Roessingh, Karel
I’ve been very much involved in the Highlands community since moving to our home on Munn Road in 1989, on the Community Association, volunteering for and hosting many community events, and serving one term as Highlands Councilor, two terms as Highlands Mayor, on the CRD Board, the Library Board, the Recreation Commission, and many others. I’m currently on the boards of Metchosin International Summer School for the Arts and the Island Biodiesel Co-op. My profession is composer, producer, and musician.
If elected I will emphasize community, communication, cooperation, and consultation. For too long now, Highlands Council has been dominated by special interests, and it’s time to consider the community first, and to include Highlanders in major Council decisions.
Clearly the groundwater upon which we all rely is not adequately protected. Clearly the results of public hearings have been ignored by the majority of Council. Prime examples are public hearings for Bear Mountain, at which a significant majority spoke against the rezoning applications before Council, and the public hearing for the Official Community Plan, at which only one of the dozens who spoke favoured the proposed OCP. As yet there has been absolutely no public input for the extent of the proposed Urban Containment Boundary expansion.
It’s time to make Council accountable and transparent. It’s time to communicate with Highlanders. It’s time to put the interests of the community above special interests.
