anonymous - October 23rd, 2005
Marianne works in Vancouver 3 days a week and committe meetings must be scheduled around her Whistler appearances. This creates delays and cost us taxpayers money. Marianne's postponement of the libaray decision cost us taxpayers several hundred of thousands of dollars. We need a councillor is lives in Whistler 7 days a week and who is more attuned to what is happening here.

anonymous - October 23rd, 2005
I have heard the same comments relating to the library.

anonymous - October 25th, 2005
no, please no.

anonymous - October 26th, 2005
She is an Urban Planner and lives in Vancouver most of the time. Whistler is not urban...and I don't want to see Whistler developed by this mindset.

anonymous - October 27th, 2005
Above statement is well put. Agreed.

anonymous - October 29th, 2005
I agree, no, please no more.

anonymous - October 29th, 2005
Marianne Wade is an urban planner that has a resume of working for developers. She has continued to work for developers on council. One example, was her motion to fast track the Holburn rezoning application for the tennis club lands after the developer had already withdrawn the proposal because of public and council opposition. Thankfully her motion was defeated. Only Kristi Wells and Gordon McKeever supported her. Who do they represent?

anonymous - October 29th, 2005
Over the past term Ms. Wade has continuously pushed for an increase to the bed cap. This is NOT good. We need to put a stop to this ongoing push to develop, develop, develop.

anonymous - October 30th, 2005
How short our memories! When the Taluswood project failed many contractors and trades in this town took big financial hits. Some went bankrupt, and some lost their homes. Marianne Wade was the owner's representative who was grinding these hardworking local people to "take 10 cents on the dollar or sue us if you dare". She was poison then and she is poison now.

anonymous - November 06th, 2005
It has been 7 days since the October 30 post regarding Marianne and her involvement with the Taluswood project still no comment from her. Must be true.

anonymous - November 10th, 2005
In response to comments of October 30th and November 6, let me offer some facts. The 10 cent on the dollar deal was completed by Donal O'Callaghan, Vice-President of Intrawest, prior to me joining Intrawest as the Deevelopment Manager for Taluswood. I was involved in settling a small number of leins on a fee simple parcel. These leins were equitable. Most of the trades were rehired and employed on future projects. Marianne Wade

anonymous - November 10th, 2005
Let me set the record straight on my work in Vancouver. I made a personal decision to not work with clients who had active work in Whistler to avoid conflict of interest. I was elected to represent the community with my professional experience and I felt it was my duty to avoid conflicts of interest. I consult in Squamish, Vancouver, and other areas the same way other consultants who live and work in this town do so. Serving Whistler is always my first priority, and as a Councillor I have been highly engaged in a variety of committees and task forces that far exceeds a part time basis. I am committed to my home, Whistler. Marianne Wade

anonymous - November 11th, 2005
Marianne, your post of November 10, 2005 simply is not true. You admit in your post that you negotiated a settlement on a small fee simple parcel. The question is, what was the outcome of those negotiations?

The liens you refer to in your post were not “equitable liens” as you claim. The liens you dealt with were legal liens properly registered pursuant to the Builders Lien Act. When the property changed hands in the foreclosure proceeding, a pool of money was set aside to pay those lien claims. No-one disputed that the trades were entitled to be paid the full amount of the liens. Your negotiating strategy took advantage of the fact that many of these people had so much money tied up in the Taluswood project that they were strung out financially, or they simply did not have the resolve to fight an owner who had infinitely deeper pockets to pay legal fees. The trades reluctantly accepted a few cents on the dollar rather than nothing at all.

As to your assertion that many of these contractors and trades were subsequently rehired to work on future projects, that comment shows a remarkable lack of appreciation for what is fair. The trades and contractors were entitled to be paid for the work they did the first time. That fact that they worked again and got paid the second time around hardly excuses the failure to pay the first time around – particularly when a pool of money was set aside to pay them!

The bottom line is you willingly took on the job of negotiating a settlement with local trades, you willingly took advantage of their weakened negotiating strength and you willingly offered less than full payment when there was a pool of money available to pay everybody in full.

As to your statement that you were elected to represent the community with your professional experience, you tied for last place with Dave Kirk, who is a successful retailer, not a professional planner. That hardly indicates a desire on the part of the community to elect a professional planner.

Nick Davies

anonymous - November 12th, 2005
Wow...the last couple of posts say alot about the operation of our current council. I heard that Marianne sent some of the library construction planning back to staff after muni staff and all the other members of council felt it was fine to go forward. Now I see in the paper that the building is 2 months behind schedule. I can't even imagine how much the delay will cost. All because of one person.

anonymous - November 13th, 2005
how is your campaign going Nick?
Christopher Raymond

anonymous - November 13th, 2005
We, as well, lost a large amount of money on the Taluswood project and will never be happy with the result of this contract gone bad, nor our attempts led by Nick Davies to recover some of our losses. However, to suggest that in any respect this was the fault of Marianne is not correct. She was not involved until weell after the loss was incurred and our liens on the property were extinquished. Due to Nick,s diligent searches we did have one remaining lien on an unconnected piece of property. Neither we nor any of the other trades with such a lien ( possible exception being excavating contractors ) had done any work on the property and thus our lien could easily have been removed. At this stage we had first contact with Marianne who made us an initial offer that we felt was more than fair and we accepted immediately as we had expected and really probably deserved to get nothing.We found our dealings with Marianne to be very cordial and professional and to blame her for the whole sorry mess is pretty low.
Ed & Paul Hauschka - Whistler Irrigation Services Ltd.

anonymous - November 15th, 2005
After attending many many many council meetings , I can say with absolute certainty, Marianne Wade CAN'T WAIT to send everything possible back to staff. Poor Bob, he must go absolutely crazy inside every time she opens her mouth. She will hold up everything for sure.....No thanks

anonymous - November 15th, 2005
What's Marianne's connection to the owners of the Alpha Creek lands? And what's her position on allowing development in that area?

