MichaelKlassen.com

False Creek already has pedestrian-friendly transportation options

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:21:01 -0800

False Creek Ferries are an excellent and affordable service that attracts tourists

Owners of False Creek Ferries (~~aka the Aquabus, as locals call it~~) must be wondering if Vancouver's Mayor hates them. This small business has thrived over the years moving people to and fro across False Creek harbour.

The ferry which crosses the exact route of Gregor's bridge brainstorm, Vanier Park to the Aquatic Centre at Sunset Beach, runs from 7:30am to 10pm daily, and leaves every five minutes. It is an incredibly reliable service, and a great Vancouver success story.

Isn't it ironic that a Mayor who got elected based upon his reputation built in small business has so much contempt for existing small enterprises here in Vancouver?

Even the city's top bicycle advocate, Arno Schortinghuis of the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition said the bridge would be a “non-starter” with commuter cyclists:

“If you have to descend all the way to the seawall, it would be ridiculously difficult to get back up to Burrard Street, for instance,” he said. ““That would be unacceptable, I would suggest.”

Meanwhile, people commenting on CBC.ca, Globeandmail.com and Vancouversun.com are all having a field day with Gregor's attempt to "change the channel" from his gridlock plan. Here's a sampling below of some of the comments.

Dear Mayor, dear Mayor, Between translink and the Olympic villiage, politely spoken, cost overruns, where oh where are the taxpayers of Vancouver going to find 45 million for a cycling bridge when we have 3 bridges that make the crossing already and all accept bicycles. - burrard, cambie and granville bridges. I bicycled to work for 10 years everyday, 11K, - except snow - over the Granville Street Bridge. It is an awesome bridge. And Mr. Mayor, didn't you have as an election platform housing for the homeless?. Think about what that 45 million would do for shelters for the homeless.

Greg Robertson can have have the pedestrian bridges he wants even all the way to Victoria. He should look no further than the funding model of the Golden Ears.

$45million sounds kind of steep. Why not build a bike path along the underside of the Granville bridge, on the superstructure that supports it. The is would also provide a rain cover for the cyclists.

Instigate a long overdue bike licensing system (cyclists should have insurance) to pay for the bridge and other bike route improvements. Drivers pay for the road through taxes, so should cyclists.

"Taxpayers could vote on the idea during a referendum in the next civic election, said Robertson, who is also hoping the federal and provincial governments will help with funding."

Then the referendum should be BC wide.

Why would anyone vote for this "pie-in-the-sky scheme ?. Another boondoggle from your left-wing politicians.
Prediction , the darn thing won't even be used in the winter!!!.

And if you think it will be built for the 45 million dollar budget, well ,I have another bridge to sell you ,

It will stand as an example of leftish idiocy come the next election.

What an eyesore.
But of course the cycling militants, who would eschew the existing spectacular view from the sidewalk of the Burrard Bridge in favor of usurping a lane of traffic, probably think it looks really cool.

i hate the idae of bike lanes on the burrad bridge but i really like this idea. i have concerns about the cost, but i dont understand this type of structure will be last for generations in our city, so if we think about the cost split over 75 years its not horrible.

If they can get shovels in the ground this will help make more constuction jobs i the city, and we really need to put those boys back to work

What was it going to cost to convert the burrard st bridge?

I like the idea...but that bridge is UGLY and ruins the beauty of the area, and the views

Of course if it is built it would be toll bridge so that the 45 million could be recouped from users right, and the recuoped funds used to suport infrastucture in small towns (that are inherently more enviro friendly).

I mean you can't add a tax to their fuel or a surcharge to their bike registration fees like auto owners.

Being both a federal and BC provincial taxpayer but not a resident of Vancouver, I take exception to the thought that funding could be given from those sources for this idea. I can think of a lot of ways that our tax dollars can be redirected to the "lesser" communities in the North and Interior Rather taht a handful of bike riding urbanites. But then Vancuover's pet projects payed for using our tax dollars, are rarely delayed because anyone outside the Great City had a need too.

Has Vancouver figured out yet that Gregor Robertson is about the stupidest thing Vancouver has done to itself in a long time,if ever?
This mental midget is totally controlled by the "greenies" and tree-huggers!
A bike and footbridge is about the most ridiculous proposal Roberston has come up with yet!
45 Million?
Brilliant...simply brilliant!
Like there isn't anything more rellevant to spend that kind of dough on?

This may sound stupid, but isn't it conceivable for there to be some kind of foot bridge / cycle bridge added along one side of the Burrard bridge??

Picture this: A bridge that somehow "piggy backs" onto the already existing one! It wouldn't have to go above the cars either, although that might be one option. But what about right along side it?

Seems it would be a lot less obtrusive and perhaps it would cost a lot less to do something like this, instead of constructing an entirely new, free standing bridge.

