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Poll: What Do think of Alan Lowe on homelessness, and saftey issues in Victoria? (1 member(s) have cast votes)

What Do think of Alan Lowe on homelessness, and saftey issues in Victoria?

  1. Great. (0 votes [0.00%])

    Percentage of vote: 0.00%

  2. He is doing a terrible job. (5 votes [19.23%] - View)

    Percentage of vote: 19.23%

  3. He is doing what he can. (5 votes [19.23%] - View)

    Percentage of vote: 19.23%

  4. He needs from help from other muncipalities. (6 votes [23.08%] - View)

    Percentage of vote: 23.08%

  5. He needs more help from the provincial and federal governments. (8 votes [30.77%] - View)

    Percentage of vote: 30.77%

  6. He is dooing more then his fair share. (2 votes [7.69%] - View)

    Percentage of vote: 7.69%

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#1 Jeffamartin1970

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Posted 25 October 2006 - 10:43 PM

Is mayor Alan Lowe doing enough to help combat homelessness, and make Victoria Safer?

#2 Scaper

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Posted 26 October 2006 - 12:16 AM

more help from provincial, and federal....and other municipalities.....:)

#3 m0nkyman

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Posted 26 October 2006 - 06:19 AM

Should probably be phrased as City Hall instead of Alan Lowe, cause the Mayor hasn't been doing jack that I'm aware of, but I did vote for him needing help from other municipalities...... 'Course I was thinking about Montreal, not Saanich. ;)

#4 G-Man

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Posted 26 October 2006 - 06:32 AM

I've heard him speak on the topic a couple of times and I truly think that he wants to solve this problem.

Visit my blog at: https://www.sidewalkingvictoria.com 

 

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#5 captain highliner

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Posted 26 October 2006 - 07:55 PM

Over all, I think Lowe has grown a lot as a politician over his three terms in the mayor's seat. I still remember how, during his first term, his messaging around homelesness was simply "It's not my problem"... Now he's gone on record supporting safe injection sites and is pushing for more regional cooperation on social issues. He's a real liberal, meaning that he's a centrist trying to find practical solutions to social problems, rather than offering up ideologicallly driven pie in the sky. Which is why I'm glad that he squeeked by with a five percent margin over his hard leftist competition last time around. It's a scary thought what would be happening if Isitt had won.

#6 Holden West

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Posted 26 October 2006 - 09:33 PM

Isitt in the Mayor's chair would have been problematic. A distant, if not antagonistic, relationship with the business and development community would likely have sent mixed signals to the development community. Council meetings would be contentious with a right-left split. Isitt would have soon realized implementing the social programs he campaigned on are only possible with cooperation from other levels of government, and that because of his lack of experience and political contacts he's unable to make the same headway Lowe was able to.

After a couple of years of turmoil at City Council meetings, friction in the planning department, stalled progress downtown and worthy social initiatives on the back burner due to lack of funding, disillusioned citizens would grumble that maybe Lowe wasn't so bad after all.

Isitt would be remembered as an ambitious, well-meaning, honest, one-term mayor unable to build a broad consensus.

Ben has spent much of his adult life in a classroom or travelling abroad. Five years of work at City Hall serving on various committees and another five years running a business would serve Ben well and give him the well-rounded experience necessary for leadership.
"Beaver, ahoy!""The bridge is like a magnet, attracting both pedestrians and over 30,000 vehicles daily who enjoy the views of Victoria's harbour. The skyline may change, but "Big Blue" as some call it, will always be there."
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#7 m0nkyman

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Posted 26 October 2006 - 09:45 PM

Isitt would have soon realized implementing the social programs he campaigned on are only possible with cooperation from other levels of government,


Not too mention that they are paid for by the businesses that he would be irritating.

The original downtown BIA discovered that there is a finite level of patience amongst Victoria's business community for getting irritated, and if angered we have an ability to fight back... ;)

#8 Holden West

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Posted 09 November 2006 - 07:28 PM

[snip]

But the mayor was on vacation during the whole week of the Union of BC Municipalities convention recently held at the Conference Centre.

