MURIEL ARNASON

‘Tenacious & caring’

By Al Irwin - Langley Times - December 09, 2007

The late Muriel Arnason was fond of quoting, in Latin, the phrase used on the banner of the Aldergrove Star which, loosely translated, means, “Don’t let the bastards grind you down.”

According to Township Councillor Mel Kositsky, Arnason also always reminded council members that they were to “serve the people,” and it was OK to challenge the staff.

Kositsky met Arnason, who served 26 years as a Township councillor, when he was a reporter at the Langley Times in the early 1980s. He said it was “a myth” that Arnason always voted no.

“She voted in favour of lots of things. She was against a lot of things, but for specific reasons, but that is not recorded,” said Kositsky, who said Arnason “did her homework, she was very thorough.”

“She always dealt with issues, not people or personalites, no matter what.

One of many funny quotes arose from Arnason’s early support of the Walnut Grove pool.

A re-election ad for Mayor John Scholtens, in 1999, claimed Arnason and mayoralty hopeful Heather McMullan opposed pool funding.

But council minutes handed out by Scholtens supporters at an all candidates meeting showed Arnason’s motion, for $8 million in pool funding, opposed by McMullan. Arnason supported a 25-metre pool, McMullan a 50-metre pool.

“ He (the mayor) is hoisted on his own petard, and it can be proven, certainly by his own literature,” said Arnason.

Arnason was insistent that politics is not the preserve of the rich or the elite, and “the average person could run. . . and serve the community that way,” Kositsky said.

Arnason was also very committed to libraries and literacy, served for years on the Fraser Valley Regional Library Board, making monthly “treks” to Abbotsford for the meetings.

“ It was a great experience to be her friend,” said Kositsky.

Former school board chair and Langley City Mayor Marlene Grinnell had “huge respect” for Arnason.

“ She was never bashful about asking questions. She was sly in her politics, she would let on that she might not know what was going on.”

In fact, Arnason was usually right on top of things, but wanted to get other perspectives on the issue, Grinnell said.
“ I remember when I was first elected, people would say to me: If you had a leak in your basement, you’d call Muriel. She’d come over in her rubber boots to see whatever the problem was. She was very hands on.”
Aubrey Searle was a former Langley City mayor when he was elected a councillor to the Township. He recalls another Township councillor, Pat Boyle, who coined the phrase: “Muriel’s Motions Make Marvellous Media.”
Arnason had begun serving notices of motions, as a means of getting attention for her issues, that were often ignored by council.

Searle himself was quite often allied with Arnason on environmental and development issues.

“ She was very concerned about the aquifer. . . she was very much the environmentalist.

Arnason opposed gravel extraction, tree cutting, and a very major issue in Langley Township in the early 1990s, a proposal to store natural gas underground, Searle said.

“I think if I could come up with a term for her, it would be tenacious.”

She would change her position, only if it was clearly demonstrated that she was wrong.

“I thought really, that her life was not an easy one, physically as well as financially, but having said that, she carried her burdens well, and said: Other people have problems, let’s try to help them.”

George Miller, Langley Airport manager, said he had invited Arnason for a tour of the airport, after noticing she often voted against airport initiatives.

“Then I’d make a point to talk to her when I’d see her. And I found that she was very gracious. I found that she voted in favour of a couple of (airport) issues, one was a governance issue that was very helpful, and is still in place today.”

“It didn’t mean that she voted favourably on airport issues after that. But the issues that really were important, she voted in favour.”

“Muriel was always very courteous and kind to me, and I had occasion to drive her home (after council meetings), and I visited her in the hospital,” said former Township planning director Terry Lyster.

“She was very stalwart, and very focused on her attention to what she called the little people.

“She took the advice of staff with a grain of salt, she was an independent thinker.

“But she was never abusive to staff,” Lyster said.

Arnason was on the board of directors of Langley Family Services in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when Betty McClurg was hired to head the agency.

“Muriel was always for the little person. She was worried about things costing too much. Every time there was a motion on the table at council she would look to see if people could afford it.

“I think she may have annoyed some of the other councillors, but when she believed in something she would dig her heels in.”

“She was quite a free spirit. Muriel did what Muriel wanted to do and it didn’t matter what other people thought,” said McClurg.

Last year, CUPE Local 403 presented Arnason with a plaque inscribed: For dedication and commitment to the ideals of trade unionism and unflagging support for the working people of CUPE Local 403.

“I thought it was such an honour. I was delighted to get it,” Arnason said at the time.

Arnason was elected to Township Council in 1979, and stepped down undefeated before the 2005 election.

But she retained her interest in good civic government. In June this year, she came as a delegate to council, criticizing a new council policy that eliminated the recording of the names of councillors who move, and second, motions.

“Please do not throw this out, I implore you,” Arnason asked council.

Arnason wrung a 5-4 rescinding motion from the council members.

And she would have been right at home at last Monday’s high-rise council debate. In 1992, she was the only councillor voting against a 10-storey building across the street from Walnut Grove Secondary School. Her concern was the traffic, and lack of bus service. That project never proceeded.

In November, 2006 council named Arnason a freeman of the Township of Langley. She passed away Dec. 1, at age 81.

A public funeral service will be held at Christian Life Assembly, 21277 56 Ave. on Thursday, at 1 p.m. A viewing will take place Wednesday, at Henderson’s Funeral Home, at 20786 Fraser Highway, 6 to 8 p.m.