I'm betting something like this could be done for $10 million, maybe less.

And why not get all those bicycle enthusiasts to help raise the cash, rather than stick it to John and Jane taxpayer?

Might this not be fun? Thanks for considering. :)

I ride my bike downtown almost everyday from march to november. I would NEVER use this bridge. Simply because it's too far away from the majority of Vancouverites. I'm not riding cross down and then into the downtown core. This only helps those in point grey that already use the burrard street bridge. I would much rather ride on the cambie or Granville bridges anyday of the week.

Terrific idea - I have used the Millennium Bridge in London often and it is the best experience imaginable. This will also really put Vancouver on the tourist map because tourists love this kind of thing.

One concern I have is accessibility from the seawall level of the waterfront. The bridge's usefulness to pedestrians will be limited if we have to walk all the way up to Pacific and Burrard to access the bridge, and then have walk all the way to Burrard and Fourth to exit. That's also a very long walk and detour if one is just enjoying the waterfront experience.

This is great!

Put a clip-on attachment to the bridge. In Japan they call it the clip0on nippon

Gregor blinks on Burrard controversy

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:25:02 -0800

Who would blink first over the Burrard controversy? Apparently Mayor Robertson.

After July 13th, when you're sitting in Gregor's Gridlock, and you're contemplating whether to dial 311 to register your complaint with the Mayor over his Council's decision to reallocate a Burrard Bridge lane to cyclists, will it make you feel better to know that Hizonner is musing about building another bridge?

Apparently PR flacks in Mayor Robertson's office hope you will. Tonight they let slip that a "conversation" between the Mayor and architect Gregory Henriquez for a $45 million passerelle over False Creek. It would appear that Robertson has blinked in the face of building public dissatisfaction with his No Consultation Council™.

Just last Tuesday morning my CityCaucus.com colleague Daniel sat on the CKNW's Civic Affairs Panel, and got raked over the coals by Vision's Jim Green over NPA plans to spend $30 million on upgrading crumbling railings and surfaces on the 70-year old Burrard Bridge. This money is still in the City's budget, and it will be spent regardless of the political posturing by Vision.

The NPA proposed that the City eventually spend another $30 retrofitting the bridge to accommodate cyclists. No final design for this has been completed, but heritage advocates were not the slightest bit interested in any change to the old concrete railings.

So the NPA proposed spending $30 million for an improved cycling thoroughfare, and now Mayor Robertson is floating a proposal to spend $45 million?

Many pundits including The Province's Mike Smyth think Gregor and Vision Vancouver will cave in to public pressure to end the lane reallocation. Floating this new bridge idea, one that the City can ill afford and will not get built for a long, long time if at all, is clearly a desperate move on the Mayor's part.

We'd all love more funky looking bridges and infrastructure. Henriquez's design is an interesting direction. But how are we supposed to take this idea seriously when no one has been consulted on its real cost or viability? There's no doubt that Engineering staff have been caught flat-footed on this proposal, and you can be certain that there are no funding partners even remotely involved.

And isn't the land around the bridge still subject to an aboriginal land claim? According to a recent staff report, it's one of the significant hurdles to making any change around the Bridge itself.

More than 30 options for improving cycling and pedestrian crossing at the Burrard Bridge location have been explored by the City's engineering department over the past 13 years; all of them have large cost implications or require resolution of significant issues, such as land claims.

There are some who are now predicting that Vision Vancouver is deliberately setting up the Bridge "experiment" to fail. Not only have local businesses not been consulted, the City's prescription for better communications seems to be stuck in neutral.

After getting approval for $250,000 the City's Corporate Communications department headed by Laurie Best has yet to launch any substantial communications, or any signage in the vicinity of the bridge (apart from one lonely 10 ft banner hanging in the middle of the bridge). Here's what the same report above states:

Corporate Communications will issue ... a full-service communications and marketing agency to work with City staff to develop and implement of a comprehensive information campaign...Key elements of the campaign would include (but would not be limited to): Stakeholder/sponsor engagement; Community and media events; Paid media campaigns, and a Web-based campaign.

There are SIX working days left until the lane is closed to cars...have you seen any public notice about this yet?

Stay tuned to CityCaucus.com for continuing information and commentary (including from cycling advocate and former City Councillor Fred Bass) on the Burrard Bridge lane reallocation controversy.

UPDATE: The Mayor admitting he floated this without any consultation of his caucus nor staff, is now suggesting that a "toll" on the passerelle might help to pay for it. CKNW reporter Dan Burritt speaking on the morning program said he and fellow reporters are wondering exactly how that toll might work. "Would they put a chip into peoples' necks?" he asked.

Ballem: "It's time to refresh ourselves!"