He shilled for them while in Athens Greece, and was thus able to evade his resposibilities as the person most responsible for the tragedy on our downtown sidewalks.

The mayor is not, as far as I know, working for the Conference Centre, but is rather elected to serve the people of Victoria.


Part of the job description of any Mayor is to promote his or her city internationally.

Lowe's presence in Greece helped clinch an important conference. His physical lack of presence in no way impacted the message the City sent. Victoria was represented by a respected Councillor at the UBCM convention. You can't be in two places at once. If he had gone to the convention he'd be criticized for allowing the Conference Planner convention to slip through his fingers.
"Beaver, ahoy!""The bridge is like a magnet, attracting both pedestrians and over 30,000 vehicles daily who enjoy the views of Victoria's harbour. The skyline may change, but "Big Blue" as some call it, will always be there."
-City of Victoria website, 2009

#9 Ms. B. Havin

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Posted 09 November 2006 - 11:08 PM

Absolutely right, Holden: with some people, it's damned if you do and damned if you don't, as far as Alan Lowe is concerned. That trip to Greece was hardly a "vacation."

Carolyn Heiman had a piece about this in today's paper, too: [url=http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/capital_van_isl/story.html?id=936bc9ce-80c6-4b93-bf35-9bf29b9a3ddd&k=95717:5f94e]Globetrotting municipal politicians take their hits[/url:5f94e], which takes some shots at the lot of them (politicians), but of course uses the recent sniping at Lowe as its lead. Strange article, couldn't quite figure out what its point was. Here's the start of the article, before it goes into expose mode to describe other politicians' trips:

Potshots were taken recently at Victoria Mayor Alan Lowe about his conference-shopping mission in Greece.

'Nice work if you can get it,' seemed to be the tenor of the jabs, no doubt some made over expense-account lunches.

At the end, the Victoria delegation came back with the prize -- expected to trigger $500,000 worth of spending in the city -- and some of the credit was given to Lowe being there when the bid was made at the International Congress of Convention Association meeting on the island of Rhodes.

Lowe's global wandering is just a fraction of the jet-setting itinerary for municipal politicians and civic bureaucrats over the last several months.

"...some of the credit was given to Lowe...": I hate passive voice. Who gave credit to Lowe? And why give that credit in such a backhanded passive voice way?
When you buy a game, you buy the rules. Play happens in the space between the rules.

#10 Caramia

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Posted 10 November 2006 - 02:39 PM

I'm going to come out defending Alan Lowe. I didn't think much of him in his first year or two as mayor, but from what I have seen he has done what I expect from my politicians... listened to the people who understand the issues, made unpopular stands when necessary for the good of the city, and spent a lot of time educating himself when contentious decisions present themselves.

When it comes to homelessness, addiction and crime, everyone seems to be an expert, from the grumpy old geezer on his couch in front of the TV, to the unpolished young activist. Everyone has a strong opinion about what the Mayor SHOULD do, and the public is standing at the sidelines to snipe at any initiative that he tries to put forward, while the press glories in capitalising on the situation.

I've had far too much contact and involvement with Victoria's street scene over the last two decades. I've studied the problem at both BA and MA levels. I've sat on numerous committees regarding this problem, and volunteered at Streetlink. What do all these credential mean to my understanding of the problem? Well... What I have learned is that as far as solutions are concerned, they are out there. There are people who know FAR more than I do about fixing this issue. There are cities that have done wonders at turning things around. Victoria's police, for all the bad press they get, are actually pretty good sources as far as local experts are concerned. The United Way has some of the best brains and research available to confront the issue. The Mayor seems to be listening to both.

So what I have learned is to shut up and listen, and allow that some of the solutions may not fit my politics or paradigm. I'm ready to support the solutions which are being presented by the people who actually do know what to do, even though these solutions are not simple and don't fit into a nice little sound bite, or slogan, and some of them I don't fully understand. A lot of these solutions do rest in the hands of the City. A lot of them don't. Some have to come from a regional level, some from our health system, some from urban planning, some from policing or judicial changes.

