THEY made me look good.  They are professionals and they are the ones we should ALL be thanking.  They are smart, experienced and really really caring.  Thank you Lynda Flynn and everyone who works at the SLRD.

Finally I have to thank one guy...Sal.  Noone saw the countless times he cleaned off my snow covered vehicle and warmed it up at 5 am in the morning before one of my 4 hours winter drives to Pemberton for a meeting.  Noone saw the number of times he cooked dinner and the hours he put up listening to me on the phone.  Or the number of times he would bail me out because I couldn't find someone else to do something.  Mind you he can whine pretty good, normal expression is "I gotta do f-ing everything!"  (ha ha)  Its pretty simple, he loves this place too and he knew what I was doing was for the good.  It is part of our "DNA" as a couple...service is uniting, service builds a strong relationship.  Thank you so much Sal, I could not have done this without your support AND your hard work.  Always there.

January 1, Sal in his element, Polar Bear Swim Gun Lake


Signing off for the last time, thank you everyone for blessing me with this opportunity.  My life has been enriched because of it.

Debbie Demare
Area A, Electoral Area Director
Squamish-Lillooet Regional District