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:06:05 -0800

A memo circulated at Vancouver City Hall has received a collective groan from overworked staff who are wondering how much harder they can be squeezed during this economic crunch. City Manager Penny Ballem, who did not take our earlier advice to leave her job, should be commended for conducting a core review of city services.

Now, we could remind Ballem that she and Vision were a bit carefree with it came to Vancouver taxpayers' wallets, such as the lavish $84,000 inauguration ceremony, the twin Hoggan PR contracts, the $250,000 for a Burrard Bridge spin plan, or avoidable spending on the too-many-to-mention severance packages. However, we want to support the effort to get Vancouver's civil service to refocus on building a sustainable city, and not solving all of its social ills.

In her memo to staff she states,

As part of our accountability to the citizens of Vancouver, we need to review the services we provide and the way we deliver them. It is our responsibility to ensure we're always responsible in how we manage our processes and finances and that we give our citizens good value for their money.

It's time to refresh ourselves! While there are many things that make us unique here at the City of Vancouver, the pressures of the economic situation will make it more and more difficult to do all the things we believe are important for our citizens. This review provides us with the opportunity to transform the way we think, behave and deliver...

It's known that Vancouver city staff are facing unprecedented pressures to cut back overtime and keep costs in line. Ballem's memo is yet another signal that Vision Vancouver underestimated the depth of the economic crisis the City would face before, during and after the 2010 Games.

We've made a number of suggestions on CityCaucus.com on how to keep costs in line. For example, use the Yellow Pages to contract out some basic services like garbage collection, or sell the waterfront social housing built on Southeast False Creek and use the profits to create more social housing throughout the city.

Given the grip labour unions have on this government, however, it is unlikely that ideas like contracting out services will ever make the City Manager's shortlist.

Hornby merchants: "We're being Cambie'd by Gregor"

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:39:41 -0800

Hornby street merchants are about to be impacted by the Burrard Bridge bike lane trial

Some great reporting by GlobalTV BC's Rumina Daya on the latest victims of Vision's No Consultation Council™ - merchants on Hornby Street about to be undone by the Burrard Bridge lane reallocation. As they describe it, the irony is that they are being "Cambie'd" by Mayor Robertson, as in Cambie Street and the pain those merchants faced when their access to customers was cut off.

Of course, we all know that Gregor Robertson built his political career on the whole Cambie/Canada Line construction issue (he was a notoriously ineffective MLA until that issue was handed to him). So it's quite something to watch the Mayor stick it to another set of businesses without any consultation.

Stay tuned to CityCaucus.com for more about Gregor's Gridlock in the days ahead!

Happy Canada Day!

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 05:50:23 -0800

Happy Canada Day greetings to our faithful readers from coast to coast to coast. We hope you have the time to celebrate today with family and friends.

We like to mix it up about politics, people and policy here at CityCaucus.com, but we must remind ourselves that the kind of respectful debate and dialogue we like to engage in here is the exception and not the rule for many parts of the globe.

We're thankful not only for the right to speak freely on important subjects, but that our readers choose us as one of their sources of news and ideas.

Thank you.

COPE not playing ball on Vision/Coleman plan to demolish Little Mountain housing

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:47:06 -0800

Mayor Robertson & Rich Coleman shook hands on taking the wrecking ball to Little Mountain housing

It looks like another group is about to deal a blow to Mayor Robertson's already headache-filled week. Holdout residents in the Little Mountain social housing development have allied with COPE City Councillor Ellen Woodsworth (she's the COPE Councillor who shows up to meetings) in an attempt to scuttle plans to redevelop the site. Woodsworth has circulated an email to supporters and community activists that she thinks Little Mountain should house Vancouver's homeless (the email in its entirety is pasted below).

Woodsworth's plan might be a surprise to the neighbours of the Little Mountain community, who probably had not counted on their neighbourhood carrying a large part of the burden of Vancouver's homeless problem.

For those who have been following this storyline over the past few years, the Little Mountain site has 224 apartments built just after World War 2 in a low density woodframe building with asbestos in the walls. The buildings sit on a 15+ acre site centrally located in the City of Vancouver next to Queen Elizabeth Park.

The City under the previous Council deftly negotiated a commitment from the Province of BC to develop fourteen City-owned sites with new social housing. In order to pay for the new social housing on the fourteen sites, BC Housing is developing the Little Mountain site as a mix of private and social housing. The private housing will outnumber the social housing units, but the Province justifies the plan because the profit will be redirected into creating a large quantity of affordable social housing across the city.

BC Housing has given years of notice to tenants that their building is being closed. It also has provided new accommodation elsewhere, as well as covering the costs for moving. It is a burden for people to move, of course, and some of the residents came to rely upon local schools and amenities. But it is social housing, and most residents in the 224 units accepted the Province's offer of new homes and covering their expenses.

