Featured photo: Residents casting their vote at Myrtle Philip Community School. Turnout was down thirty-five percent. Whistler Question Collection, Bonny Makarewicz.
Over the last fifty years, the Resort Municipality of Whistler has seen nine mayors over nineteen elections. With the election coming up, we thought we would reflect on the 1993 municipal election, where one particular (unofficial) candidate stole people’s hearts.
Incumbent Mayor Ted Nebbeling was set to run uncontested until Bill Duff stepped in to give people a choice. “Having someone win by acclamation is not democracy. It’s a joke.” Previous councillors Bill Murray, Gordon Tomalty, Dave Kirk, Hugh O’Reilly, and Thelma Johnstone sought re-election, while Paul Fournier, Ken Melamed, Grant Lamont, Kristi Wells, Max Kirkpatrick, and Ted Ralfe entered the race.
Candidates had their takes on school taxes, healthcare, seniors and youth, roadworks, crime, and more; however, a running theme for this election was transparency. Council needed to make the public more aware of major projects, ask for their input, and listen to their concerns. One example Duff brought up was the Village Gate Boulevard realignment. Though he agreed it was a good idea, he thought the results were inadequate for a $2.5 million+ project. Council candidate Ken Melamed felt Whistler needed to cool down its development a bit and think more strategically and sustainably.
Ultimately, Ted Nebbeling was re-elected, along with councillors Bill Murray, Dave Kirk, Hugh O’Reilly, and Thelma Johnstone. New to council was Kristi Wells and Max Kirkpatrick. Duff was not expecting to win, but the results were not ideal for the other losing candidates. Lamont told the Question, “if that is who they are choosing to represent them over the next three years, it’s going to be pretty dull. It’s going to be another three years of dictatorship.” Ralfe called for someone on council to act as an inquisitor .
However, this was considered a ‘sleepy’ election, which led to arguably Whistler’s fluffiest mayoral candidate, Bob the Dog. What started off as a joke became the highlight of the election period.
So, who was Bob the Dog?
Around 1990 Jorge Alvarez – owner of Toad Hall Studios – was walking past Citta’ when he saw mix-breed puppies up for adoption. He was told that these dogs were half-coyote, which you could not tell from their appearance. Alvarez quickly learned Bob “had a wild streak on him because he would wander, [but] he would always come back.” Alvarez’s original design studio was in trailers at the Rainbow subdivision. Bob would hang out, go everywhere with Alvarez, but never on a leash. Alvarez moved his studio to its second location in Function Junction, where Forecast Coffee is today. Bob made this neighborhood his pack.
“He became like a rock star because he would come and visit, hang out, and then he’d leave. Kind of like “The Littlest Hobo”, but he wouldn’t fix anything. He would just hang out. And he made a lot of friends, especially in all the catering kitchens.”
And that’s how he met his second family, the Grabowieki’s. They had only been in Whistler a couple years and were still getting to know the community; Bob made sure he got to know his new neighbours. As T.J Grabowieki recalls, Bob would come with his own ball and play with him.
Despite having a community, Bob desired to get to know new people. In the summer of 1992 he found himself hiking in Garibaldi Park. He joined these hikers who started on the highway across from Function Junction, went up to Black Tusk and Panorama Ridge, then back down to Squamish. These antics would become a point of controversy as the campaign heated up.
Check back next week for more details about Bob the Dog’s chronicles in the 1993 election.