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Mayor???


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#1 gumgum

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Posted 14 November 2008 - 09:35 PM

OK so I haven't done enough homework here.
I've pretty much decided whom I'm voting for for council, but I'm a bit lost as to whom I should be voting for mayor.
VV has endorsements for council, but not mayor.


Can some of you tell me who you're voting for and why - and the myself and others in my position can finally make a decision.
I've read about the candidates, but I want to get past the credentials and philosophies. I want to feel I made the right decision, without (much of) a doubt.
I know and trust many members' political philosophies here - and if the ones the speak up about who and why they will will be voting for, it would be a great help to me.

Thanking you guys in advance.

#2 mat

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Posted 14 November 2008 - 10:07 PM

OK so I haven't done enough homework here.
I've pretty much decided whom I'm voting for for council, but I'm a bit lost as to whom I should be voting for mayor.
VV has endorsements for council, but not mayor.


Can some of you tell me who you're voting for and why - and the myself and others in my position can finally make a decision.
I've read about the candidates, but I want to get past the credentials and philosophies. I want to feel I made the right decision, without (much of) a doubt.
I know and trust many members' political philosophies here - and if the ones the speak up about who and why they will will be voting for, it would be a great help to me.

Thanking you guys in advance.


Not asking much are you? (LOL) - VV has created a list of favoured council candidates based on their responses here (on the Bboard) to member questions, personal knowledge, responses to other organization questionaires - ...to my knowledge, none of the City of Victoria mayoral candidates have posted on VV, but there have been member discussions especially on the merits of Rob Reid vs Dean Fortin. (My feeling is that Rob wins out)

All the mayoral candidates have fairly decent websites - I wold pick 2-3 issues you feel need a decent answer, and if there is an adequate response on a candidates website, you know who to vote for.

#3 Mike K.

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Posted 14 November 2008 - 10:11 PM

Reid's responses at candidates meetings suggest he will most likely be a pragmatic leader. Fortin could lead us down the partisan path, particularly with his endorsements for only NDP and Green party candidates.

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#4 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 14 November 2008 - 10:25 PM

I think we all know the Mayor is a done deal, we will just have to deal with it.

Stupid business community.

#5 mat

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Posted 14 November 2008 - 10:35 PM

I think we all know the Mayor is a done deal, we will just have to deal with it.

Stupid business community.


VHF - so give your endorsement, or arguments for/against candidates. I love this as my vote goes in Saanich (very few candidates have done anything real online) - which will play to Frank Leonard as mayor (like it or not).

The Victoria mayoral vote is really, as Mike has suggested, between Dean Fortin, who has experience on council - and has plugged a slate of NDP/Green, and Rob Reid, who has no political experience but has come into this campaign with some interesting ideas. (and he would be the natural business/development candidate as a business owner himself)

#6 Ms. B. Havin

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Posted 14 November 2008 - 10:45 PM

I think we all know the Mayor is a done deal, we will just have to deal with it.

Stupid business community.


You think Fortin will win?

It seems too fuzzy to call, but I'm not plugged in enough to predict this anyway. All I know is that there was tremendous hatred toward Fortin from community and poverty activists, as shown at the St. John the Divine ACM a while back. Before that meeting, I thought Fortin was a shoo-in, but afterward, it seemed anything could happen.

I agree with your comment about the business community ("stupid").

People like to talk about "the business community" as if there actually was a string-pulling group or cabal "directing" things. It doesn't look that way from where I'm sitting. There are far too many differing interests for them ever to work strategically.

So to everyone who thinks those guys have a plan, I say: wake up and smell the coffee. "Business" is not your enemy ...or your saviour. "Business" is just a bunch of people running around like chickens with their heads cut off, like most everyone else.

If anything, it's the "left" that has an organized base -- witness the VLC endorsements, the support behind Fortin, etc. They're the organized ones, irrespective of Isitt's worry that the left is "split" (which it is, on the progressive front -- but on the old-style/ old-line front, it's still functioning).

I was on the fence before, but now find the VLC so objectionable that I will not vote for the candidates they endorse. Since I want my vote to matter, that leaves me with just one candidate for mayor to vote for.
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#7 mat

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Posted 14 November 2008 - 11:10 PM

One of the issues not promulgated at all in this election, and it goes into the realm of amalgamation and cooperation - who is willing to work with whom across the CRD? Are we looking at new and incumbent mayors at odds with each other on policy and personality?

In my mind Rob Reid will offer a new face and energy, hopefully with a council that has diverse opinions; and that simply to reflect the differences in approach to issues throughout the city - and the CRD.

#8 spanky123

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Posted 15 November 2008 - 07:24 AM

People like to talk about "the business community" as if there actually was a string-pulling group or cabal "directing" things. It doesn't look that way from where I'm sitting. There are far too many differing interests for them ever to work strategically.


