Former Metro Vancouver mayors: Where are they now?
Credit to Author: Jennifer Saltman| Date: Sun, 08 Sep 2019 17:00:05 +0000
In June, for the first time in more than 25 years, Darrell Mussatto found himself standing in front of a classroom full of students.
The former mayor of the City of North Vancouver had added his name to the teacher-on-call list for the North Vancouver school district the month before, and was tapped to teach a social studies class for ninth graders.
“It was a new start again,” said Mussatto. “It was like beginner teaching.”
Mussatto spent eight terms on city council — the final four as mayor. He decided prior to the municipal election last October that he was going to retire from politics.
In addition to returning to teaching — a career he had before he became a paramedic and then entered politics — Mussatto has done some consulting work and dabbled in instructing at the city’s community woodworking studio.
Mussatto was one of a dozen former mayors who Postmedia caught up with 10 months after the municipal election that saw 16 of Metro Vancouver’s 21 mayors leave their posts, either by choice or in defeat. It was the largest turnover of mayors in at least 30 years.
Lois Jackson is the only former mayor who stayed in local politics, returning as a councillor after the fall election. Jackson held the top job in Delta for almost 20 years, and before that served 26 years as a councillor.
Jackson said she wanted to stick around in a supporting role so that she could share the knowledge she has amassed during her years in politics.
She said there was definitely an adjustment period.
“Because I was there for a such a long time, I really had to turn my head around and be prepared to take a different role, which I think I’ve done quite successfully,” she said. “I’m really enjoying it. It’s certainly far less demanding.”
Greg Moore, with his wife Erin, has partnered with others to open a brewery and southern barbecue restaurant called Patina in downtown Port Coquitlam. He expects to open this fall. (Nick Procaylo/PNG)
This week, Greg Moore, the former mayor of Port Coquitlam, was appointed acting president and CEO of the B.C. Lottery Corp., a position he will take over in mid-September while the corporation’s current president and CEO undergoes cancer treatment. It is likely he will be in the position until sometime early next year. Moore has been on the corporation’s board since November.
Moore will be splitting this time between the BCLC offices in Kamloops and Vancouver, which means the other ventures he has been pursuing since he quit politics “cold turkey” will end up on the backburner. Those include consulting in the development world, starting a technology company aimed at helping local governments with communications, and building Patina, a craft brewery and southern barbecue restaurant in downtown Port Coquitlam.
Although he will still be an owner of Patina, which is expected to be up and running this fall, Moore won’t be involved in the day-to-day operations. The brewery’s beers have been on tap in Tri-Cities establishments for a few weeks.
Surprisingly, Moore said starting a new business is not unlike the work he did as a politician.
“You’re trying to build your vision, share your vision, get buy in, work with the community — there’s a lot of parallels there,” he said.
Moore is not the only consultant among former mayors.
“Consulting is sort of a euphemism for doing a whole bunch of different things,” said Richard Walton, who was mayor of the District of North Vancouver for 13 years.
Walton still has his certified public accountant designation from his pre-politics days, and has been doing some business consulting “on an informal basis.”
Karl Buhr is — “in a very desultory fashion” — resurrecting the consulting career he put on hold before serving four years as Lion’s Bay’s mayor.
“I admit, I’ve not been trying as hard as I could,” he said, noting that he is also volunteering.
Others returned to their former careers or found new work.
John Becker is focusing on his law firm, along with his family and “resetting personal priorities” after his time as Pitt Meadows mayor. Becker was defeated in his bid for a second term.
The two-term mayor of West Vancouver, Michael Smith, is doing some work for the fuel and lubricant business he started in the 1980s, which his daughter is now running.
“What I’m really doing most of all is letting my nerves recover from having to spend seven years going to meetings that should take an hour and take three,” he said. “Everyone just wants to hear themselves talk.”
Gregor Robertson, who led B.C.’s largest city for a decade, has been busy with new work projects and travel. Robertson is now an ambassador for the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, which works with governments on climate action initiatives. He’s also working on a “very exciting” green building startup that will launch publicly later this year.
“I miss all the great people and events, but after 14 years in politics I’m glad to have a break from being on-call 24/7,” Robertson said in an email.
For others, retirement beckoned.
“I haven’t gone on to anything,” said Bowen Island’s Murray Skeels. “I was retired before I became mayor, and I’m retired again.”
Linda Hepner, true to her word, has retired and spent the months since the election travelling and visiting family and friends. The former Surrey mayor’s most recent trip was to Fredericton, N.B., her hometown.
“I’ve taken a long stretch of doing nothing to regroup and get my sense of humour back!” Hepner wrote in a Facebook message. “Retirement is good. I’ve read books and binged on Netflix and taught myself to cook again.”
Hepner served one term as mayor of B.C.’s second-largest city, following nine years as councillor and two decades on city staff.
Wayne Baldwin is on his second retirement.
“This is for real,” he promised.
Before serving two terms as White Rock’s mayor, Baldwin was retired for five years after a 23-year career as the city manager. Since leaving politics, he has travelled — including ticking a visit to Machu Picchu off his bucket list — and spent time with his nine grandchildren.
Ralph Drew, who was the longest-serving mayor in Metro Vancouver at 35 years in Belcarra, has “basically retired,” but is working on his fifth book on local history, called Stave Stories: History in the Shadow of the Golden Ears.
“The research is fun. I find it’s a tremendous educational experience,” Drew said.
After a total of 40 years in local politics, he said it definitely feels different to be on the other side.
“It’s strange not going to meetings, but also nice having your evenings back,” he said. “I miss the regional engagement, but there’s other aspects of being in politics that you don’t miss.”
Maple Ridge’s Nicole Read is president of The History Group, a research company she founded in 2003. Read was unavailable for an interview.
Former Port Moody mayor Mike Clay, who was unsuccessful in his bid for a third term, has an automation and technology consulting business that he ran while serving as mayor. He was also unavailable for an interview.
Postmedia was unable to reach Burnaby’s longtime former mayor Derek Corrigan. He was defeated after 31 years on council, 16 of which he spent as mayor. Former Langley City mayor Ted Schaffer did not respond to an interview request.