Final things to consider in this upcoming election

There have been questions as to why I recently resigned my position after working for Tsawwassen for 22 years.  I disagreed strongly with some of the actions the current Tsawwassen government has taken, actions I think were reckless, considering they are only a temporary government and are making decisions that put our projects at risk and could really hurt our long-term finances.  I question the motives of people who make these kind of decisions so close before an election, and without community consultation or even clear communication.  I disagree with how the termination of our CAO was handled.  And, sadly, either Executive Council did not know what a conflict of interest was when they temporarily appointed one of their members as acting CAO, or they ignored that inconvenience.  Either way it shows inexperience on basic concepts of good governance in my opinion.

I felt I could not express my views as a staff person due to confidentiality requirements.  I felt I couldn’t prop up a government that I disagreed so strongly with by working for it.  I also don’t want the community to think that I will stay on as a staff person doing Chief’s work if the community elects another Chief.  As much as I love my community, that just wouldn’t be right.

Even though I have strong views with some of the actions the current Executive Council has made, make no mistake – I am willing to work with everyone.  I think different perspectives in government is not only healthy – but leads to better decisions.  I have a track record of working with many people over the decades.

I`ve also heard concerns that I`m out of the community too much.  That people don`t think I`m accessible.  I will do more to be accessible, and would love to hear people`s ideas, but to do that I need a council willing to share the workload with our external relations.  Tsawwassen`s absence at many important regional and national events in the past 6 months is being noticed.  It`s a big responsibility to share our experience with other First Nations, but one I have always heard our community support.  We need to build better leadership capacity in our whole government so that this does not fall on one person`s shoulders.  Nothing would make me happier in fact.

While I understand that some change is desired and even good in government, too much change has been detrimental to our stability as an organization.  In my opinion we need a mix of experience and new ideas.  This isn’t about youth vs older leaders, this is about having a balance in government.  To have a complete new slate was setting ourselves up for failure in some ways, so please chose very carefully when you look at your ballot – and make sure you vote!  Regardless of who gets elected, it will be better if we have a higher voter turnout to ensure we know what the community wants.

Success will take all of us, not just a Chief.  It will take commitment and loyalty to our community.  We are not a community unless we are loyal to each other.  And we should have high expectations of ourselves.  We deserve a Chief with qualifications.  We deserve a highly skilled staff.  And we deserve our Members to have those skills.  There is no reason why we can`t expect that of ourselves.  I believe in us.  I believe we can do it if we use the best tools and people to do it.

Thanks for considering me – but whatever you do please get out and vote!  A lot is at stake!