I don't know if I would use the word cabal, but there are a few business people who have a vested interest in a number of Victoria projects who have worked together to recruit and promote a candidate who they feel will represent their views.

The opinion that some of these business people have (based on polling that they have done) is that Fortin will win the election and it sounds like VHF has heard the same thing.

I have no plans to vote for Dean and I like Rob, but I think that losing will be the best thing that has ever happened to Rob.

#9 jklymak

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Posted 15 November 2008 - 08:14 AM

Yeah, I dunno. Rob seems like a good guy but comes off awful wishy-washy. I'm not sure what "interesting ideas" Mat is referring to above - my scant research (his websites) has turned up a bunch of canned platitudes rather than concrete steps. I tend to agree with most of his platitudes, but I'm not sure if he has enough force to carry them off.

#10 Mike K.

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Posted 15 November 2008 - 10:09 AM

I praise Reid for the following:

- instead of lamenting late-night eateries, he advocates looking to Europe for ideas on how cities there manage to have a vibrant night life and 24 hour eateries. In Victoria council wants to shut down latenight eateries because they attract rowdies. Brilliant.
- allow planning staff to deal with rezonings and give council time to focus on other issues
- build stronger ties with the provincial government to help secure more investment in the region

...and so on. He's bringing new ideas to the table whereas Fortin is rehashing standard political concepts and support for policies launched by the previous council like the latenight eatery debacle. Shut 'er down is NOT a solution to a problem, but Dean appears to think it is.

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#11 jklymak

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Posted 15 November 2008 - 10:19 AM

If Fortin is against late-night eateries then that is pretty bad. On the flip side Reid supports the police in their push for 60 new officers. A 25% increase? Seems like overkill in a very low-crime city.

#12 Mike K.

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Posted 15 November 2008 - 10:27 AM

City of Victoria police have one of, if not the, highest case loads per officer in the country, apparently, and on weekend nights are too short staffed to be able to respond to multiple serious situations.

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#13 gumgum

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Posted 15 November 2008 - 11:18 AM

Thanks for the information guys. It's good to hear what others feel might be the right candidate for the job. It has certainly helped solidify my leanings.

#14 spanky123

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Posted 15 November 2008 - 11:35 AM

Yeah, I dunno. Rob seems like a good guy but comes off awful wishy-washy. I'm not sure what "interesting ideas" Mat is referring to above - my scant research (his websites) has turned up a bunch of canned platitudes rather than concrete steps. I tend to agree with most of his platitudes, but I'm not sure if he has enough force to carry them off.


The reason why he is wishy-washy is that he is trying to be all things to all people. Generic motherhood type statements designed to not offend anyone who might vote for him.

#15 jklymak

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Posted 15 November 2008 - 11:47 AM

City of Victoria police have one of, if not the, highest case loads per officer in the country, apparently, and on weekend nights are too short staffed to be able to respond to multiple serious situations.



Seriously? Where can we find the stats on that?

#16 Mike K.

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Posted 15 November 2008 - 12:03 PM

Here's one 2008 source. VicPD have a case load of 78 per cop and the BC average is 58.

According to this 2007 source, the combined VicPD/Esquimalt case load was 93.

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#17 ted - 3 - dots

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Posted 15 November 2008 - 05:42 PM

Here's one 2008 source. VicPD have a case load of 78 per cop and the BC average is 58.

According to this 2007 source, the combined VicPD/Esquimalt case load was 93.



----- so like if the 3-4 cops , stopped hassling me as I move around Victoria,
they'd have more time to spend on other things ...?????????

( rather than checking my pocket's , and refusing to accept the id-card I showed them )

I always thought , a person like myself , can be handled by one or two cops ...!

grrrrrrrrrrrr

ted... ( "so say good-night to the bad guy" ) with-out people , like the people I look like,,,
would the number's drop ...? 93 , 58 , and can we say , they could be lower ...?

I got questioned for "Walking too Fast" through the down-town core ...!
( i was trying to catch my bus )

By the time the 6th Cop showed up , he was a supervisor, and recognized me ( not from my id card ) but for being a social-change ACTIVIST .... ie: not a threat , and NOT the kind of person they should be wasting their time on ...!

He waved me on , and I'm sure he would have given me a ride home if I asked...!!!!!!!

( Ps, i missed the bus and walked home instead )

ted... ( if you sit on the street and watch long enough, you can see the 58/93 thing in action ) perhaps one could check the "booking-sheet" , and see what they do charge.

or even better , check the number of "un-called for stop's" they make ,
VS , the number "call-out's" they get around to handling ...!

---- I like my police force ....!

I just hate to the see the lame-ass getting promoted , over the " Duty-Full " & "diligent" ...!

"Ask enough questions , and you'll find out that every body is guilty of something" ...?????

;{-

.

I guess it depends on what you call a crime ...! vs , a shame-full waste of time ...


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