I don’t want to talk about it, how you broke my heart…

By Neil Boyd and David Hocking

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My wife and I moved to Bowen Island in the spring of 1979, enchanted by the vast green spaces, the swirl of wood smoke on a damp March morning, and the interesting mix of what we would soon describe as hippies and rednecks. There were fewer than 800 full-time residents then, and in most important respects we had all come to Bowen Island to get away from urban life. After all, you don’t move to a small island, accessible only by ferry, for the nightlife and the shopping; most of us are, almost by definition, a little reclusive. We value community, but we also like privacy, quiet and nature, and the lifestyle that these characteristics afford.

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In a Sun blog last week Kennedy Stewart described Bowen Island as the most democratic municipality in B.C., citing our high level of voter turnout (it has been declining over the past 15 years) and our information-rich and transparent website (Bowen is chock full of IT experts and communications strategists).

As a 30 year resident of Bowen Island and a former municipal councillor, what seems to me to be of greater relevance is how we have been handling the tough choices that have been placed on our plate. Bowen has grown significantly in the past 30 years. When we moved to the island in 1979 the full-time population was about 700, an interesting mix of hippies and rednecks. Today the full-time population is approaching 4,000 and is also a lot more affluent; the island only has single family homes for sale and the price tag for an entry level home is about $500,000.

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I’m not gay and I don’t play soccer, but I have been pleased by the blossoming of gay marriage initiatives and by the fact that increasing numbers of young and old have been drawn to soccer as a recreational activity – to the point that our local community has, with some curmudgeonly exceptions, embraced the reality of synthetic turf, to permit year round participation in a wonderfully healthy activity.

It seems that opposition to the synthetic turf field is very much like opposition to gay rights and gay marriage. In both instances there are claims that the behaviour in question simply isn’t “natural”, and as such, ought to be resisted. Sex between two men or two women is, statistically speaking, outside of pre-existing norms. And a synthetic playing surface is similarly, statistically speaking, outside of pre-existing norms (never mind that plastic has been an integral part of our lives, in other contexts, for decades).

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The debate over Cape Roger Curtis appears to be over. In a letter to Council the owners have indicated that they are proceeding to a 10 acre subdivision of the 600 acre property. As they put it, “We have no interest in exploring any rezoning exercise at this time”.

This is no surprise. Mayor Turner and Councillors Hooper and Poole and their most ardent supporters have engaged in a “take no prisoners” approach to the proposal, rejecting any hope that many of us had for collaboration, consultation and compromise. Mayor Turner’s expressed interest in a park appears to have evaporated. Councillor Poole’s language was enlightening: “it’s time to drown this bylaw” she said, in her statement of support for throwing two years of work and almost $3 million down the drain.

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Ok, so this isn’t today, but it certainly wasn’t long ago and several feet of snow remain.

I am writing regarding your upcoming decision with respect to the proposed artificial turf field. The issue has certainly been quite polarizing in our community, with both firmly entrenched support and similarly entrenched opposition.

It is now your task to decide. The project has been attacked for its cost, its support of an artificial playing surface, its affront to “rural” values, its negative health and environmental impacts, its support of urbanization, and the reality that it will require the removal of several trees.

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A recent poll revealed that Canadians have quite differing levels of trust when it comes to different professions. While nurses and teachers enjoy the trust of more than 75 per cent of the public, politicians are highly trusted by a meagre 14 per cent.
It is in this climate of mistrust and suspicion that you must enter your nomination papers, hopeful of the opportunity to serve the people of Bowen Island. Unfortunately, if you are one of the first six who surge past the post on November 15th a few even more significant obstacles will be placed in your path.

Beware the Financial Rewards and Perks of High Office:

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Bowen Island’s Council has unanimously endorsed a land disposition strategy for the Surplus Lands, a strategy that will create a mix of multi-family townhouses and apartments, affordable housing, and single family homes on a 21 acre parcel of land, stretching along Mount Gardner Road from the Bowen Island Community School to Green Road.

The strategy was unveiled at a special council meeting on May 17th, the product of a unanimous recommendation to Council by the Surplus Lands Working Group. This Group was asked last fall to make recommendations regarding the disposition of some of the 38 plus acres of land acquired by the Municipality from the GVRD in 2005 for $2,000,000. Council indicated at the time that the $2 million debt imposed on Bowen taxpayers would be recovered by sale of a portion of these lands. The current Council has continued to endorse this strategy.

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