Tyler Ducharme for Maple Ridge Council 2005

Below is the first discourse between Tyler Ducharme and Claus Andrup regarding Tyler's first attempt at being elected to council in the forthcoming municipal election in Maple Ridge. Election day is November 19, 2005.

Hey Tyler:

I'd be more than happy to lend a hand with your material. Just for the exercise, I have included a post for the November Elections on my blog (click on radiohaney link below). Feel free to check in on the blog for any ideas which may show there that are of help also. I may be attending Linda King's strategy session today - not for sure.
Of interest in all these debates is how limited we are for choice: public safety, education, environment, homelessness, transport, urban planning and so on. It is very hard to find an issue of substance that is of more importance than another. One issue that I do have with Maple Ridge is that not enough staff are employed to fully service the community.
Arrogance on the part of council and some staff is another issue. Outright misrepresentation of the facts and obfuscation at every turn is a problem too. One of the big complaints you will hear from all sides is that there is no "vision" for Maple Ridge. One might start with the question, is Maple Ridge really "vision worthy"? That is to say, do we need a vision or do we simply trundle along, allowing our future to be determined by external events rather than internal decision making? The other question I have for those seeking a visionary approach is this; vision it seems to me is something that appears out of the blue, I am not sure that vision is something that can be conciously or purposely achieved. In other words you either have it or you don't. In the case of Maple Ridge it seems to me that vision would not be high on the list when describing this community. And, like it or not, the composition of the elected officials and the performance of staff is a precise reflection of the mores of the community. So while council turns up its nose at many of the recommendations proposed by staff and while staff may loath from time to time the task of labouring under the yoke of council, and the community may ridicule and praise Municipal decisions at will, the fact is that we are all in this together.

How is that for a start?

Cheers

Claus

Tansi Claus: Wasn't able to contact you yesterday as I had to use
the day as full work day. The newspaper has contact me for an
article so I'll write it up over the next couple of days. Any
suggestions? I think I'll do up a broad draft and get some input
from you about specific issues if you have the time. Let me know if
that works for you.
Thanks
Tyler
PS: You might see some Aboriginals sign off with All My Relations
which is a more spiritual sign off. It relates to the idea that a
person is the sum of everyone that has come before them.