A late nomination for Bill Eckersley, another incumbent member of Council - and the only one I've ever met. Bill came to my door during the last election campaign and (although I was less of a political animal then) I recall he was running on a platform of bringing some changes to the township. He was interested in the development of rural areas such as ours - how we were to survive in the new Internet economy, etc. It all sounded very good, I remember.
However, Mr. Eckersley was part and parcel of the three years that have divided the township. Part and parcel of the Page lawsuit. Rumour has it that he started out with good intentions but met with a wall of resistance to new ideas and had to settle for going along with the Reeve.
I do note that Mr. Eckersley has been on the right side of some issues - notably he proposed that the MRA be given the use of the hall for their all candidates' debate. The motion was defeated, but it's a small example of where he was trying to do something smart, sensible and decent, even if the rest of council thwarted him.
I would be interested to hear more from Mr. Eckersley and to see what he might have to offer in a situation where the remainder of council was changed. But without wholesale change, I'm not convinced we'd see the best of Bill. All credit to him for trying, though.
