Ian Gartshore

This is the letter I have just sent to the mayor and council of the city of Nanaimo (mayor&council@nanaimo.ca is the e-address should you wish to do the same) Mayor and Councillors: I believe it was about three years ago I addressed the Regional District of Nanaimo, encouraging them to engage the Nanaimo Recycling Exchange, and noting to them how much the NRE benefits us all. Evidently the negotiations between the staff of the NRE and the City that followed went nowhere; the NRE simply did and does not have the capital to have met their expectations. Why should they? The NRE alone accepts materials that cost money to properly recycle. They do not get a slice of the income from recycling cans (apart from a few donations). One of the materials they alone accept is Styrofoam. This material alone can occupy up to 25% of the space in landfills, but because the waste industry considers only the WEIGHT of materials the NRE is given inadequate credit f or continuing to gre

All 13 candidates have desirable qualities for the one councillor position up for grabs on July 8th.  In order to attempt to prioritise them I used a 10 point scale as follows: Ability to: 1.       connect with and really hear where people are coming from, including genuine consultation with the local Snuneymuxw First Nation 2.       be astute managers –which includes putting sufficient effort to listen to people; do their own research; attend meetings and public events; and be able to make their own decisions (vs. blindly vote along with others) 3.       think through problems creatively, preferably by finding “win-win” solutions for all involved 4.       balance fiscal restraints with community needs 5.       sniff out when staff are trying to manipulate councillors to vote a certain way 6.       have a vision of sustainability and affordability for the community and our planetary home 7.       be authentic (not fake or egotistical) 8.       be a team play