By ROY WOOD

Before we could even sit down to chat, former Osoyoos mayor Stu Wells bee-lined across Troy’s Grill to a new-born baby, taking a moment or two to charm the mom and coo with the child. After 20 years as school trustee, town councillor and mayor, the small-town political instincts remain sharp and close at hand.

On a chilly morning this week, I sat over coffee with Wells to catch up on what he’s been doing and thinking for the year since he withdrew from the mayoral race and handed the chair to Sue McKortoff. What follows is an edited recollection of our nearly 90-minute conversation.

Without the need for a question, Wells began with a bemused harangue about area MLA Linda Larson.

(In an interview on CBC Radio, Larson defended her recent appointment of a secret committee to “summarize” submissions to the government on the proposed national park.)  

I can just see her with her hand on her hip: “And I want to know who would take exception to not knowing the names of those people. Who would undermine my integrity?”

Oooh, it’s just priceless.

I sent an email to (park advocate) Doreen Olson; I said this woman is living in the last century. People don’t operate like that any more.

It doesn’t even make sense in an era of transparency and openness. We’re watching Trudeau bring in a whole new, freshened approach. No matter what your political stripe, you’ve got to like what were seeing.

Question: What do you think of the bifurcated approach in the minister’s proposal on the national park?

It doesn’t work. How could you have protected species at either end and they’re migratory species and in the middle you can kill them?

To me it’s a no-brainer to go ahead with the park. Both coming from Osoyoos and because of the economic development, but I can understand the positions on the other side.

What I would really like to see, and people on both side get apoplectic when I suggest it, is a referendum. My choice by far would be a referendum in basically the entire regional district.

We should all be able to live with that. Stop all the silliness and the back and forth and the name-calling. But both sides back away when I suggest it.

Where it stands now is that what happens in this riding in the next BC election will be the referendum on this issue. They’re not gaining any traction with this committee of five.

It’s been going on for so long that at certain points every MLA has supported the park. Dan Ashton from Penticton, the Kelowna trio. John Slater supported it when he was MLA. The full Osoyoos town council supports it.

What’s your view on bringing in water meters in Osoyoos?

(A recent report to town council suggested metering systems reduce consumption and Mayor Sue McKortoff said such a system is likely in the long term.)

I’m sitting on the fence on it.

I don’t think we should spend $2 million just because someone says you should have water metering. But there’s a big push out there.

$2 million is a lot of money. If it’s all taxpayer driven, then it’s too much. Even if it’s split three ways it’s still $700,000 from the town.

I just don’t know that water metering is the answer.

And there should be fairness between the town and the rural area. So far agriculture has been exempt from any water restrictions, but there is still lots of water that isn’t being used in an appropriate manner.

Then we get into the non-agricultural housing in the rural area. South of town; the East Bench; north of town. If we’re looking at water conservation shouldn’t everybody be in it together? Why should you pick on the town residents versus someone who lives on 12th Avenue?

There are many ways we can conserve water. Among the biggest mis-users of water are people with the automated sprinkling who couldn’t begin to re-program them according to the time of year.

On water conservation generally, my reading is let’s make sure we know what we’re doing. Like Justin Trudeau and the migrants. Let’s find out exactly what we need to know. There needs to be some science to it.

Osoyoos is a tourist community … a pretty tourist community. And it has to stay that way.

Resort municipality funding from the province is over $400,000 a year. This is wonderful program, which comes with being a tourist community and looking good. And that takes water.

Does expanding the Osoyoos airport make any sense?

I’m going to have to say no it doesn’t.

There’s a pretty solid little airport down the road in Oliver. It’s 15 minutes away. It has lights that you can turn on with your radio. It is fenced and it has a terminal. And it has lots of hangars and some commercial space available.

It’s a tough decision for the current council.

And keeping the Osoyoos airport the way it is will come with a cost. There are costs coming. It needs washrooms. It needs fencing. It’s probably going to need resurfacing in the near future.

If there is private funding that’s one thing, but if it’s town tax dollars going into that airport, I have a weak opinion.

I had a strong position when we were re-purposing for a cause. And that cause was 40 jobs.

The re-purposing of the airport lands to industrial was looked at a few years ago because there was a specific interest. It involved a potential 40 jobs, which in this town, in this economy, was huge.

Council of the day felt confident enough that we should show that we were serious. That seriousness was to look at re-purposing.

Unfortunately, the project fell through when the developer pulled out.

What do you think will happen with the proposed new museum?

(Plans to move the Osoyoos museum to the Home Building Centre building on Main Street were pushed back four years this summer when the owner said he would close in the fall and lay off 16 employees.)

