Fifteen years ago, while scoping out the exhaust-emitting parking lot that was South Fraser Way from the mayor’s highrise office in Matsqui, Dave Kandal responded to this scribe’s inquiry about gridlock with a question.
“When you moved here, you added to this problem, right?”
There was an awkward silence as I waited for Mayor Kandal to continue. He didn’t. Uh-oh!
A week earlier your jokester scribe had apparently committed the Mother of all Mischievous Miscues by opining – tongue-in-cheek, of course – that “Matsqui” seemed more like the sound a bug would make when squishing into your windshield, than a recognizable name for an amalgamated community.
It seems Mayor Kandal didn’t fully appreciate the timing of said joke, perhaps because he was positioning himself for a serious run against popular District of Abbotsford leader George Ferguson. His baby, “Matsqui,” was among the options for a name of the soon-to-be-blended districts that attracted worldwide attention for its awesome “Abbotsford” air show.
I jested his lame gridlock retort “wouldn’t fly” with voters after an interesting discussion about his 33 years as a commercial pilot and auxiliary member of Air Force 442 Fighter Squadron. Not sure if his office door had an extra strong spring, but yours truly just missed being hit by it on the way out while thinking that this man of vision, heralded by many as natural born leader, was in the early stages of developing TransLink-itis.
OK, so maybe I was a tad off. Seems the community named an elementary school after him in 1997, he was elected this year to the local Sports Hall of Fame, and today he will watch the air show in his capacity as chair of Abbotsford International Airport Authority – a.k.a. Mr. YXX!
Not bad for a 79-year-old who is one of the brightest and most decent minds to ever wear the civic Chain of Command.
Those quality parks, recreation facilities and civic buildings in “west Abbotsford” have Kandal’s DNA all over them and continue to be the source of much pride.
Retired “alderman” Jack Robertson, who headed the unparalleled 1995 Western Canada Summer Games in Abbotsford, said this about Kandal yesterday: “Dave’s mind is always going a mile a minute on his next project . . . he is a decision-maker, he has uncanny vision, he can be very persuasive. He has a high degree of integrity and he just gets things done. Anyone will work their butt off for a guy like that.”
Kandal is also used to critics, whiners and columnists who usually know more than the experts (wink, wink), which should serve him well in the lofty goal to make YXX the “best regional airport in the entire country,” serving Hope to Surrey.
While the facility has been dubbed Abbotsford’s crown jewel by many, some have voiced displeasure about noise and the lack of bus service. Kandal insists both issues are being dealt with, slowly, but points out the quietest airplanes in this weekend’s air show will be those bearing WestJet logos.
“Technology has come a long way in a very short time . . . and we’re really trying to be very good neighbours at the airport.”
He’s unsure how long he’ll stay on as chair as wife Ruby may eventually want him to stay home and relax, but so far that scenario goes against his “if you stand still you’re dead” mantra.
He’s already thinking about new budgets, lobbying government, increased business at YXX during the 2010 Olympics, runway and apron expansion, and visiting students at Dave Kandal Elementary, who every year ask him how much money he makes, what it’s like to fly and what it was like to be mayor.
And he happily answers all of them – especially from those little darlings who avoid pesky gridlock questions and oh-so feeble Matsqui jokes. Go figure!
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