When I am considering committing to a major purchase, I will evaluate the salesperson’s offer. If it is a beneficial deal for me I will accept it. If it is a bad deal, I refuse it. If the salesperson comes back with a better offer, that will be considered on its own merits.
The original deal offered on the Sandown property would have left North Saanich residents on the hook for undetermined remediation costs on the land. Councillors Browne, Daly, McBride and Mearns had the fortitude to stand up to the pressure and turn this questionable deal down. What an outcry there was from the rest of council.
Sandown’s owner has now returned with a deal that is, by all accounts, better for North Saanich. I assume this offer will be accepted. The four council members’ common sense paid off for the community.
I now see letters by Councillor McMurphy and others in the PNR comparing these Sandown negotiations to gambling.
There was no spin of an imaginary Wheel of Fortune. The only spinning here is how an undeniable win for the community is being spun into yet another attack on Daly and Team North Saanich.
If I was about to make a bad deal for myself and someone came in and got a far better deal for me, I would be grateful. Perhaps, instead of using this situation to make political hay, certain people should be offering Browne, Daly, McBride and Mearns a polite thank you.
Dale Wildman
North Saanich