Lantzville mayor Colin Haime won’t seek re-election

Haime laughed as he recalled showing up in the wrong meeting room in 1994 and “ending up” on the Lantzville Improvement District board. Since the community officially incorporated as a district in 2003, Haime has been a councillor or the mayor every term, with the exception of 2011 to 2014.

The chartered accountant and university professor now lives just outside of Ladysmith and says he’s looking forward to some form of retirement and enjoying his life.

Haime’s most recent term as mayor was peppered with controversy.

Four of the district’s seven councillors resigned in 2015, as well as the director of finance and the chief administrative officer. The outgoing councillors alleged dysfunction and poor treatment of staff.

Haime and the two remaining councillors filed a civil suit against three of the former councillors who quit, although the claim was eventually dropped.

In 2016, councillors voted to remove Haime as their representative on the Regional District board. In 2017, Lantzville Council passed a motion to issue a press release distancing itself from online comments made by Haime about Nanaimo’s political landscape.

He said there is “no doubt” there are some things he regrets or wishes could be done differently. There are also many matters, he said, he would handle the exact same way and face the same consequences over again.

“From my standpoint, I admire a politician that will stand by their ideas in the face of opposition and negative consequences.”

Most recently, residents and the district’s council were split over a now-enacted water agreement with the City of Nanaimo.

Haime voted against that agreement, although he said there are “some positives” with it. He said the characterization he was opposed to the deal because he’s “anti-development” is simply not true.

“There’s no doubt there’s a need for water in Lantzville. The question is what do you do with it? Part of the controversy was created by the fact the previous council labeled a big chunk of the available connections for new development instead of the residents that needed it…I don’t think the agreement as written achieved what the original goals were.”

Lantzville is in for some changes over the next few years, Haime said.

“Whether or not they’re good or bad, the proof will be in the pudding. There is a fear of becoming north Nanaimo and I hope it doesn’t go that direction,” he said, noting one of the main drivers behind incorporation of the district was a lack of confidence in the Regional District of Nanaimo to develop the community in a rural fashion.

“Now, to a certain degree it has come 180-degrees, where the level of development desired appears to be in contradiction of what some of those initial goals and objectives were of incorporation. That’s okay, it’s a different generation now.”

Haime also said the proliferation of nasty Facebook groups with divisive and misleading rhetoric make life as a politician very challenging and in a lot of ways less desirable.

“In the past, discussion occurred at the public meeting or the coffee shop, face-to-face. For a politician, (social media) creates an atmosphere of defensiveness at times.”

dom@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @domabassi

by Dominic Abassi

Lantzville mayor Colin Haime won’t seek re-election

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