Most, but not all. Less than 15 residences in Little Mountain remain occupied by a group who are determined to keep things as is.

Below is a copy of the email circulated by Councillor Woodsworth.

SUBJECT: 224 affordable housing units to be demolished ? WHY ?

224 affordable housing units to be demolished ? WHY ?

Dear Friends,

Despite the propaganda that Rich Coleman has been spewing about the Little Mountain Housing Project I wanted to send you some information and a letter from the tenants.

Little Mountain could be reopened to house over 700 hundred people in the 224 units at about $10,000. per unit. Why would taxpayers agree to spend millions to shelter the homeless when we have perfectly good housing available in the middle of Vancouver ? Everyone needs a home to get their lives together.

Is Coleman just papering over the affordable housing/homelessness crisis during the Olympics?

People are on the streets because they don't have affordable supportive housing. The Salvation Army has released a study showing that one third of the men in their shelters are working but the minimum wage isn't enough to keep them in housing.

Coleman is the Housing Minister. His responsibility is to house people. Why is he tearing down perfectly good housing at a site that will not see new housing built on it for anywhere up to 10 years !

Please let the media and Rich Coleman know what you think of his decision as Housing Minister. Is this the way you want your tax dollars spent?

Join the tenants Sunday July 4 at 1 :00 Little Mountain Housing Project at 36 and Main.

Sincerely,

Ellen Woodsworth

Open Letter to BC Housing

To Shane Ramsey, CEO of BC Housing, June 25, 2009

BC Housing has started demolishing the homes at Little Mountain, with no demolition permit. There are no plans or dates for new construction, no dates for re-zoning consultations, no plans or dates for community consultations and it does not look as if the deal with the developer is even still on. It is very clear that no new construction will happen for years to come. This week, demolition crews came in without warning, right next door to where tenants are still living, took chainsaws to the interiors of the vacant units, ripped out appliances, fixtures and pipes. Perfectly habitable homes are being destroyed.

We, the tenants who are still at Little Mountain, remain here for compelling personal, family, economic and social needs, not because we are being difficult tenants. We require the following immediate measures:

- Reinstate security on the site; repair outside lights; and secure uninhabited buildings.

- Relocate all tenants within close proximity in the South-East area of the site.

- Stop the destruction and dismantling of those units outside of the fenced area.

- And further, stop any and all illegal demolition of homes.

The actions that BC Housing has taken this week are tantamount to eviction by fear and intimidation. In the letter addressed to Little Mountain tenants on June 1, 2009, BC Housing stated, ³

The application for these permits will not affect your tenancy at this time you will notice that there will be increased activity on the site in the coming weeks, once the appropriate permits are issued.²

We submit that there has never been a good reason to displace the tenants during the redevelopment. A phased project would have accommodated all who wanted to remain in the community and on the site. We recognize that your continued pressure on us to move has now escalated to harassment and intimidation. Since this site is only the first of many to be redeveloped, we fear that the actions of BC Housing may set a precedent for the treatment of many other tenants. Displacement and intimidation of tenants must not be repeated here or in any future development.

Sincerely,

The remaining tenants of Little Mountain

CC: Rich Coleman, Minister of Housing
Dale McMann, Regional Director of BC Housing
Vancouver Mayor and Council
Shane Simpson, Housing Critic
Don Davies, MP Vancouver Kingsway
Mable Elmore, MLA Vancouver Kensington
Libby Davies, MP Vancouver East

CityCaucus.com appears each week on CKNW and CBC radio

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:12:31 -0800

It's Tuesday, so that means the CKNW civic affairs panel on the Bill Good Show with guest host Michael Smyth will air today at 9:00 am.

You can expect the panelists will discuss topics such as the Mayor's bungling of the HEAT shelters, the Burrard Bridge lane closure experiment, Metro Vancouver salaries and much much more. If you're in your office, you can tune in via the internet by clicking on the "live" audio button. CKNW can be found at 980 on the dial. Joining Daniel Fontaine on the panel are Frances Bula, blogger and journalist and Jim Green, development consultant.

Be sure to tune in to Erin Chutter, regular CityCaucus.com contributor as she appears every Monday at 7:20 on the CBC's Early Edition. You can find CBC in Vancouver at 690 on the AM dial.

Vision's Mantra: When in doubt, blame the NPA

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:54:52 -0800

Will the Olympic Village put gas in Vision's tank right through the 2011 election?

BANG! The front page story on Sunday morning's Province newspaper about shoddy workmanship in the Olympic Village (aka Millennium Water) came out of the blue. Mouldy walls inevitable in what only one day before Globe and Mail columnist Gary Mason described as a great jewel of Vancouver, the Athlete's Village on SE False Creek.

