Municipal election season is upon us. Barring any pandemic tragedies, on May 10 Sackville residents will be heading to the polls to cast votes for the next group of people to represent them at town council. In an effort to help inform you about who your candidates are, CHMA news is speaking with all 12 council and two mayoralty candidates in the coming weeks.
This time we speak with council candidate, and current incumbent, Bill Evans:
Check out the rest of our local elections coverage here.
TRANSCRIPT:
CHMA: Bill Evans, thanks for joining us.
BILL EVANS: My pleasure.
CHMA: For those listeners who might not already know you, tell us a bit about yourself.
BE: Well, I’ve been on council for nine years. So at the risk of being facetious, if you don’t know about me, and you’re listening to a show about local government, you haven’t been paying attention.
Anyway… It’s kind of cute—I’m the eighth generation of my family to live in Sackville, but I was not born here. And because I didn’t go to grade school here, there are still people, even though I’ve lived here for more than 50 years, there are some people who still think of me as a come-from-away.
So I worked at the university for 38 years. I retired. Shortly after I got elected for the first time in 2012.
I have three kids, all of whom live elsewhere. And that’s sort of the tragedy of small town living… we export our children.
What else do you want to know about me, is that enough?
CHMA: Yeah, that’s great. So you said you’ve been on council for nine years. What factored into your decision to run again this time?
BE: Well—again, I’m not quibbling, it is a distinction—I’m not running, I’m offering.
So what got me involved in the first place was my big mouth. We had some people say they weren’t going to re-offer in 2012, and I was telling people it was really important that we have good people who would be willing to run, and someone said, well, then why don’t you do it?
And, as I’m fond of saying, I hate hypocrisy almost as much as I hate corruption. So I put my name in.
I guess I want to make clear that I didn’t want to do it, I felt obliged to do it. I didn’t want to give up my time, my privacy, my peaceful life. But I thought it was important, because I was able to do this, that I should be willing to do it. And I confess, I didn’t think I’d get elected. So I thought it would be an easy thing to do. Well, I got elected.
So what I have realized—and again, this is a little bit like a job interview, so you suppose you should try to sell yourself—I think I’m good at it. I think I’m able to do the job well. And so knowing that, I still feel an obligation to serve. So I’m putting my name out there. And if people want me if they like what I’ve done, then they can vote for me. That’s the way I look at it.
I don’t think an incumbent is in a position to make any promises. People have seen what I’ve done for nine years. And that’s what you’re going to get. It’s not going to change. I’m proud of the way I’ve acquitted myself, and if people agree that’s what they want to see in a councillor, then they should vote for me. And if they think there are eight other people who would do the job better, they should vote for them. It’s that simple.
CHMA: All right. Well, talking about your time as an incumbent, what are you most proud of in your time on council? And on the other side of that coin, what, if anything, would be something that you would like to change?
BE: Okay, well, first of all, and I’ve said this before publicly, working on council is a team sport. It’s not about me. So I think the town can be proud of its accomplishments.
And it’s hard sometimes for people to appreciate just what a good job we’re doing and how fortunate we are. We provide all kinds of services and programs to the community. We have good infrastructure, and we’re improving it. We balance our budget. You know, we’re doing a good job, but it’s sort of boring because people take it for granted.
The projects that we’ve done that I’m really, I guess, proud of would be the retention pond, the stormwater mitigation project that we did there that seems to be working so well, even though we’ve only done part of it. You know, Bill Johnstone Park, the boardwalks in the Waterfowl Park. Those are all things that were done while I was on Council. And I think they’re great. And I’m I’m proud of the town. It’s not a personal thing. Like when I walk around town, I think of it as my town. And that’s not in an ownership sense. It’s more like my family. I’m just… I’m here by choice. So I’m proud of what the town has done. I think we do the job of providing services to our community really well.
Individually, I guess I’d be proud of my contributions to that. So I think I’ve done a good job working with a lot of different people, making sure that we function. One of my big goals going in was sort of the professionalization of the operation of the town. And I was fortunate that we’ve had a couple of CAOs who were on the same page on that.