That’s a very unfortunate situation. The way it came about. But I think it’s going to be repeated at the end of this term. There’ll be another “keep the jobs, keep the business or the guys going to close.” That would really be a crime in my mind.

It was such a good proposal. There was a lot of support; people wanted to see it.

(In 2011 town and rural Osoyoos residents approved borrowing $1.26 million to purchase the property for the museum.)

The museum can’t stay where they are in the old curling rink. The exhibits are deteriorating.

There was so much energy and when you loose something like that it’s the energy that’s depleted.

People had targets. They had hired some fundraisers and it was on the right road. People were buying into it and some of the area families were ready to start making large contributions.

Was the plan a little too ambitious?

(The architectural plan came in at over $4 million for retrofitting the building and exhibits.)

I think yes and no. I think some of those things were going to be trimmed down and stretched over time.

Museums are funded in Canada. This museum hasn’t really drawn on available resources, so it’s sort of our turn.

Then you throw the Nk’Mip collection (205 pieces of First Nations children’s art and photos of children at the Inkameep Day School from 1931-43). That’s an amazing piece of work. It’s really quite incredible for all of western Canada.

The collection needs HVAC (hearting, ventilation and air conditioning) and it’s currently in Oliver where it does have proper care.

What have you been doing to keep busy?

When I decided not to run last fall, a friend came along and said I should look at this house. It was a fixer-upper. I called it a project house.

I bought it then went for my regular vacation in LaQuinta and then I came back and started fixing it up. I didn’t have to put in a huge amount of hours. It took me four or five months. I sold it and it closed in September. Everyone did well.

Now I’m looking at a different deal involving substantially more money. Another real estate project, but on a larger scale.

Generally I’m really enjoying my time. Golfing a little bit more. Seeing friends, seeing grandkids. I bought an older sports car. Martha and I took it on an eight-day golfing run. We call it the bumpkinmobile. It’s an orange Nissan 350Z. It’s quite a statement when you see it. It’s an ’07, which is not worth a ton of money. But it’s a fun car. I love it.

In the fall had a big role in the Osoyoos Water Science Forum.

I upped my profile in the Osoyoos Lake Water Quality Society. I’m in charge of the boat. We go out on the pontoon boat and sample the water at five different spots every Wednesday from June 1 to the end of September.

Do you miss not having hands on the levers of power?  

Yes. But nothing is forever.

People ask me all the time how I’m doing and I say: “You know, you never know how far you’re in until you get out.”

I’d get up at five o’clock in the morning and open up my laptop. So, sure. Yes and no.

What’s the thing you’re most proud of?

Don’t know that there was one.

I thought that we really moved forward a lot on bringing open and transparent government. We really started to look at the boundaries of in-camera and bringing it out. That’s positive.

I really liked the northwest sewer project. That covered a long span with more twists and turns than a sea serpent. From inception to 1188 units at one point and all sorts of variations.

Goodman Park was, I thought, a great success to get that dressed up.

Lake access. We didn’t go as far as I would have liked, but we brought it to the publics attention. People moved buildings. People put up retaining walls.

Any chance of a political comeback?

I’m wise enough to never say never, but I don’t think so.

I’m enjoying what I’m doing and I look at the commitment. You’ve gotta be strong. You’ve gotta be on your A game. And it’s a huge commitment.

If you don’t have commitment, you shouldn’t be there.

When I decided not to run, there were so many things at play. I’m 70, and I was thinking that the new four-year terms for council would make for a long haul. I’d done it for two terms as mayor.

It’s been a great run and we did affect a lot of change and did, to my mind, bring a lot of good governance to Osoyoos.

I think I’m sort of done, but I mean if something came along …

Any thoughts on the current council?   

I’m talking to a couple of them and they’re fine. I think they took a little long to get their footing.

I think we’re going to start to see a little more resistance. Not so much resistance, but voicing of opinions.

Sue runs a tight ship, but I hear she’s got good backing from CJ Rhodes. So that’s two down and if you get one out of the other three, you’re moving on.

I think they might be a little too sensitive about being that one vote against. That’s an important vote for the people who do watch local politics.

Anything you’d do differently?

I don’t think so. Well, obviously there’s my two-minute moment I’d like back.

(In June 2013, Wells, wife Martha Collins and another person were caught on video removing “Buyer beware” signs from a property on Regal Ridge. There were no criminal charges, but the trio agreed to “alternative measures.”)

My first wife had all these great old Swedes in her background and we’d go to visit them in southern Alberta just outside Lethbridge.

We’d play all these old prairie card games. And you’d put a card down and try to get it back and they’d say: “If it’s laid, it’s played.”