The storyline is so odd and has so many unanswered questions, we're frankly surprised no one in the MSM has bothered yet to ask them. First, the story goes something like this. A business agent from a union representing insulation workers begins to raise concerns about pipes not being insulated in the LEED Gold certified construction project. Why Lee Loftus of the International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Union Local 118 was so dogged on this matter is not clear from the reporting. Were his workers underbid by a non-union competitor and he wanted to prove "ha ha, we told you so" to the developer Millennium Group? Or was Loftus simply someone who really cares about how public money is spent?

If it's the latter, maybe he should write for CityCaucus.com...but I digress. Still, why Loftus decided to be a whistle blower and why now are not clear.

According to Loftus, he arranged a meeting with the developer and various building trades on May 11th. The Province story continues:

Wayne Peppard, executive director of the trades council, said he had approached Vancouver city councillor Geoff Meggs with some concerns about subcontracting at the development and Meggs suggested he speak with city manager, Dr. Penny Ballem. Ballem advised the trades to meet directly with the developer.

First, note that the go-to guy is Mayor Meggs first, indicating that most people know where the real power of the Vision Council begins and ends. Second, note that the discussion is elevated to the City Manager Penny Ballem.

Seven weeks later the story goes public, and what does the City Manager say in response?

"This is the first I've heard of this," Ballem said when contacted by The Province. "If the concerns are true -- and I have no evidence of whether they are or not -- and they not being paid attention to, that's a concern for the city."

Ballem said she had heard "only that a union had some concerns about quality control."

In Vancouver, using the phrases mouldy condos and Olympic Village in the same sentence is pure gold for a local reporter. You've got the infamous scourge of the 1990s and today's political hot potato all wrapped up in one.

No surprise then that crack reporter Brian Coxford covered this story for GlobalTV. Not only did they interview Loftus and show more shots of the plumbing in question (CKNW's Shel Busey reportedly commented that the pipes were for gas, not water, as the media has been reporting), they trotted out the photographer (see right) who was a dead ringer for Brian Wilson during one of his bad patches, or a live version of a Simpson's character. Asked by Coxford if he took the pictures, he says "yep."

Now, on a day where Mayor Robertson and Vision Vancouver are getting the crap kicked out of them on the HEAT shelters debacle (and Minister Coleman accusing Robertson of "amateurishness" and "damaging" the prospects for homeless care), do you think Robertson & Co. need a distraction? You bet.

So today, Councillor Raymond Louie is calling for an investigation into the allegations of shoddy workmanship at the Olympic Village. We don't know if this is an earnest attempt to figure out the truth, or a smokescreen. Our spider senses are tingling like crazy though.

The last we heard Vision had a direct pipeline into the developer's office through former mayoral candidate Jim Green, who began working with Millennium back in January. Since this story broke on Sunday morning, to our knowledge no one from the developer's office has yet to comment on these specific allegations. Why the delay?

Something doesn't smell right about this story. Call us jaded by the multitude of occasions that Mayor Meggs, Ballem, Robertson and Louie have pointed fingers at the NPA for all the problems on this project. If I were a betting man, I'd put my money on this being the fault of the NPA by the end of the week if not sooner.

Mayor Meggs will let us know who screwed up well before we get the toxicology report from the Michael Jackson autopsy, and it ain't gonna be Vision.

Councillor, Chair & Candlestick Maker: Louie becomes City's first ward boss

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 23:54:03 -0800

The new PNE Board meet to decide The Fair's future

At an exclusive VIP-only gathering of media and PNE bigwigs on Wednesday (dress: casual), the PNE Board's new chair walked around ("like a peacock," according to reports) dressed in a black suit and tie. Wearing his new badge labeled "CHAIR," City Councillor Raymond Louie strutted around the room proudly thanks to his new political appointment as head of the PNE Board.

All that was missing apparently was his crown and sceptre.

Raymond Louie is now, as we here at CityCaucus.com describe his role, Vancouver's very first ward boss. For the residents of Hastings-Sunrise, you now know to kiss the ring of this guy if you want anything for your neighbourhood.

How it all happened is still a puzzle to many City Hall watchers. Why would James Ridge, the outgoing Deputy City Manager who took a pay cut to bail out of Ballemland, recommend something so kooky as making the PNE board chair a City Councillor his final act on the job? And why did Mayor Meggs and his sidekick Robertson throw this bone to Louie, who everyone notes has been on the outside looking in at this government?

It was yet another late distribution report (which some are now referring to as Vision reports for their frequency during this Council's term) where Ridge put forward the idea of making a City Councillor the Chair of the PNE Board. It is highly unusual that a major enterprise of the City is headed up by an elected official. What made the decision even more surreal was that the meeting where Louie was made the PNE Board Chair was chaired by King Louie himself (Napolean, eat your heart out). As chair of that meeting he was able to, once again, squash any objections by NPA Clr. Suzanne Anton, which he did so with relish.

