Re: CRD, Central Saanich head for arbitration (News, March 30)
The article contained the following quote from the mayor of Central Saanich regarding his attendance at CRD meetings on the Co-op West Saanich Road development proposal: "There are different representative roles here. I advocated for the council's position." From his statement one might easily conclude that the mayor's personal opinion differed from that of the
majority of council.
However, the minutes currently on the Central Saanich website for the Central Saanich
Planning and Development Committee meeting of March 26, 2012, where it was decided to send the matter to binding arbitration, show that the mayor voted in favour of doing so along with the majority of council. Thus, it would seem that there is no difference between the mayor's personal opinion on the matter and council's. The posted record of the meeting shows that he is in favour of giving the Co-op proposal another chance for approval.
Furthermore, I find it peculiar that the municipality is picking up some of the costs of binding arbitration that could be of the order of a few thousand dollars. The mayor voted in favour of having the municipality pay these costs. Should these expenses not be borne by the applicant?
Fred Peet
Brentwood Bay