For the Record: My Speech
I 'd like to take this opportunity to say that I thought the final candidate forum at Okanagan College was the best of all. I am glad the CRA were able to implement my suggestions, I think all the candidates got their message out and didn't feel too rushed about it, there was no grandstanding,etc. I actually felt bad for Glen Taylor for the relentless hammering he got from the audience and candidates. It's a pity he was the sole focus of all the wrath that had accumulated toward the current council and that Gary Corner wasn't there to share some of his burden. I hope he has a thick skin and I commend him on his bravery to come into the CRA's den of iniquity and to keep is cool under such intense fire. Mary Malerby couldn't restrain her bitterness toward the CRA. It's a pity the Greater Vernon Chamber of Commerce didn't organize an all candidate's forum, perhaps Glen Taylor would have been showered with adulation and the rest of us would have been heckled off the stage.
In my view the CRA is just a spontaneous gathering of disenchanted ratepayers who want their complaints heard and not brushed of by indifferent politicians. They are not the contented and satisfied members of the electorate so you have to expect rough treatment. I don't think many in the audience really understood my speech, it was way over their heads but I am content if only a few there understood what I said. The speech wasn't intended to win me any votes. For the record here it is.
Peter Peto
I 'd like to take this opportunity to say that I thought the final candidate forum at Okanagan College was the best of all. I am glad the CRA were able to implement my suggestions, I think all the candidates got their message out and didn't feel too rushed about it, there was no grandstanding,etc. I actually felt bad for Glen Taylor for the relentless hammering he got from the audience and candidates. It's a pity he was the sole focus of all the wrath that had accumulated toward the current council and that Gary Corner wasn't there to share some of his burden. I hope he has a thick skin and I commend him on his bravery to come into the CRA's den of iniquity and to keep is cool under such intense fire. Mary Malerby couldn't restrain her bitterness toward the CRA. It's a pity the Greater Vernon Chamber of Commerce didn't organize an all candidate's forum, perhaps Glen Taylor would have been showered with adulation and the rest of us would have been heckled off the stage.
In my view the CRA is just a spontaneous gathering of disenchanted ratepayers who want their complaints heard and not brushed of by indifferent politicians. They are not the contented and satisfied members of the electorate so you have to expect rough treatment. I don't think many in the audience really understood my speech, it was way over their heads but I am content if only a few there understood what I said. The speech wasn't intended to win me any votes. For the record here it is.
3 November 2008
"Good evening ladies and Gentlemen, I commend you for taking the time and interest to inform yourselves with the candidates and their issues. I would like to thank the Coldstream Ratepayers Association and in particular, Louise Christie and Steve Heeren, for organizing and running this forum.
People have come up to me to congratulate me for becoming a candidate in our local elections. Some congratulate me for doing my civic duty, some for doing something they never expected me to do, some for my masochism and some for offering to run for a thankless job. Judging by the number of incumbent candidates, a few with multiple terms already behind them, there must be something addictive about the job. Perhaps it's the feeling of power.
We have a large number of candidates to choose from, they bring a broad spectrum of experience and views to the office. You will be able to discriminate the serious contenders from the 'also rans' by the effort of advertising campaigns to win your vote. About half the eligible voters will not cast a ballot; the majority that do vote are largely uninformed or undecided until they cast a ballot, these people represent the random background noise in the election results. Billboard advertising is designed to garner their votes. Informed voters represent a faint signal above the background noise registering reception to a policy alternatives sent out by specific candidates.
I am an 'also ran' candidate because I do not care to court the uninformed vote, which decides largely on name recognition. Also ran candidates wish to raise the political awareness of the electorate to certain issues dear to the candidate and they run to get their message out. My issues are to protect the ALR lands in Coldstream, to discredit the"we have got to grow" impulse, to down size and clean up city hall, to eliminate and correct favoritism to business interests, to make city hall transparent,open,accountable and responsive to the public, etc. I have waged my campaign, since the Spicer block fiasco, on the Coldstreamernews website, letters to the Morningstar and at Candidate forums. [On that point, you should be aware that I am speaking as an independent individual and not as a member of the CRA.] I urge those of you who are interested in local politics and issues to go to Coldstreamernews.blogspot.com on the web for an oppositional view of the corporate press and to join the CRA. People must hold elected politicians to account for their election platforms. I am confidant that Coldstreamers are ready to emerge from the political dark ages and the next council will be a model to future councils."
Peter Peto
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