Another bizarre thing happened on the May 21st meetings relating to the Vision Council's approval of the new governance model for the PNE. With a couple dozen community members in the chamber, and all speakers pushing for a deferral of any final decisions on the board until a Hastings Park master plan process was complete, Council put forward the amended motion for a vote. Councillor Woodsworth, who harped on the idea that a "green" representative exist on the new board, got her colleagues during the morning's City Services and Budgets meeting to approve a 12-member board with "three" members of the community.

In one of the oddest exchanges yet during this term of Council (meeting video here), Mayor Meggs responded to CUPE's complaint that new board has no labour representative by suggesting that the new chair Louie, a former union shop steward, would satisfy their request. CUPE weren't persuaded by Geoff, and the motion was amended so that a union rep should be on the PNE board (any future labour negotiations should be interesting for the PNE).

Then later in the afternoon, with all of these members of the public (including members of the Hastings Park conservancy, representatives of both CUPE locals who work on City staff, and Vancouver-Hastings MLA Shane Simpson - all big Vision Vancouver backers) now gone, and the Council chamber's video recording system on the fritz, the Vision Council tacked on another vote on the PNE Board motion to the afternoon's Planning & Environment meeting. The meeting's minutes show that not only was the vote conducted again, but the motion was amended to remove Woodsworth's additional "environmental" community representative (now only "two" community reps would sit on the board, with one of them a CUPE member). This is after the community reps, who had argued for additional representation, had left the building.

The Georgia Straight have covered this story with a lot of input from Hastings Park Conservancy president Rand Chatterjee, one of the City's most persistent community activists. Chatterjee takes issue with the appearance of conflict, having the fox mind the henhouse so to speak. King Louie, as City Councillor, is the boss of the managers who make up the majority on the board. What employee is going to vote against his boss?

Louie, true to form, was dismissive of any concerns. He told the Straight:

"[The complaint about Louie being PNE Board Chair] based on two false premises,” Louie said. “One, that I would, first, bully, and second, that these senior staff—educated and long tenured with the city—would allow themselves to be bullied."

Raymond Louie a bully? Perish the thought that a Larry Campbell protégé might be a bully.

What does it all mean for the PNE? Nobody knows. Of course the Beekeeper spun it Vision-style:

...regardless of the "crisis" we will still have the opportunity of seeing the Wonder Dogs and gorging on those legendary Mini Donuts.

Indeed, the Super Dogs and Those Little Donuts are probably here to stay. Just maybe not at Hastings Park during the last seventeen days of August.

Meanwhile, Vision continues to practice the very kind of high-handed style of governance they would scream at the NPA about. And King Louie gets the one ring to rule them all...up in Hastings-Sunrise.

COOOOOOOOOPE! Elections BC cuts them a break

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 18:59:20 -0800

COOOOOOOOOOOOPE!!!!

Alright, COPE. You've won this round. We'll meet again. In another galaxy. Phasers locked in.

Here's the letter of response from Chief Electoral Officer Harry Neufeld in response to our inquiry on COPE's "donation" from the NDP.

I have been asked by Chief Electoral Officer to respond to your email.

The Election Act does not prohibit a registered constituency association from making a contribution of money or goods and services to a municipal campaign. Registered constituency associations are required to disclose donations and gifts in their annual financial report.

Tax receipts may be issued by a registered constituency association or registered political party for political contributions of money. How the funds are subsequently used is at the discretion of the organization, within the limitations of the Election Act.

I trust this addresses your concern.

Sincerely,

Louise Sawdon
Manager, Electoral Finance
Elections BC

Duly noted. For anyone wishing to get a tax break on a contribution to a municipal campaign, where there are no tax refunds issued, now you have it from the Chief Electoral Officer that you may donate until you're blue in the face to a federal or provincial party, and they in turn may kick it over to a civic party. You get issued the tax receipt, and the civic party gets the contribution.

Nice to know that.

Report reveals Metro Vancouver salaries pegged at $102,131,905

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:00:50 -0800

Johnny "Cash" Carline

A regular reader alerted us to an interesting report which was buried deep in the agenda for today's Metro Vancouver meeting. It is a line-by-line itemized statement of all the salaries paid at Metro Vancouver. It states that in 2008, the least scrutinized level of government known as Metro Vancouver paid its politicians and public servants in excess of one hundred million dollars in 2008.

As Translink struggles for cash and consults with the public on how to raise more money, Metro Vancouver quietly compensates its staff very well for...well, who knows what. If you asked ~~fifty~~ 100 people on the street what Metro Vancouver does, you'd be lucky to find one who could answer the question.

The report has 14 pages of employees who earn over $75,000. In that tally almost 250 employees are earning in excess of $100,000. The highest paid employee was CAO Johnny "Cash" Carline, at $305,207 including his expenses.