Cascade Environmental, the "environmental consultants" hired by the owners of those wetlands say there is no environmental significance to that land. Of course that's what they're going to say. Cascade would lose all its business if it stopped telling developers what the developer wanted to hear.

Take a walk through there. Not along the trail, but to the west of the trail, in the real forest. It's a stunning area with some massive ancient cedars. The wetlands are extensive.

True, the developer does not plan to build directly on the wetlands, but if you pave everything around a lake or swamp, those wetlands will die. You'll be left with a bunch of big market homes owned by non-residents, and a moribund wetland.

anonymous - November 16th, 2005
There are tailed frogs in those wetlands. They are listed as being of "special concern" according to the species at risk act. Any largescale development in that area would affect the species below. That doesn't appear in any environmental report paid for by the landowner. Dirty stuff. I know that Marianne would happily see that area developed. She has been working for the landowner, a Vancouver slumlord, for years. How does that fall within Whistler's 2020 vision? It's called a conflict of interest. Not cool.

T. H.

anonymous - November 16th, 2005
Anonymity is best suited to masquerade parties . . . and lynch mobs. I don't see any punch bowls around here.

Although I didn't know Marianne before the election, it has been my distinct pleasure to work closely with her for the past three years. She is a strong person, brave and outspoken, and consistently willing to stand up for what she believes in. Her principal passions have been the pursuit of affordable housing, of seniors' housing, of fiscal responsibility in capital projects and of openess and transparency in government. She has not "continuously pushed for an increase to the bed cap" nor to "develop, develop, develop". Her background has led to an impressive network of connections and relationships in Vancouver, Victoria and Ottawa which she has used for Whistler's benefit.

Her input on the Library led to our adopting the project management model, which allowed local tradespeople to participate in this major community project. This was in response to strong expressions of concern from our local construction community that their economic sector was very slow, and the model going forward would exclude them. To date 90% of the money spent on this project has been in the Sea to Sky corridor. Her input on the Alta Lake Road employee housing project led directly to the community receiving an additional $75,000 from the developer for improvements to local infrastructure to better accommodate the new residents in that neighbourhood. This was achieved without impacting the affordability of the housing.

Thanks for all your hard work Marianne. I hope we can continue to work together next term. Let's see how long it takes for the faceless ones to respond to this.

Gordon McKeever

anonymous - November 17th, 2005
With all due respect, Gordon, this is a very small town. Signing your name to a comment can mean employment suicide either immediately or in the future. This blog site is the ONLY means through which a significant portion of the community can take part in the discussion. Unfortunately, this often requires maintaining anonymity.

T. H.

anonymous - November 17th, 2005
Agreed.

anonymous - November 17th, 2005
Rumour has it that Marianne commutes to Whistler from Vancouver...what kind of representation is that.....if this is true she should be running where she spends most of her time ..we don't want part time representation.

anonymous - November 17th, 2005
Rumour this, Marianne lives in Whistler. This is her permanent residence. As a consultant, her work often takes her out of the valley, like many others. Her attendance at council proves her dedication to this responsibility. Enjoy a great day!
Christopher Raymond

anonymous - November 17th, 2005
Gord (The Post) Mckeever and Marianne are tied at the Hip Say no to both.

anonymous - November 17th, 2005
I didn't know during Marianne's term council she constantly pushed for removing the bed cap -- now I get why she and Ted are working together. You lost my vote Marianne.

anonymous - November 17th, 2005
Why would you want to privatize the waste water plant ?
If you must profit from human waste , put in the municipal bank account and not some multi national companies pocket.You did vote for that....right ?

anonymous - November 19th, 2005
Gord, Marianne and Ted seem to be joined.
None will get my vote.

whistler - November 19th, 2005
Please check out Gord's blog he clearly states 'I am not endorsing any Mayor.' Also just because he gives a fellow councillor some praise doesn't means he's endorsing him/her. Please lets try to stop slinging the mud. Duane

anonymous - November 19th, 2005
The mob has been busy. I think Marianne will top the polls. She has been working overtime, and deserves our support. She is commited to change.

anonymous - November 19th, 2005
A skilled leader in any community will have a network of business connections that either directly or indirectly create a 'conflict of interest' when dealing with the myrid of municipal issues. Marianne Wade has sacrificed several local business oportunities in order to minimize these perceived conflicts. It is rare for a community to be able to benefit from the skills that Marianne brings to the table.

Chris Manuel,
Whistler since '89

anonymous - November 20th, 2005
57 more votes! I'll miss working with you. You worked really hard and did a lot of good things. It is a shame to see the anonymous assasins succeeded with their lies and mean spiritedness. Hopefully, what goes around will come around - back to them! At least now you can have a life again, and make a living. Best wishes for your future.

Gordon McKeever

anonymous - November 21st, 2005
PULLEASE, Gordon, she lost because there were better people than her. And Whislter knew it and voted their minds. We have an awesome new Mayor and a better new council. Slates don't work.
Sorry that Ted's agenda didn't work for you.

anonymous - November 23rd, 2005
Lies? Mean spiritedness? Gordon, do some investigating on your own. You will be much more informed. What goes around DOES come around. Call it karma.