MAYOR HITS A HIGH ON POT-BUSTING STAND

Mayor Clint Hames got the biggest round of applause at an all-candidates
meeting Wednesday night for his stand on marijuana grow operations.

He told the crowd of about 200 at the meeting that he's "proud" of the
city's effort to knock down home grow operations, which a recent study
shows are not "mom-and-pop" operations but directly linked to organized crime.

"These are the folks we want out of our community," he said.

Rival mayoralty candidate Brian Carlisle, a marijuana activist and former
B.C. Marijuana Party candidate, in response to an audience question, had
criticized the "wasted" city tax dollars spent on busting grow operations.

Last June, city and RCMP officials announced formation of a "strike force"
of four officers - at a cost of $160,000 - dedicated to busting marijuana
grow-ops, and directing more plainclothes and uniformed officers to drug
enforcement duties. Chilliwack has the second-highest number of gro-ops per
capita in the province, according to the study.

Mr. Carlisle has stayed away from the marijuana issue so far in his
campaign, sticking to municipal issues of growth and health care. While
most of the municipal candidates have taken a cautious approach to a
proposed 30-storey apartment tower in downtown Chilliwack, Mr. Carlisle is
an unabashed supporter.

"I say go for it," he said at the meeting. "Chilliwack has to grow up."

Other issues raised during the meeting were proposed logging in Elk Creek,
the closure of Parkholm Lodge and the growing number of homeless people in
Chilliwack.

Council candidate Ann Forsyth said the city should work with First Nations
and create an "historical learning centre" in Elk Creek instead of allowing
old growth logging.

Mayor Hames said the proposed logging is outside the city's jurisdiction,
but a regional district study suggests more trees would "probably" have to
be removed for safety reasons, if the area is turned into a tourist site,
than would be taken out by logging.

Ms. Forsyth, who has made saving Parkholm Lodge a campaign plank, said the
city must "do something to save" the seniors' care facility. "It's too
important to shut down."

Council candidate Etta Richmond, former CEO at the Chilliwack General
Hospital, warned that using city tax dollars to keep Parkholm Lodge open
would be "a foot in the door" for the province to download more health care
costs to the city.

Homeless people in Chilliwack is an issue addressed in a report to council
expected in the next few months, said council candidate Mel Folkman,
chairman of a council committee on downtown social issues.