As far as civic politicians go, David "Carbon" Cadman earned $30,577 as an "alternate" director on the Metro Vancouver Board. Besides Chair Lois Jackson who earned $51,534 in 2008, Cadman was in a dead heat with Langley Councillor Gayle Martin as the highest earners on the Board. A total of $667,989 was paid in compensation to all civic politicians who were appointed to Metro Vancouver.

The Georgia Straight is reporting:

In 2000, Carline’s pay package was $191,153.09—which means he has enjoyed an increase of more than $100,000 in the past decade.
This year, deputy chief administrative officer Delia Laglagaron collected the second highest pay package: $240,899. That’s a $23,655 hike over her remuneration in 2007.
The regional district report, which is required to be filed under the Financial Information Act, reveals that 78 Metro Vancouver employees received remuneration in excess of $120,000 in 2008. In 2000, only five employees reached the $120,000 plateau.
The politician who chairs the Metro Vancouver board, Lois Jackson, received $51,534 in this role last year. Jackson also receives a $100,523 salary as the mayor of Delta.

The report also reveals that Bilfinger-Berger were paid $3,782,549. BB are suing Metro Vancouver after the $220,000,000 tunnel-to-nowhere water filtration debacle.

We'll be posting another interesting item related to Metro Vancouver on Monday. Tune back here for more.

Did the NDP's donation to COPE break election rules?

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 23:00:24 -0800

Is a tax-deductible donation to the NDP now the way to support COPE?

CityCaucus.com readers may remember the ruckus created when it was learned (thanks to a Sean Holman story) that COPE were using resources on their campaign provided by NDP MLA David Chudnovsky's office. Well, it looks like COPE filed a supplementary disclosure as if to say, oops, we screwed up. It was not really the MLA's constituency office, it was his NDP riding association. Oh, thanks for clearing that one up!

Alas, the supplementary disclosure raises new questions about donations made to Vancouver's ultra-left political party. It looks like a number of in-kind donations (those are donations made of services or equipment and reported back to the City with a true market value for them) were made from both the BC and Federal NDP party organizations. Vancouver-Kensington is a Provincial riding where Chudnovsky was the MLA. Vancouver-Kingsway (the name of both a Federal and Provincial riding with different boundaries) is the home of NDP MP Don Davies.

From the BC NDP group came $2200 worth of support. From the Federal NDP came $300 worth of support. Hey, no big whoop, right? Everyone knows that COPE, like Vision Vancouver, are life partners with the NDP. However, it's more complicated than that.

Can people now just donate to the NDP, and get the tax deduction, as a way to support COPE? How about give a donation to the BC Liberals and they'll just pass it along to the NPA?

Yeah, we wondered that, too. That's why we've put that question to the Office of BC's Chief Electoral Officer Harry Neufeld earlier today. We expect that Neufeld's office will respond forthwith, and we'll share that information with our readers when we get it.

Who knows, maybe the kids at COPE will have to hit up Carbon Cadman again for a loan to pay it back.

Some media clippings to note

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 22:10:22 -0800

There are a few good stories online today that we'd like to share with our readers. This morning the Vancouver Sun's Miro Cernetig blasted Mayor Gregor Robertson for his HEAT mess:

The mayor's prolonged honeymoon is going sour thanks to one of the most potent political forces in politics -- NIMBYs (not-in-my-back-yard). And Robertson uncorked it all by himself.

You can read Miro's piece here.

And the very fine Gary Mason, Globe and Mail columnist has weighed in:

It's time Mr. Robertson brought some leadership to the issue. Or opened up a shelter near his house.

I guess you could say we agree with this point. We recommend that you read Gary's piece here.

Finally, a new voice has been added to our CityCaucus.com Recommended Links page, Ottawa Citizen writer David Reevely. Reevely writes about City of Ottawa issues, and recently quoted my colleague Daniel's "Survivor's Guide" for the Toronto civic strike:

This document, from the guy who was chief of staff to Sam Sullivan when he was dealing with a municipal strike as mayor of Vancouver, would have been awfully handy for our transit union and its political masters last winter.

Mayor Robertson negotiates homeless plan via press release

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:56:16 -0800

Another press release from Mayor Robertson is filed in Rich Coleman's office

With his back against the wall from a problem of his own making, Gregor Robertson made a 15-minute speech this afternoon at City Hall that we'll sum up as follows:

"Province, send us money to save our bacon."

Not a whole lot of nuance to this. Gregor's Grief around the HEAT Shelters he and Councillor Jang schemed up without public consultation is reaching the boiling point with neighbours upset and political commentators wondering aloud how this mess will be fixed by Hizonner.