What the average citizen who doesn't have an extensive background in best practice choices for dealing with homelessness can do is stop sniping at the people who are trying to grapple with the problem. Rather than championing a pet solution, listen and be ready to champion the solutions that are presented by those who are best informed. Because the solutions are not going to be pitted against each other in the end, they are going to all work together to solve a complex problem in a complex, multi-layered way. The homelessness population is not homogenous, why should the solutions be?

Imagine if an engineer trying to build a bridge, or a doctor trying to heal a cancer had to deal with as much interference, as many opinionated amateurs as the people trying to cope with homelessness do? Sometimes people need to accept that they are not the experts, and just get out of the way so that we can take advantage of the best research and experience out there.
Nowadays most people die of a sort of creeping common sense, and discover when it is too late that the only things one never regrets are one's mistakes.
Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891

#11 TheVisionary

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Posted 10 November 2006 - 11:48 PM

Over all, I think Lowe has grown a lot as a politician over his three terms in the mayor's seat. I still remember how, during his first term, his messaging around homelesness was simply "It's not my problem"... Now he's gone on record supporting safe injection sites and is pushing for more regional cooperation on social issues. He's a real liberal, meaning that he's a centrist trying to find practical solutions to social problems, rather than offering up ideologicallly driven pie in the sky. Which is why I'm glad that he squeeked by with a five percent margin over his hard leftist competition last time around. It's a scary thought what would be happening if Isitt had won.


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Yes, Mayor Lowe is much better than Isitt for Victoria Mayor. Isitt and other NDP socialist types seem naive and would definitely sink the golden egg laying goose. Just look at a previous NDP socialist Victoria Mayor called David Turner, the most he ever done for Victoria was to banned ice cream selling on Victoria streets or something. Wow, that's so impressive, commerce types will flood us with wealth because Lefty Dave Turner saved us from the evil ice cream vendors! That's why Turner's a 1 term Mayor and Lowe is 3 terms? You do the math.

Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Asia, Central America, or even Victoria BC (ie: Glen Clark BC NDP), socialist types almost always end up screwing up the system until it collapse or almost collapse. It always takes a hard liner or moderate Right Wing group to clean up the Left Wing mess.

#12 Gregory Hartnell

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Posted 11 November 2006 - 01:08 PM

+++

Thanks to Holden and the other moderators for making me feel welcome at Vibrant Victoria, and redirecting me to this appropriate forum for political dialogue.

I confess that I once voted for Alan Lowe. I believe it was during the 1990 election, when he was a complete neophyte running for Council, and I first ran for mayor, primarily in opposition to our hosting the Commonwealth Games. Needless to say, he won, I lost and the rest is history. I have been carefully analyzing his career ever since.

At the time, I was impressed by Alan Lowe's personability and his youthful energy; I don't recall any particular policy proposals that he was advancing, however.

I regret to confess now that I also voted for him because he was Chinese, and I believe that many Caucasian people such as myself did the same thing, as a symbolic gesture of respect and restitution to the Chinese-Canadian commuunity who had historically been so mistreated.

I see now that that is not a complelling reason to have voted for Alan Lowe. One should never vote for a person for racial reasons, no more than one would vote for a candidate because of their sex, or social status.

I believe that a grave mistake was made by Alan Lowe and the Victoria City Council when they calously decided to pursue the building of the new arena, at the expense of paying attention to the poorest of the poor now littering our downtown sidewalks.

The homelessness problem is certainly worse now than it has ever been, and I hold the Mayor and the present council directly responsible for their dereliction of civic duty in this regard.

I acknowledge that Councilor Sonya Chandler has been reported today in the daily newspaper advocating that some money from the city's social housing fund be set aside to develop some sort of strategic plan to do something...

Amazing, isn't it?...

The shame is that this Councillor has to unilaterally stimulate the rest of the somnolent the Council to wake up, and it's only been almost a full year after the new Council was elected....

