Letter: Wrote about tone

The purpose of my letter that was in the February 27 edition of the Peak ["Opinions have been heard"] was to share my experience at the February 10 meeting of the Westview Ratepayers Society. I wrote about the tone of the meeting, not the contents, because the negativity was so surprising to me.

I have a copy of the agenda in front of me. It is organized and comprehensive and has my notes on the back. That is not what I wrote about. I wrote about two things that were mentioned, not on the agenda, that I thought were interesting and newsworthy.

I will also mention that I am not the only person in the room who can confirm that a brief discussion about merging with the other ratepayer groups and running a slate of candidates took place.

I am puzzled as to why Mr. Abramson would take offense at the concept of the groups merging [“Letters: Goal is to inform,” March 6]. The Westview, Townsite and Wildwood groups have apparently shared a common Facebook page since April 16, 2023, called Powell River Ratepayers. If three groups were merged into one, then would not their voice be even louder?

As for running a slate of candidates at the next municipal election in 2026, why would he deny that the topic came up? In a democracy, people form political groups to obtain influence over the decision making process.

If the ratepayer groups think the existing council and or mayor are doing a bad job, then they have the right to organize and put forth their own candidates. For example, in Vancouver on April 5, ABC Vancouver and TEAM for a Livable Vancouver, plus other candidates, will be competing for two city council seats. Two community groups with differing visions of the future.

Only time will tell whether the ratepayers officially organize or not.

In closing, I would like to thank the many people who told me that what I wrote paralleled their own experiences with the Westview ratepayers group. Four people who attended meetings, like me, curious about what WRS was about, all mentioned the same word in regards to their experience: toxic.

As for Mr. Abramson saying that I misrepresented what transpired and published mistruths, perhaps he should reread my letter.

Richard Armstrong,
Powell River