" quictly raised when it comes

"tive force on council.

~ Talstra still pretends he only

impartiality as the chairman or

ROOM FOR

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, December 28, 1994 - AS

IMPROVEMENT

City council gets a passing grade, but the marks aren’t outstanding

ONE DOWN, two to go.

City councillors have completed one
year of their term. On this page, reporters
Jeff Nagel and Malcolm Baxter take a
look at how they've done so far.

JACK TALSTRA:

‘The Mayor conlinucs to do a
reasonable job of keeping

council on track.

However, he retains his
tendency to duck controversial
issues, hiding behind his status
‘as Chairman.

B+ |

has to vote when council is
split and he’s needed to break
the tic. He then usually votes
for the status quo.:
In fact, he can vate on every
issue, he just. chooses not to.
Whether that preserves his

merely helps him conveniently |
avaid any hot potatoes is + open r
to debate. Jack Talstra

On the whole, council’s cnergics have been devoted too much
to reacting to events rather than icading them. There’s little evi-

_ dence of vision or a grand strategy for the future. In the first year

ofa largely rookie council, that’s perhaps not surprising. But if it
continues further into the term, the mayor will have to shoulder
some of the blame,

‘Despite being a longtime Liberal, Talstra demonstrated the city

‘comes first by cutting loose Gordon Campbell when the B.C.

Liberal leader rashly announced he would shelve the biltion-
dollar Kemano Completion Project.

He also helped push the province towards openness in land
claims:without being branded an extremist.

_ED GRAYDON:

The rising star of council?

Initially, many decisions
were full of angst and emotion
for Graydon, unlike the cool
logic of some colleagues,

Hotly debated issues froze
Graydon like a deer caught in
the headlights of an oncoming
chip truck.

After struggling for much of
his first year,he has come __
alive in recent weeks and
seems to have found his fect.

He has established a reputa-
tion as defender of the people
by being the strongest backer
of Braun St. neighbours in
their fight against Terrace

~ Ed. Graydon

Precilt’ s expansion plans. That and his stand on the Howe Creek
issuc -have ensured no one can accuse him of being in the pockets
of developers. Bonus points for integrity in this era of cynicism.

Excessive enthusiasm can occasionally lead him to charge un-
prepared into.unknown territory, Needs to plan more and focus
energy in most productive directions. An up-and-comer.

RICH McDANIEL: D

my

Card

~ Report

Good

accessibility:

COUNCIL AS AWHOLE

Satisfactory

Fail a

Fiscal prudence

Planning

The weather vane,

Rich McDaniel has a habit of
waiting to see which way the
wind is blowing before declar-
ing himself on any issue. And
if it’s really contentious, noth-
ing is-said and the hand is

to the vate,

Although treading warily
may have helped him finish
second only to Hallock in 793,
he will have to end his dither-
ing if he is to become an effec-

As chairman of the public
works committce, he quickly
became ensnarcd in the public
warks web, rubbor-stam ping
any suggestion from thal de-
partment.

Rich McDaniel

He may achieve more now that he’s been shifted to the recrea-

tion, parks and community services commiltec,

RUTH HALLOCK: C

Another accomplished wind-
tester, Ruth Hallock tends to
blow around in the slightest
clectoral breeze.

She’s just better than
McDaniel at keeping il from
sounding that way.

Health problems have hurt
Hallock’s record of attendance
in recent months.

But she remains an out-
spoken voice and one that is
most likely to be raised if
there are 20 voters in council
chambers to prompt her.

‘Hallock has nurtured a Jong
and legendary record as a
councillor of listening and

Ruth Hallock being responsive to residents’

“3 CONCEMNS.

ad
n

{ horse. During the heat of summer it was Hallock who led council -

But she proved this year that even veterans can fall off the

in its absurd campaign to pass a bylaw banning snakes from city
parks.

On the whole, council's energies

have been devoted too much to
reacting to events rather than
leading them. There’s little
evidence of vision or a grand
strategy for the future. But in the
first year of a largely rookie
council, that’s perhaps not
surprising.

GORDON HULL: B

The Watchdog.

Gordon Hull challenges as-
sumptions and demands expla-
nations on ilems that other
councillors let slide.

He strikes fear into the hearts
of public works department
administrators and union
organizers alike.

Questions from Gordon Hull
often come streaking in from
high and out of the sun, like a
MiG-25,

Although those questions
sometimes throw others for a

loop, they’re often good oncs
that deserve an answer,

- He has brought his personal
Gordon Hull experience in contracting, log-
ging and trucking to bear in probing city expenditures.

Least likely to be easily swayed by delegations and protesters,
Gordon Hull aligned himself with Mo Takhar and against Braun
St. neighbours over the Terrace Precut zoning dispute. But it ap-
pears he did so out of principle and conviction. Has consistently
left the table whenever there’s been even the vaguest perception
of conflict.

However, his shoot-from-the-lip habit may someday get him in
deep doo-doo. Takes over loose cannon status from his cousin.

DAVID HULL: B+

Proof that people can
change.

Loose cannon and borderline
wing-nut in his first term on
council (who can forget the
hundreds of plough-equipped
pick-ups roaring around city
streets at 5 a.m.?), David D.
Huil was turfed by voters in
1990 before being returned as
something of an elder slates- _
man (at least in his own eyes),

This time around he’s taken
a common sense, ralional ap-
proach and led the rookie
councillors through several
dangerous minefields,

As the most experienced
young councillor, Bull shares
some of the mayor’s responsi-

David Hull

bility to ensure council shows more leadership in 1995. A good
start will be ensuring the soon-to-be-hired new planner gets more
support from council than Marvin Kamenz, the last one, did.
Alter all, Hull ran on a platform which demanded better plan-

ning.

VAL GEORGE: C+

Probably the most confident
and adept of the rookies, Val
George hasn’t made many
mistakes, but so far hasn't
been inspiring.

Given his experience in. } pub-
lic administration (as past. -
president of Northwest Com-
munity College) and his semi- -
retired status, voters may have
expected more from him.

Like the other rookies, it’s
possible we'll see more from
him over the remainder of his
term,

Like Gordon Hull, stuck to
his guns on the Terrace Precut
issue, arguing the city needed
to encourage that type of small
value-added sawmill. -

Val George