Central Saanich Mayor Jack Mar and Councillor Ron Kubek recently expressed concern at the Capital Regional District Board decision to review several of Central Saanich land use decisions and found this review as “creeping into municipal business.”
Esquimalt mayor Barb Desjardins said that it is a “slippery slope” when the region decides that its interests trump those of a municipality.
Not so long ago Mayor Mar and other CRD directors with full support of the CRD Board purchased for a paltry $100 the right to vote on and oppose land use decisions made by the Juan De Fuca Electoral Area Land Use Committee, which were considered to contravene the Regional Growth Strategy.
This is precisely the reason why the CRD Board recently voted in favour of a motion by Saanich Councillor and CRD Director Vic Derman to review several Central Saanich land use decisions.
In Mr. Kubek’s words, “They want to be able to do what they want to do in Victoria and Saanich, but to tell Central Saanich what to do.”
At the time of his purchasing the right to vote on JDF matters I wrote a letter to Mayor Mar expressing precisely the same feelings but was not dignified with an answer.
Politicians seem to have a short and selective memory and to not realize that “what goes around comes around.”
V.A.Preto
Sooke