+++

#13 TheVisionary

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Posted 11 November 2006 - 03:51 PM

+++

Thanks to Holden and the other moderators for making me feel welcome at Vibrant Victoria, and redirecting me to this appropriate forum for political dialogue.

I confess that I once voted for Alan Lowe. I believe it was during the 1990 election, when he was a complete neophyte running for Council, and I first ran for mayor, primarily in opposition to our hosting the Commonwealth Games. Needless to say, he won, I lost and the rest is history. I have been carefully analyzing his career ever since.

At the time, I was impressed by Alan Lowe's personability and his youthful energy; I don't recall any particular policy proposals that he was advancing, however.

I regret to confess now that I also voted for him because he was Chinese, and I believe that many Caucasian people such as myself did the same thing, as a symbolic gesture of respect and restitution to the Chinese-Canadian commuunity who had historically been so mistreated.

I see now that that is not a complelling reason to have voted for Alan Lowe. One should never vote for a person for racial reasons, no more than one would vote for a candidate because of their sex, or social status.

I believe that a grave mistake was made by Alan Lowe and the Victoria City Council when they calously decided to pursue the building of the new arena, at the expense of paying attention to the poorest of the poor now littering our downtown sidewalks.

The homelessness problem is certainly worse now than it has ever been, and I hold the Mayor and the present council directly responsible for their dereliction of civic duty in this regard.

I acknowledge that Councilor Sonya Chandler has been reported today in the daily newspaper advocating that some money from the city's social housing fund be set aside to develop some sort of strategic plan to do something...

Amazing, isn't it?...

The shame is that this Councillor has to unilaterally stimulate the rest of the somnolent the Council to wake up, and it's only been almost a full year after the new Council was elected....

+++

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Ah, I see. You're another lefty aren't you? You are like Clark, Issit and Turner.

Tourists and investors aren't going to pay up money to watch a homeless shelter, subsidized housing, etc. You have to build facilities that generate income first before you have the capital to build up the social services. Social services alone only cost tax payers money and don't produce any income for our civilization.

I can't believe you voted against the 1994 Commonwealth games and SOFMC arena!? I worked for both organizations and they are an improvement to Victoria from it's previous mind set. Of course they aren't perfect, but they are still better than before they were done.

The 1994 Games put Victoria on the International map and probably helped lead to the current good economy. The SOFMC arena serves an underutilized entertainment market. Before the Games and Arena, Victoria could be 1 of the boringest capital cities in Canada. Now, we are on the right path towards what a captial city should be like: exciting & vibrant, not sleepy and nearly dead. :twisted:

#14 Gregory Hartnell

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Posted 11 November 2006 - 04:35 PM

+++

Far from being like Messers Turner and Isitt, I ran against each of them for the mayoralty races of 1990 and 2005. I share most peoples' concerns about their fiscal abilities, or rather, their apparent lack of same.

I am what I would call a concerned conservative conservasionist. Forty years ago, when I was a teenager, I was a card-carrying member of the NDP, and voted for Barrett. In the eighties I was a Green Party member. Recently I joined the Progressive Conservatives for the express purpose of uniting the right.

But I am not a member of that party now, nor am I am member of the Harper-McKay monster party called the Conservative Party of Canada. That party was born in treachery and is not conservative at all, but rather libertarian-corporatist.

I ran for the pro-life Unity Party of British Columbia in Victoria Beacon Hill in a past provincial election, but did not support then leader Chris Delaney for leader, but Heather Stilwell. I have a lifetime membership in Unity, I believe, but am not active in the party at the moment.

I am the president of the Concerned Citizens' Coalition (CCC), a new Victoria municipal party that is not yet recognized by the City of Victoria or Elections BC, but we are, of course, always seeking new members to get the recognition to see the CCC moniker on the next ballot.

