Garry Point Park enthusiasts may want to tip their hat to the memory of Doug Sandberg the next time they are out for a stroll.
The long time city councillor, who died Nov. 30 at age 67, was one of the leaders of a group in the mid-1970s that managed to keep the site free from development.
Current city councillor Harold Steves said he was friends with Sandberg before he became politically active — they used to hunt together on Sturgeon Banks — but it was the Garry Point issue that brought Sandberg into the political spotlight.
“A developer wanted to put big, seven-storey buildings there and we fought against that,” Steves said, adding that, at the time, he was the sole voice on council opposing the plan.
“I needed some support to get these buildings stopped, and I got Doug to run for council. And it worked,” Steves said. “Doug was always very community-minded and was one of the few who had that vision for a park at Garry Point.”
While Steves and Sandberg both served on council they were also competitors when it came to the provincial arena for the NDP.
“I think we both ran for the local nomination at one point,” Steves said. “I ended up beating Doug, and he then became my campaign manager.
“That’s just what friends do.”
Sandberg served on city council during two eras — from 1977-1981 and 1987-1996 when the elected officials were known as alderman.
“We came from different ends of the political spectrum, but we managed to work together to get things done that were for the best of the community,” said fellow alderman Kiichi Kumagai, adding he also remembers Sandberg as a staunch environmentalist.
“He was always straight forward, and I loved working with him because of that.”
Longtime city councillor Bill McNulty said he got to know Sandberg during his first term on council.
“He was a mentor to me in many ways. He kinda took me under his wing and showed me how things worked at the city,” McNulty said. “We may not have shared the same political views, but he was committed to his community and stood up for it.”
McNulty quipped that Sandberg also enjoyed “raw meat” when it came to spirited political discussions.
“He never did it with me, but he was not afraid to debate issues and eat others alive — sometimes even his own teammates.”
Sandberg graduated from high school in Vancouver (Sir Charles Tupper) and earned a B.Sc in biological sciences at SFU.
He worked as an air pollution specialist in the B.C. government Environmental Laboratory starting in 1968, and later became a steward and local chairperson with the provincial executive of the B.C. Government Employees’ Union.
While on city council, Sandberg was a member of the Health and Environment Committee, Personnel Committee, and Parks and Recreation Commission.
Among the responsibilities he filled in the community, Sandberg was elected vice president of the Steveston Community Society, was a founding member of the Steveston Historical Society, and a steering committee member of the Gulf of Georgia Cannery Historical Society.
