Eric Small, Historic Gibsons Mayor
It can easily be said Eric Small was aiming for being great. This is partly shown by his becoming president of his high school student council, and later by his becoming mayor of Gibsons for two terms. His life between these points was full of places, people, and politics, and it has yet to slow down substantially.
After graduating high school in 1951 Eric wanted to become a chartered accountant, but upon approaching the three available firms in his hometown of White Rock was asked, “Do you have any banking experience”, which was hard to acquire pre-graduation. So he applied to the Bank of Montreal and became a drafts clerk (collecting and delivering bank drafts) for the whopping salary of $80/month. Any employee of the bank in those days had to have a versatile homestead since the bank required they be able to go when and where they were needed. Typically these friendly notices were sent in the form of a letter which humbly said, “You will report to _________”
White Horse was a step up with a better position (teller/ledger-keeper) and better wage (Northern allowance). It was also where he met Peggy and marriage came up. The sweet malleable bank of those times would only allow employees to marry if their combined gross income was a certain amount; luckily Peggy was in the civil service and the numbers worked in their favour, resulting in a very happy pair of lovers.
The next transfer was to Vernon to be an accountant’s assistant and liability clerk (loan’s clerk). Next it was Ashcroft to be an accountant and to become a father to their two boys. Then off to Oak bay for two years, Victoria for one and a half years to teach “lending”, Penticton as assistant manager, and finally becoming a manager in Quenel thanks to his general experience.
Curious as to whether he had any limits the bank sent Eric to Montreal to be an inspector (auditor); luckily this was about the same time as the 1967 Olympics, and Peggy and he bought themselves annual passes and went 35 times. His job as inspector included auditing “books” in Eastern Canada. From there he moved into “specialty audits” which were for known or suspected missing money. With this position he did some international work as part of a ten person team covering New York and London, England.
A couple of sleuthing stories:
An accountant in a large branch had been a junior auditor. He married a girl who was a widow of another junior auditor, which meant she now had a substantial amount of money in her savings. It turned out he had started stealing from the bank (and covering his tracks fairly well since he was a junior auditor) so that she wouldn’t have to tap into her inheritance. Unfortunately she was a little too free with her spending, and the cover-up didn’t hold.
The bank knew of missing money in small confirmed amounts. Even though the names on the cheques were the right signatures, the account holders denied ever signing them. It turned out one of the tellers had a boyfriend who was a forger, and she brought him examples of signatures to copy.
After the fun of crime-hunting in Eastern Canada, Eric returned to BC to be senior auditor in Vancouver and the whole province for two years. He then worked as a manager again for 2-3 years at the Marine building, manager of the 6th and 6th office in New West (where he catered to doctors by reputation), a short stint as the senior commercial banking manager where he got to wine and dine a select group of customers, and then becoming district manager of Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast covering 29 branches. Around this time (1985) he and Peggy were discussing retirement (their boys long since becoming an engineer and an RCMP officer), but the Bank of Montreal was talking “Regional Manager of the North” (the area above Kamloops/ the NW corner of BC). They were looking for places around the Sunshine Coast and Tawanik, and Peggy only agreed to Eric accepting the positioning and them moving to Prince George if they bought a property in Gibsons. Eric agreed, and the Bank of Montreal had a new Regional Manager until he retired in 1988.
Gibsons was a great place for the two retirees, especially as it was a location where they could now practice their construction skills, starting with the renovating of their new home (these skills were and are also useful at their church). Eric also helped out with the Sea Cavalcade committee, eventually feeling the community could use some support from its own rotary organization, of which there was none. One of the roles he had as bank manager (or other high-level bank executive) was to fill a position with the local rotary. The position was inherited, so when an employee was sent off to a new bank and location, their position in the rotary was filled with their replacement at the bank. Needless to say Eric learned a fair amount about rotaries, and as he had been involved in four others in his active past he had an idea of what went into one, and by making a joint rotary with Sechelt in order to get the necessary number of people for a charter number he succeeded in providing Gibsons with its very own. He also helped encourage several woman business-owners to join up in order to push for a better balance in the organization. Within two years Sechelt grew large enough to break off and start its own rotary.
In 1989-90 the Beachcombers, a famous Canadian television show shot in Gibsons over the course of a 19-year long run, was ending the series. The Gibsons Rotary was able to sell off memorabilia and put on a farewell party which included a pig roast, beer garden, and silent auctions (Relic, one of the main character, had a hat that sold for a lot at the old firehall beneath the townhall). At the end of the event there was $25,000 in the kitty, a great start for a new rotary.
Six or nine months after starting the Gibsons Rotary Eric was approached to run for town council in 1989. There were to be several others running with him as a group, including John McNiven and Ed Steves, now head of the regional board. As they also needed a mayorial candidate Eric was picked thanks to his background and skills. Four people in total ran for mayor, but Eric managed a majority anyway with 51% of the vote. He accomplished all this at the same time as helping the Bank of Montreal institute a new program for converting RRSPs to RIFs, which he did for 4-5 years. Eric held office from 1990 until 1996 (the second term gaining 76% of the vote), deciding not to run a third time as, “it was time for someone else to have a turn”. Tucker Forsythe was the next mayor of Gibsons, followed by Barry Janyk, the current officeholder.
During his time as mayor Eric accomplished many things, most notable being the paving of School Road, a feat which now would be taken for granted. Prior to smooth asphalt the road was gravel, and every time it rained the steep slope carried the gravel down to the bottom where it was shoveled up, and trucked back to the top of the hill.
He also:
Negotiated for and acquired the “Christensen Land”, the current home of the new seniors’ centre. Even though the owner had offers, he wanted the town to have it, selling it to them for 50% of the current market value (1994) with the condition it be for public use. The original plan was to put a rec centre there, but unfortunately it was voted down.
Helped create and built the new Gibsons Public Library
Became a volunteer member of the hospital board, gaining them regional board representation. After 9 years of operating as a volunteer board the NDP instituted a paid board, and the volunteer members formed the hospital foundation. They acquired the title of the building where St Mary’s Thrift Store is located and rent to them for $1/year. Eric was a charter member/treasurer for 7 years, taking a year off between terms.
Currently he is a member of the variance committee (4 appointed by the town), where he is responsible for helping developers who cannot find the help they need from town hall because of certain by-laws: property too close or a little too wide. The variance committee is open to the public.
It isn’t all just work. While living in Ashcroft he coached a basketball team, and he was also a scout leader of a 36-boy troop. He says his most enjoyable experience has been working with kids. Eric still enjoys golfing and curling, as well as interviewing local political figures such as Nicholas Simons and Blair Wilson for Coast Cable 11. He’d like to see a few improvements in the community such as an increase in seniors’ activities, plus more for the younger crowd. He says, “Let’s take back our community”, citing a lack of community activity as being a major contributor to youth crimes. Luckily there is a new recreation centre going in at Brother’s Park next to the new skate park, and the facilities will have room for seniors and youth workshops, so should get things moving in the right direction.
Eric’s Philosophy – “The world has been very good to me so I have to pay it back at every opportunity.” So far it’s been a great return for the investment.
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