The new District of Sooke council was sworn in on Monday night. With Mayor Janet Evans at the helm, the fresh faces on council will have a rudder to help steer the ship called Sooke.

Each was appointed to represent our community on a number of committees and commissions. They have their work cut out for them. Not only do they have to dedicate every Monday night to district business, they have many other obligations as well.

For those councillors who have young families this could be a challenge and they will require all the family support they can muster. The business of being a councillor is not one to be taken lightly. It is serious and fraught with decisions which can affect how people perceive them. It is not a personality contest but rather an unpersonality contest. The tasks at hand and the decisions are for the betterment of the community as a whole. Chances are their decisions will, at times, make them unpopular, but if they make the best decisions for the most people they can’t go wrong.

The next year will be a steep learning curve for the new council. They will have to learn to work together and put their own agendas on hold. In the last council there were a lot of issues that come forth which divided council and made for some hard feelings. Aligning oneself with others is not in the best interest for the community. Each councillor has to stand on their own and be able to defend the decisions they make. Those decisions need to be knowledgeable and well thought out. We hope this new council has the will and the stamina to make the necessary commitment to strengthen Sooke and repair some of the acrimony present in the past.