She may be out, but he’s not down.
After having served 15 years on Sicamous council, Lynn Miller is considering a new business venture. But when it comes to politics, she is as feisty as ever.
When the unofficial results came in on election night showing Miller had lost by one vote to Don Richardson (and by 49 votes in the official count), Miller gave elected councillors notice, that she’ll continue raising heck when there’s need.
“I’ve already warned this council, I’ll be the best ratepayer they’ve ever had,” says Miller. “If they don’t deal with stuff and you can’t get to them, come talk to me. And the difference is, if you come and talk to me about an issue that I understand, I can tell you all the background for it.”
Miller didn’t mince words during the campaign when it came to expressing the frustration of working with the previous administration. She has no doubt this cost her votes in the end, and though she would have loved to continue serving the community, she is pleased with the election’s outcome that brought in a new mayor and three new councillors.
“You don’t step on the toes I stepped on without it costing you,” says Miller. “Do I care? No. Did I accomplish what I think needed to for our town? I think this town is going to be absolutely amazed at these new people, because they have been on the receiving end of the garbage that’s been going on – they understand there are a lot of things here that are broken.”
Miller has a number of beefs with the direction council took over the past three years, one of the biggest being the lack of committees where community members could come and express their district-related issues or concerns and find the help they need.
“We didn’t have that, and that’s what was so sad, because all the other years I was on council, we always had committees,” says Miller. “And there was never a time when I couldn’t pick up the phone and phone (former development technician) Mike Marrs or (former administrator) Karen Williams and say, ‘What is this crap?’ And we would all sit down and Mike would go through it piece by piece and show you what’s wrong.”
Miller says she also took issue with decisions being made without council’s involvement. But she is hopeful thing will be different now, adding she has a list for the new mayor and council of concerns that still need to be addressed, from issues relating to development to updating aspects of the OCP and development cost charges so district operations are more in sync with the current economic climate.
“Your development cost charges are so high, guys are coming in here telling me they could develop in Vernon for what they’re paying here. Now, if you can go into a big city and develop, why would you develop in a small town?,” aks Miller.
Over her 15 years with council, Miller has seen a lot of changes in Sicamous, many she’s proud of, such as the development of the waterfront walkway – a slow process but one she looks forward to seeing completed. She also speaks fondly of the Union of B.C. Municipalities, of which Sicamous is a member, and a former mayor she holds in high regard.
“Gordon Mackie was the most amazing mayor that I worked with because it did not matter where we went… the people he did not know, he’d go over and put his hand out and say, “I’m Gordon Mackie, mayor of Sicamous. When are you coming to visit because we’d love to have you.” I’ve never seen other people do that… and to me, that was really special.”
As she continues to work at the Sicamous Greyhound station, Miller is making plans to help start up a security company as she says there’s a growing need for it in the community. And while she doesn’t plan on leaving Greyhound, Miller, who volunteers with the local citizens on patrol program, looks forward to change.
“I work with the public all the time. It’s not that I don’t like working with the public, but sometimes you would not like to work with the public,” says Miller. “Sometimes, I think just sitting in the car watching bad guys would be fun.”