Negotiating via press release any experienced politico can tell you is a dead end. The more you goad senior levels of government, the less responsive they become. What makes it so much worse for Mayor Robertson is that he and his Vision Vancouver party campaigned AGAINST the people they're now asking for help.

Gregor Robertson shilled for Jenn McGinn against now Education Minister Margaret MacDiarmid. Vision Vancouver released their lists to NDP operatives in support of their candidates in Vancouver. And by stubbornly sticking to their "no barrier" philosophy in the shelters they've created a scar on a community that refuses to heal.

Would the Province want to own the Mayor's HEAT problem? Not a chance. So what does Gregor need to do now?

First, stop making public pronouncements about how this is the Province's responsibility. It's your problem, so own it.

Stop sending out press releases, stop asking Allen Garr to write your spin for you, and stop hiding from the problem and call a townhall forum. Your neighbours in Douglas Park would be picketing your house if you brought a no-barrier shelter to that neighbourhood, so respect that you've created more grief for residents in False Creek and you need to deal with that.

And end your threats about how much of a problem homelessness will be during the 2010 Games. Before Gregor Robertson was elected as Mayor, a lot of hard work was already underway to address Vancouver's homelessness challenges. Trying to pretend that you're the only one dealing with this matter is simply false, and does nothing to improve the situation.

In his address to the media today, Mayor Robertson failed to do the one thing that would have improved the situation. He should have apologized to the False Creek neighbourhood. And because of that, we don't expect that relations between him and that community are going to get a whole lot better before 2010, or beyond.

Portion Control: Words to live by for the USA?

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 07:41:39 -0800

Do not adjust your sets. I've been served enough here to feed a village.

My wife's knees ached and her legs were like rubber after a two-day, 260 km ride to Seattle for a cancer fundraiser. It was Father's Day and not only had we made it through the US border in record time, but my child was returning to health after battling a flu bug for a couple of days.

We had reason to celebrate.

Late on Sunday we checked into our hotel room then sought something to eat in nearby downtown Bellevue, WA, with its shiny new office towers. We must have hit a crossroads of faux ethnic dining establishments, all delightfully scrubbed of anything remotely "foreign." On one corner a restaurant claimed to be Southwest cooking, and the one beside it had a Chinese theme. There was a seafood place, and a sushi restaurant. We opted for the "Italian" eatery, with the big portrait of Frank Sinatra in the lobby, and loads of autographed portraits of perhaps every entertainer that had worked the strip in Vegas. It was all very Disney.

To get here from home I feel like we have to risk life and limb navigating the freeways and off ramps that cleave Seattle and the Puget Sound into little chunks. I'm not a good driver on big highways, which is why I leave that task to my wife most of the time. Too many signs yell at you telling you where to go. At 60 mph it's unnerving that most of your fellow drivers are flying by you, as though desperate to reach their destination.

Coming from Vancouver, BC, to a city I admire, and to a country I respect, I admit feeling despair at how grotesquely "big" everything down in the USA must be. Big, wide freeways with no room to spare on them even on a Sunday afternoon. And great BIG dishes that redefine gluttony.

I wondered, who among our leaders is really speaking to this? Not Obama, and not Mr. Harper. Nor our premiers, congresspeople, mayors or senators. To a person, they're almost all focused on economic growth.

It was curious to get a raised eyebrow from our waiter that night. Do you want a full plate, or a half order? he asked. Nah, gimme the full. I was hungry. Missed lunch. Drove 200 miles. In hindsight I should have taken it for a hint.

I looked around the restaurant which was packed. There was lot of evidence of affluence here and, unlike what you come to expect in car-oriented communities, no one was morbidly obese (it wasn't hard to find it elsewhere though). I didn't pay attention to what others had ordered, and apart from the garish attempt at seeming "European," nothing about the place twigged me to the fact the meal portions were so massive.

Our dishes arrived and we were all a bit stunned. The "kid's size" plate served to my child would have been three days worth of leftovers at our house. The spaghetti I ordered had 2 meatballs on top of it that both had to be 1/3 of a pound of burger, each about the diameter of a billiard ball. The pasta alone was enough for four hungry people.

I know eating big is rampant in the USA. Even the latest Pizza Hut promo offers the chance to stuff yourself for five bucks. And I've yet to figure out the attraction of eating so much that you need a gurney to get around afterward.

The tangle of noodles on my supersized plate is like the over-the-top interchange that helps cars and trucks move in out of Seattle to outlying suburbs. Just like in Toronto, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Phoenix, New York... As with every major metropolitan region in almost every part of the globe, the Emerald City has tied itself in knots to accommodate cars.

What we need a lot more of is restraint. Call it portion control for our developers, real estate speculators and engineers. It's time we all learn to live and work within the urban footprint we have already created. And while we're breaking the sprawl habit, let's pray we each find a way to consume a whole lot less.