The executive of the West Howe Sound Community Association (WHSCA) has broken in half after two of its directors clashed, and each confirmed afterward that they had been thinking of running for Area F director for the Sunshine Coast Regional District.
One remains a potential candidate.
Maura Laverty emailed the WHSCA board last Friday, resigning as association president.
On Sunday, vice-president Gregory Dick resigned via email, and five minutes later director Andrea Pratt emailed her resignation. Dick and Pratt are married and have a backyard that adjoins Laverty’s.
One of the remaining three directors, association secretary Mark Hiltz, is considering running for the Area F position, which incumbent Ian Winn plans to vacate.
Winn said he had talked separately with Laverty and with Hiltz, as each sought advice about putting their name forward for the October election.
Hiltz has yet to make up his mind, but “it would be a new adventure for me,” he said.
Laverty said she had considered running for Area F director, but after sharp words with Hiltz in the second week of May, she said, she decided to drop both that idea and the WHSCA presidency. During her term as president, she had liaised with other community associations and had been instrumental in obtaining and running a community composter.
Hiltz described his talk with Laverty as one with “some intensity to it.” They discussed Persephone Brewing’s attempts to change its licensing and zoning. Hiltz lives near the brewing company and said he disagrees with its expansion.
The discussion moved to Laverty’s revelation that she had met with Winn and was thinking of running for Area F director. Hiltz was caught off guard and the argument heated up, Hiltz said.
Laverty said neither Persephone nor the election caused the squabble. “Things had just been building,” she said.
Hiltz, a 12-year WHSCA director and the association’s former president, said he was distressed upon hearing of Laverty’s meeting with Winn. Hiltz had signed Winn’s nomination papers in 2014 and had helped him run his campaign. He said it seemed that his potential as a candidate for Area F director had been ignored.
That may have been because he had never expressed interest in running in past SCRD elections, Hiltz said.
He said it may not have been clear that he couldn’t run in 2014 because he was a municipal employee. More recently, he retired as wastewater treatment operator for Gibsons, which ended that restriction.
“I’m ready to make it known to the public that I am researching the job [of SCRD director], the role, time commitment, and so on, so I can make an informed decision as to my suitability as a candidate when nominations open in September.”
The WHSCA’s three remaining directors, including Hiltz, were to meet to decide how to move ahead. A June 20 general meeting of the association at Shirley Macey Hall, including a presentation by Sunshine Coast medical health officer Geoff McKee, remains as scheduled.
