News

Election decided on golf course

A proposal to build a golf course
on agricultural land reserve prop-
erty was the deciding factor in the
North Saanich municipal election,
both mayoral candidates agreed.

Mayor-elect Maurice Chazottes
said Saturday’s choice of a mayor
and three aldermen opposed to the
golf course by the voters was a
definite repudiation of the golf
course proposal.

Two of the other elected alder-
men, Brian Dunic and Bill Gor-
don, had called for either public
hearings or a public referendum on
the golf course issue.

“7 think we’ve had our referen-
dum, held on Saturday,” Chazottes
said.

Opponent Lloyd Harrop agreed
the golf course was a deciding
factor. He believed there had been
misinformation about the impact
of the golf course proposal in the
community before the election.

Chazottes thought the golf
course proponents made the pro-
ject a major issue by mounting
surveys of residents before the
election.

“Tt was a well-orchestrated cam-
paign, but it backfired,” he said.

Mailer didn’t go to residents

A one-page information sheet
produced by individuals in North
Saanich prior to the Saturday elec-
tion was not distributed because of
its “negative” tone and “unkind”
comparison of the candidates.

The president and secretary of
the North Saanich Property
Owners’ Association said the
information sheet was produced
and signed by individuals, not by
the association.

Of ten signatures on the infor-
mation sheet, nine are members of
the association, including presi-
dent John Marko, executive mem-
ber Steve Germaniuk, director
Jack Anderson and past director
Joan Marsh. Sue McNish is the
only person who signed the sheet
who is not a member of the
association, Marko said.

Marko said last week the associ-
ation is not supporting candidates
and the information sheet was
never distributed, although it was
printed for municipality-wide dis-
tribution.

“We thought, after we had writ-
ten that up, the campaign evolved
to the point that the golf course
was a major issue and a large
campaign was going on where the
golf course was shown as preserv-
ing the green space,” Marko said.

As a result, the individuals
reconsidered their decision and
produced another one-page infor-
mation sheet which gave support
to four candidates on one side and
information on the golf course on
the other side.

Marko is suspicious that the
original document was stolen by
candidates it did not support, in an
attempt to discredit the associa-
tion.

“T was one of the signers and I
didn’t even have a copy of it,” he
said. “Somewhere down the line
someone filched one.”

About 3,600 copies of the infor-
mation sheet was reprinted on
yellow paper before the individu-
als changed their mind and decid-
ed not to distribute it.

Marko said the copies are now
“in somebody’s basement.” The
sheet told voters which candidates
the individuals support, could not
comment on, and unequivocally
could not support in Saturday’s
election.

“There’s nothing wrong with
saying you support someone or
don’t support someone. (But)
everyone knows the history of the
people we're talking about,” Mar-
ko said. “We decided to commit
the extra expense to another
sheet.”’

Betty Powell, who signed the
original sheet and is an association
member, is upset the sheet was
circulated despite the decision of
the group of individuals who
signed it.

“The ridiculous aspect is that
our original, and perhaps unkind
comparison of candidates, would
never have been published or dis-
tributed. had. not (persons) some=

how, and illicitly, obtained a copy
and chose to publicize it with the
pretense it had been distributed by
the Property Owners’ Associa-
tion,’ Powell said.

“This is a useful organization
which should not suffer any dis-
credit because of the letter-writing
attempts of some private citizens,
not because of the devious actions
of some of the candidates,” Powell
said.

(J Cut in unsafely:

He received calls from residents
upset by the misinformation they
felt was being spread by the survey.

“Their intelligence was insulted
by the phony questions,’ Cha-
zottes said. ae

He saw the golf course issue as a
reflection of residents’ overall
desire to keep North Saanich rural.

Attendance records of incum-
bent aldermen also had an impact
on the vote, he said.

Harrop said the conduct of the
previous council also became a
factor in the campaign.

He felt the overall campaign was
good and credited Chazottes with
fighting a clean campaign.

“It was a good, hard-fought
campaign. It was a clean cam-
paign,” he said.

He wished Chazottes good luck
in the future.

Chazottes said the election had
given North Saanich a good slate
of council members.

“Tm looking for cooperation
and courtesy on council. We’ve
got to put the district first and
personalities second,” he said.

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Driver charged after power turns

A 20-year-old Saanichton man
was charged with driving with
undue care and attention and
awarded the “Fool of the Year”
award following a Halloween night
stunt.

Central Saanich deputy police
Chief George Lawson said several
officers on patrol in Brentwood
Bay saw a late-model Firebird turn
off West Saanich Road, onto
Clarke Road, then returm to West
Saanich.

TheReview Wednesday, November 21,1990 — A4

“It then did two power turns in
the middle of the road in front of
half the police department with
lots of kids around,” Lawson said,

Witnessing officers describ’
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degree tums.”

“We've given him the Fool of §
the Year Award because you don’t §
do those kinds of things in front of
half the police department,” Law-
son said.

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