13 replies to this topic

[smith]

I have wondered for a while now.......How many Langford Council members and high up municipal employees have built a new home in the last 10 years and who were the contractors/developers behind those homes?

I have seen the plans for one council members new home that was to be built about 3 years ago. It was a beautiful home but massive( +4000sqft) considering it was being built for a single person! I think some of this information might be available in the disclosure statements available for viewing at the municpal office. Has anyone ever looked at these before?

[mysage]

It's no wonder that often the very best and brightest do not run for public office.

[Sparky]

^...especially with questions that Mr. Smith has proposed.

In all fairness, that is nobody else's business ......period.

[gumgum]

^If you're in public office all bets are off, imo.

[Sparky]

^If you're in public office all bets are off, imo.

Mods please move this comment somewhere else if deemed inappropriate for this thread.

gumgum I have a tremendous amount of respect for all that you have contributed to this forum....so I am going to tread lightly here .......

.....so if I was to put my name forward for public office.......similar to being a Parent Advisory Council (PAC) chair person...that I have fulfilled for the past 10 years....only I might get paid this time.....

There should be scrutiny about the size of my home? and who built it?

[gumgum]

All that I'm saying is that when you an elected member of council, you should assume there will be a level of scrutiny regarding your private life.
To me the size of this person's house might be irrelevant, but some voters might deem it insight into this person's character.
When you run for public office, like it or not, you are selling all aspects of yourself. Public and "private". Right or wrong, Sparky, you have to agree that this is what politics has amounted to.

That being said... Although I dislike this level of political scrutiny, if I was about to vote for someone and then realized they drove a Hummer, I would probably change my mind. But that's just me.

[Bernard]

One the great things about Canadian politics versus American politics is that normally a politician's personal life is off limits. We only talk about the personal lives when it is directly relevant to how they govern, specifically corruption or major hypocrisy.

As an example, almost no one knows the name of the wives of the last five BC premiers. Almost no one knows what sort of house they live in or how many kids they have.

[mysage]

One the great things about Canadian politics versus American politics is that normally a politician's personal life is off limits. We only talk about the personal lives when it is directly relevant to how they govern, specifically corruption or major hypocrisy.

As an example, almost no one knows the name of the wives of the last five BC premiers. Almost no one knows what sort of house they live in or how many kids they have.

I agree entirely. I would hope that we do not stoop to the polarized and personal levels of the US. While I admire our neighbours to the south for many things, their politics is not one of them. I know of a wondrful man (an artist) who lives quitely by himself in a 5,000+/- sq ft Mclure house who I would trust with my last dime and I also know an activist who lives in a 900 sq ft shack (mostly off of the grid) who I would not trust to shine my shoes. One can never judge a book by its cover. Talk, investigate, question and be conerned but leave a persons personal live out of it

[sebberry]

if I was about to vote for someone and then realized they drove a Hummer, I would probably change my mind. But that's just me.

Hey, I'd be all for it! Might finally put an end to all this carbon malarkey

[Rob Randall]

In Victoria, City Councillors must tell the public what assets they own, including the makeup of any stock portfolios in order to show that they can't benefit financially from any political decision they make. That' the price of running for office.

[LJ]

In Victoria, City Councillors must tell the public what assets they own, including the makeup of any stock portfolios in order to show that they can't benefit financially from any political decision they make. That' the price of running for office.

They could put their stock portfolio in a blind trust and not disclose anything.

I agree that if a councillor owns a bunch of property and could benefit from rezoning or whatever they could just recuse themselves from voting on a particular issue.

As to information about who built their home - I don't think that is required information. Would you need to know who sold them their car, their furniture or whatever. That gets a bit ridiculous. There are enough political watchdogs around to let you know if something isn't kosher, like if you got a free deck added on to your house.

If you make public office so onerous only the people who have nothing or those who desire power at any cost would be in the running. I would rather have someone who needs nothing, has enough power in his/her own life that they don't need the job, as my candidate. They do it as a sense of public service not greed.

[mysage]

Well said. Couldn't agree more. I wonder who sold Mayor Fortin his glasses. I hope who ever did it isn't looking for a tax break of any kind. That would be a clear conflict of interest and should be investigated. Same with his.....

[davek]

As to information about who built their home - I don't think that is required information.

Required or not, the information is easily obtainable. If you know where a councillor lives, and you have an idea when their home was built, you can go to the building department of any municipality and ask to see the permits issued around that time. The owner's name and personal info will be struck out, but the contractor will be listed. Many contractors and suppliers visit their local municipality monthly in order to do this very thing.

[spanky123]

The reality is that for the pitance most councillors make, you either have to be an altruist or have an agenda to run for office. It is a full time job and you are guaranteed to upset 50% of your constituents on any decision you make so most sane people avoid public office like the plague.

Is there greed and corruption in some instances? One would have to be a fool to think otherwise.

The $64K question though is whether or not you are prepared to step up and do the job. The fact that most people aren't is why even the crooks get re-elected.