Re: Colwood’s mayor stepping aside in November, News, Aug. 3, 2011.
As someone with 30 years of sales and marketing consulting to some of the world’s largest companies, I feel that I know what is needed and should be expected from the next mayor of Colwood.
First, it should be someone from the outside, someone with the vision and leadership qualities to get the job done.
Colwood’s expenditures are out of whack relative to our population and revenue base. Colwood needs to reduce these high expenditures by 25 per cent, so hard calls need to be made.
Historically, cuts have meant chopping individuals from public works. When compared to Langford, our administration is too large and overpaid.
As it is today, we can hardly afford to be a city. Colwood needs to be more open and friendly to the development community — building permits should be encouraged and granted faster than any other city (including Langford).
The new mayor must make selling the benefits of Colwood to higher levels of government a top priority. We need to move some of those government jobs from downtown to Colwood Corners to reduce the West Shore crawl and help the local economy.
Considering what he inherited, Dave Saunders has done a good job, and I wish him the best in his new ventures.
John Townson
Colwood