NOW THAT the civic elections are over and practically

» forgotten, your agent comes dragging along with some
musings about them. Which is what comes of my trying to
grow old gracefully, as recommended in a letter to the edi-

_ tor.

The question is this: how in the
* name of democracy or demons
does anyone know for wham to
vote when all we get is a bunch of
smiling faces in the paper with no
party tags attached to them?

This thought sprang to my fail-
ing brainbox when a friend rang
to ask what my choices were in
West Van. | didn’t really know.
He didn’t know either.

“Why don’t you call Arthur?”
: T said, referring to a know-
ledgeable elder.

“1 did,’? came the reply. ‘And
he said to call you.’

In the end we got a hit and miss
list together. One thing we were
sure of as far as the schoo! board
‘was concerned was that we didn’t

; want to vote for any teachers. Nor
any teachers’ mothers or grand-
mothers. ,

’ | was pretty sure that Margot

‘Furk was a good bet for council;
she being a very bright lady and -

_ of rightish bent. (My apologies,
Margot, for putting the hex on
you.) But some of the others I
didn’t know from Adam. Or Eve.

Always eager to learn, I called
someone after the election who
spends sleepless nights worrying
about things like garbage dumps
and road repairs in North Van
District. How did he manage?

He said it-was a full-time job,
_and that yes, most people’s minds
were flotsam in the eddies of local
politics but that it usually came
down to word of mouth.

“People phone one another,”’
he said, mysteriously.

vy -°Yeah,”’ said [.
- “Mind you,’’ he went on,

yi “pressure groups like CUPE and
“ithe teachers know who their
cronies are. The NDP in the city
know that Bill Bell and that Sharp
woinan are NDP. But most people
fly blind.’’ (This chap is a former

ON THE OTHER HAND

bomber pilot.)

“That’s why the turnouts are so
poor,’”’ he continued. ‘‘And the
council meetings are so dull that
sometimes nobody turns tp. They
do if there’s a big local issue, but
not otherwise.”’

No wonder we’re flying blind.
Just look at the ads or policy
statements.

Here we have a candidate who
wants to restore ‘‘a responsible

and business-like approach’’ t
council.

Another says there should
always be ‘‘sober, careful con-
sideration of the issues.’’ Another
wants to ‘‘cure the erosion of
lifestyles by controlling growth
without infrastructure.”’

Help!

An ad from the rulers of West
Vancouver, complete with their
happy faces, urged us to ‘re-elect
our council.”

We should do so, it said,
because ‘‘We all know West
Vancouver has a strong and
capable mayor.’’

Even if we do, what has that
got fo do with it?

Everyone is in favor of
economy, of course, even though
your taxes rise as surely as the sun
on a clear day.

Old civic soldier Ernie Crist tells
us in a full page ad that he in-
spired the district's official motto,
which is ‘The Mountains and
Rivers are our inspiration.””

Thanks Ernie. That’s something
else 1 didn’t know. But Ido know
you’re against monster homes,
which is great.

The candidate-multitudes hop
all over the place so much that a
chap gets dizzy.

One can always study the news-
papers, of course. Report cards
are issued. But the reporters may
have friends. (Bill Bell of North
Van City Council was once a
reporter.) And Trevor Lautens

SARANNE DREW

is pleased to announce the opening of
LYNN VALLEY GRTHOPAEDIC AND.
SPORTS PHYSIOTHERAPY CENTRE

Lynn Vaitey Centre
#45 - 1199 Lynn Valley Rad. (Professional Level

985-

ELA
DYNASTAR

8514

‘94's Hottest Ski Clothing

COULOIR

uipment
Ski Eq i ORDICA

NRLOMON
ah RAICHLE
LANGE __

‘94'S Snowboate Clothing
ENON .

Wednesday, Decemher 1, 1993 - North Shore News - 7

the great unknown of civic politics

came out with ‘‘Trev’s guide” ta
the West Van election.

Doug didn’t come out with HIS
guide because he’s flying blind.
Even with all those guides.

Remind me to ask Trev heiw he
finds his way through the thickets.
You're a better man than Lam,
Gunga Din,

Remember that fiasco with the
new towers at the bottom of
Taylor Way? There was no guide
to that. It was passed darkly, at
dead of night, so that by the time
we cottoned on to what was hap-
pening not even a referendum
counted,

Things are different over in
Vancouver, There, everyone
knows that a vote for the NPA is
a vote for the right wing, or what
passes these days for the right
wing. .

They also know that a vote for
the COPE-commies is a vote for
the COPE-commies. So they can
vote for the least worst, which is
what they did, despite the massive
coverage the Vancouver Sun gave
to COPE-Commie Libby Davies.’

Anyone want to start a party?
For a small fee, this space will
offer advice.

DRAPERIES BY &. LAURSEN |

CUSTOM
DRAPERIES
AND
VALANCES

Labour $8.50 per
panel unlined,
$9.50 lined.

CUSTOM BEDSPREADS & COVERS

Low

low prices on blinds & tracks.

For FREE Estimates i”
Call 987-2966

!

PoLo

Serving the North Shore for 23 years

i

}) Raven Lauren

THE POLO SPORT COLLECTION

For Fall 1993, Ralph Lauren epitomizes

energy and youthful creativity by

combining bold, dynamic colours with

state of the art functional qualities.

THE PoLo STORE

RALPH

LAUREN

375 Water Street
THE LANDING
Vancouver, B.C.

682-7656