I'm Finally a Somebody

After months of writing letters to the local papers to no avail I have finally succeeded. I'm so happy! Week after week kept rolling by and I would grab the paper as soon as it arrived to flip through and see if any of my letters made the cut. Fortunately the failure never got to me. As a matter of fact, it just encouraged me to write more letters. Now that I've been published in the South Delta Optimist I feel like my ob is done. It isn't. I need to redouble my efforts and write even more letters.

Delta Free Press

With all the projects I have on the go you would think that I wouldn't take on another one, but I have. Local politics here in Tsawwassen have fired my passion to speak out. There's a large plot of farmland here called the Southlands that has been owned by a developer and allowed to lay fallow for the last 20 years in the hopes that one day his speculation would pay off. Well, he's made another attempt at convincing city hall to allow this farm to grow houses instead of food. Needless to say I have begun a letter writing campaign to the local papers but I have yet to get anything published. Anyone who knows me knows that there is no way I would allow my opinions to be silenced. Therefore in addition to writing my letters to the paper I have started my own local newspaper online as an outlet for my opinions and thoughts.
I would encourage you to check it out. It's still in the works and I always welcome any comments or criticisms you may have.
OK... I welcome the comments anyways.
Check it out and tell me what you think. It's aptly name the Delta Free Press because it doesn't cost me anything to run it.

A New Profile

The way I go through web page layouts one would almost think I suffer from attention deficit disorder. It would seem that I have been neglecting this site for quite some time and it was due for an overhaul. I have changed the layout and updated my profile. I really like the fresh look of the new blog and I feel it really represents the way I feel about Mother Earth right now. I look at the green fields in my title block and it inspires me to make sure my daughter will grow up in a world where these fields are not a memory.
I am in the process of updating my bio. It's amazing how much change I have gone through in the last decade. The contrast is shocking.
You can view my new profile here.

Divide and Conquer

There is an old axiom when it comes to waging war. "Divide and Conquer". The Century Group and the proponents of Southlands under the leadership of Sean Hodgins has been very adept at using this method to push their point forward. By repeating the name Tsawwassen over and over again in their propaganda they have set out on a campaign to keep the rest of Delta out of the discussion. It's quite brilliant because in actual fact it's Ladner and North Delta that have the most to lose by this development. Financially this development is a good deal for Tsawwassenites who with their lower tax base won't have to bare nearly as much cost for the infrastructure that this development would require. I mean as a percentage our municipal taxes will rise roughly the same, but it is the larger areas that will end up paying the bulk of the additional costs. Sean Hodgins and his development team have decried that development is inevitable. Don't believe it. There are only two things that are inevitable, death and taxes. If we condemn the Southlands to death, rest assured taxes will go up rapidly. I have yet to see this kind of mass development lower taxes.

If I were a resident of North Delta or Ladner I would be furious to find out that once again Tsawwassen is being put on a pedestal and being given favoritism over the rest of the city. There's another old warfare axiom that says, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend". If I were excluded from the planning committees that had such an impact on my life I would be incensed. If I were living in the other areas of Delta I would be calling up city council and the mayor and letting them know that I won't stand for taxation without representation. If council intends for the Southlands to be developed why not allow the entire municipality be part of the process? This exclusionary approach is only a tactic used to keep the people divided and thus conquer us with greater ease. The Southlands' development plan is not a 'Tsawwassen only' issue. It is probably one of the most critical decisions that 'we' as a 'community' will have to address. In writing this letter I hope that my neighbours in the entire community of Delta will put some thought into how this will effect us and not allow our council to be pawns of the developers and speculators in their battle to divide and conquer us. I can understand why the Century Group would want to keep us apart but We deserve more respect from our elected officials. It's time to include the entire city on decisions.