It’s all about living the Whistler dream.

My name is Pete Crutchfield and I’m working to represent you in Whistler town council. I’m all about living the Whistler dream, and I believe we should all have the chance to live that dream.

Like many others, I moved to Whistler for the mountains and planned on being here for only 3 months. I’ve now lived here for nearly 24 years and have yet to find any reason why I might leave.

I struggled for about 3-4 weeks, but then I got a job with Blackcomb (this was before it became “Whistler Blackcomb”.) and everything fell into place. Suddenly I got into their staff housing and I found myself living with my own bedroom in a small 2 bedroom apartment only steps away from the slopes of one of the best ski mountains in North America. All I had to pay back then was $330/month.

Without that place to live, I would have packed up my things and moved somewhere else where I could enjoy beautiful B.C. without having to work 2 jobs just to afford my accommodation. If we want to build a lasting community, we need to ensure we are making it easy for people to fall in love with it.

When building something to last, it’s always crucial that we build it on a strong foundation. For a municipality like Whistler, that foundation needs three main layers: the bedrock is a financially sound government with clear systems of accounting in place, the topsoil is a safe, and affordable living environment for those who make this our home, and the fruits of our labour will come from fostering of innovation and enterprise so that we are able to grow into the future.

I am very pleased with how this past council has handled the public trust with taxpayer money. Nobody can argue with 3 years of 0% tax increases, while still building a solid reserves policy that ensures financial stability for at least 45 years, as well as instigating sound practices like quarterly reporting. I’ve worked many years in finance and passionately value the importance of spending controls and regular reporting to produce solid numbers with which to make decisions.

With a government that can afford to support the infrastructure, we need to use that infrastructure to build a safe community which our employees can afford to live in for years to come. In order to maintain Whistler’s stellar reputation in the world of tourism, we need employees who are willing an eager to provide the best service. That’s harder to do when they are tired and grumpy because they are living in a van or working several jobs to afford a roof over their head. That’s harder to do when businesses have to hire anyone with a pulse because the quality workers have moved somewhere where their rent is less than 60% of their paycheque.

Once we have the layers of sound financial systems in place with which to build and maintain an infrastructure for a safe, affordable community, support for innovation and enterprise in the community is the last layer in our foundation that will maintain Whistler through the years. Whistler has long attracted the risk takers and the achievers, so our government needs to foster that innovative, entrepreneurial spirit to keep us moving into the future. This includes working with the landlords to ensure commercial space is affordable, and using the recommendations from the Economic Partnership Initiative to remove hurdles.

That’s my vision for a strong foundation which will support a thriving Whistler through the years, and when decisions come to the council table, these are the perspectives through which I will filter my decisions:

• Will it maintain our fiscal responsibility?
• Will it improve our community lifestyle?
  What impact will it have on our natural environment?

If elected, I intend to collaborate with the mayor and my fellow councillors, as well as the local businesses, landlords and tenants, and community groups to help make living “the Whistler dream” an attainable goal for us all. “The Whistler dream” was never about one person, it was passed on from the first settlers to our latest inhabitants. It is something that needs teamwork and listening to the public in order to grow.

If you vote for me the one thing that I will promise absolutely is that I will work with everyone to ensure that Whistler is the dream that came true.