Letter to the Editor

Time to set the record straight on an underhanded attempt to smear four of the candidates running for mayor and council in the City of Cranbrook.

Speaking only for myself, I was not interviewed by anyone from CUPE during this campaign nor have I knowingly spoke to any CUPE member, though I certainly wouldn’t hesitate to do so the same as I’d speak to any Cranbrook citizen.

I did fill out a CUPE questionnaire that I received in the mail and my good wife Sandra dropped it off at the CUPE office. That’s the total extent of my CUPE involvement and I certainly don’t apologize for it as I filled out a questionnaire from the Cranbrook and District Chamber of Commerce, too. That’s what candidates do in elections.

So what’s going on here? Alex Jensen, who made the original slate allegation in the Cranbrook Daily Townsman, ran in the 2002 civic election as an unabashed member of a slate along with lawyers Ron Miles and John Zimmer and local businessman Percy Davis. Except they weren’t honest enough to call it a slate. They called it a “team” and at an all-candidates meeting Nov. 14, 2002 Miles defended the team approach saying the team was just a group of friends and “friendship helps the decision-making process.”

No kidding! And how did the team fare in the 2002 election? Miles came in third out of three in the mayoralty contest and Jensen finished tenth out of 13 running for council.

The people of Cranbrook saw very clearly through that “team” and I believe they will see just as clear-eyed through Jensen’s baseless allegation in the current campaign.

Councillor Gerry Warner,

City of Cranbrook

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