I don’t know if this is going to be inappropriate or not, but one of the personal things I’m proudest of, was we had a situation years ago where a member of council made a statement which was really inappropriate, critical of staff, I thought, and I think it was probably a code violation, if we had the code of conduct that we have now, if we had it then.
And I called them out on it. I said, I thought this was inappropriate. I think it was inappropriate to criticize staff when they’re not in a position to respond. And I just wanted to make sure that he knew that my silence didn’t mean that I supported what he was saying. And I was the only councillor who said something, even though several of my colleagues said they agreed, it’s just that they were sort of gobsmacked when it happened.
So I was really pleased that I spoke up in a principled way, and not in a rude way, at that.
I’m proud of my contributions to the code of conduct. I was fortunate enough to make two amendments, which I think strengthened it, and my colleagues agreed and so they were added to the code.
I’m pleased that when a bunch of students in March of 2019, marched on Town Hall in protest of climate change, or in support of the environment, I made a statement at the next council meeting and had a motion which was adopted, again by my colleagues, which led to, among other things, the formation of the mayor’s roundtable on climate change.
I’m also really pleased that… and this is something I was pleased because I didn’t think my colleagues would agree, but there was a motion made to increase councillor pay. And I spoke against that. I’m a big believer in public service. And I don’t think there’s any evidence that paying councillors more money will get you better councillors, or get councillors doing a better job. In fact, my experience in the volunteer sector is the opposite.
So I’m proud of speaking up in a principal way on issues like that, and I was delighted that my colleagues agreed with me.
CHMA: Is there anything that you look at that you would like to change?
BE: Okay, well… the big thing for me is process. We need to make sure that we do stuff well. And I think if you have fundamentally decent people with good processes, you’ll get good outcomes, and even good people with bad processes won’t. So that’s where my focus is on what I can do.
But if this is a wish list, I wish people were more engaged. The fact that fewer than half of eligible voters vote… I mean, I’m doing this because I think it’s important. And I recognize, even among my friends, even among people who vote for me, that they don’t really care, they don’t pay attention to it.
And so I think it would be wonderful if more people lobbied councillors. If more people paid attention, were concerned, and offered their input, generally.
So that would be my wish. That’s my big wish that, you know, people cared.
CHMA: Now, do you have any specific issues that you’re hoping to highlight in your campaign?
BE: Well, I’m not campaigning, so… Again, I know what you’re saying, but no, my record speaks for itself. I think I’ve done a good job. I care about it. I’m a capable guy, and I work hard at it. I take it seriously. And if voters want that, then they should vote for me. It’s a simple choice.
To be frank, the job has its downsides. Right? As I said at the meeting we had for potential candidates, you become a public figure. You can’t just be anonymous, and walk along, and say hi to your friends. People will come up to you, and they’re entitled to a piece of my time, and to tell me about their problems. And most people don’t talk to me about government. They come up tom me and say, ‘This is what I want. I want you to do this.’ And that’s the job, and I accept that.
I was president of my union local for 12 years, and I’m used to people coming to me with their problems. And I accept that, and I think I’m good at it. So if others agree, they should vote for me, but I’m not campaigning.
I’m willing to do the job. I know lots of people who could do it, but don’t want to. So as I said to them, okay, well, I’ll do it for you. So it’s public service for me. I’m doing this because it’s important and I’m willing to do it, but I’m not campaigning.
CHMA: Alright, Bill. Is there anything else that you’d like people in Sackville to know?
BE: I’d like them to know what a wonderful job I think CHMA is doing. And I’m not just sucking up to you.
Listen, there’s a huge vacuum in town when we lost the Trib. And you and your colleagues are doing a good job filling that vacuum. And in this increasingly digital age, you’re making it available to people online. So I think it’s a useful service.
I love municipal government. I hate politics, and I love government. And so you guys are, you know, informing people. Before I ran for Council, I attended council meetings for four years, and I used to tell people who were complaining about stuff, what was actually going on, and they had no idea.
So anything that I can do and that you can do to make people aware of what’s going on in the town, I think it’s important, and I’m happy to help. So thank you for what you’re doing.
CHMA: All right. Thanks very much for your time, Bill.
BE: Sure thing, it’s a pleasure.
