Ian Gartshore

As I reflect on the Nanaimo municipal election November 15th I am aware that the candidates have real skills and talent, so the choice is very difficult. I think I could work with virtually all of them (a good sign!). So how to choose? I made up a list of my values and then tried to rate the candidates based on that list. Not an easy task. There are a lot of candidates, many of whom I do not know. I sourced my information from in-person, on-line, newspaper and the opinion of others. Oh, and because incumbents usually get enough votes I have not included them on this list; although Fred Pattje earns my respect because he goes to the most community events, takes personal interest in connecting with people, is willing to take on city staff, is a team player, is an independent thinker, is willing to change his mind (e.g. Leadercast), understands how to make the city more sustainable and shows his care for people and the city. I chose based on my perception of their ability to: 1. c...

My fellow community members: Fred Pattje You may not be aware that Nanaimo’s city councillors and mayor have taken a huge pounding over their decision to disallow a leadership conference in May. While they regret their decision, and apologised for it at last evening’s special council meeting (July 3/14), they are still getting pounded. I consider that campaign to be psychological warfare. The councillor who moved the motion to prevent the event, and who yesterday bravely moved the motion to rescind that decision, is councillor Fred Pattje. He has been the one who has taken the greatest hit from these phone calls and e-mail’s. This has been a dark time for him. Quite apart from the rightness or wrongness of his original motion -it is how he has been treated, mostly by people living outside of our city, that has gone far beyond disrespectful. One writer wished him to die of AIDS. I appeal to you to do one simple, yet humane thing : write him a one or two sentence ...