The CCC ran two candidates for Victoria City Council in the last election, Father Alan Jones, a street priest who subsists on an inadequate disablities pension, and Patrick Jamieson, an historian, and founding editor of Island Catholic News. Father Jones is even more conservative than I am, and Mr. Jamieson was on the executive of the federal NDP in the past, so that should give you an idea of how Concerned Citizens' Coalition people of disparate political philosophies can work together for our common goal of getting Liberal and VCE councillors out of City Hall.

+++

#15 Holden West

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Posted 11 November 2006 - 05:47 PM

People that have been observing politics at the municipal level have long realized that solutions to Victoria's most pressing issues cross traditional left/right boundaries. Whether it be amalgamation, heritage, sewage, environmental or social issues, people (with the exception of a handful of stubborn holdouts) have found that old-fashioned concepts of left and right somewhat irrelevant.
"Beaver, ahoy!""The bridge is like a magnet, attracting both pedestrians and over 30,000 vehicles daily who enjoy the views of Victoria's harbour. The skyline may change, but "Big Blue" as some call it, will always be there."
-City of Victoria website, 2009

#16 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 11 November 2006 - 07:20 PM

Forty years ago, when I was a teenager, I was a card-carrying member of the NDP...Recently I joined the Progressive Conservatives...I ran for the pro-life Unity Party of British Columbia in Victoria Beacon Hill...




You are all over the map my man. Norman Spector probably has a name for you.

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<p><span style="font-size:12px;"><em><span style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">"I don’t need a middle person in my pizza slice transaction" <strong>- zoomer, April 17, 2018</strong></span></em></span>

#17 TheVisionary

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Posted 12 November 2006 - 12:56 AM

+++

Far from being like Messers Turner and Isitt, I ran against each of them for the mayoralty races of 1990 and 2005. I share most peoples' concerns about their fiscal abilities, or rather, their apparent lack of same.

I am what I would call a concerned conservative conservasionist. Forty years ago, when I was a teenager, I was a card-carrying member of the NDP, and voted for Barrett. In the eighties I was a Green Party member. Recently I joined the Progressive Conservatives for the express purpose of uniting the right.

But I am not a member of that party now, nor am I am member of the Harper-McKay monster party called the Conservative Party of Canada. That party was born in treachery and is not conservative at all, but rather libertarian-corporatist.

I ran for the pro-life Unity Party of British Columbia in Victoria Beacon Hill in a past provincial election, but did not support then leader Chris Delaney for leader, but Heather Stilwell. I have a lifetime membership in Unity, I believe, but am not active in the party at the moment.

I am the president of the Concerned Citizens' Coalition (CCC), a new Victoria municipal party that is not yet recognized by the City of Victoria or Elections BC, but we are, of course, always seeking new members to get the recognition to see the CCC moniker on the next ballot.

The CCC ran two candidates for Victoria City Council in the last election, Father Alan Jones, a street priest who subsists on an inadequate disablities pension, and Patrick Jamieson, an historian, and founding editor of Island Catholic News. Father Jones is even more conservative than I am, and Mr. Jamieson was on the executive of the federal NDP in the past, so that should give you an idea of how Concerned Citizens' Coalition people of disparate political philosophies can work together for our common goal of getting Liberal and VCE councillors out of City Hall.

+++

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Hmm, very impressive, Hartnell. You certainly have a well padded resume.

I myself was once "volunteered" by my fellow Uvic BC Young Liberals to be Membership Chair & BCYL Ambassador to the Esquimalt-Metchosin BC Liberal Party Riding Association. I was an executive. That little internal coup d'etat landed me right in the middle of a factional civil war for control before the 2001 BC Provincial election.

A half exeucted coup is a real bad mess. It world have been better to just elliminate all of the old guard ruthlessly and bring in 100% new people, not the 50/50 bullshit of coups & counter coups.

Nothing could get done with all the back biting. I lost patience and informed HQ of the problem and recommend that all the executives get a "kick to the head", don't care how much they whine and scream. I promptly resigned and proceeded to be the hacket man and caused all the uncooperative members to be axed.

The new executive was imposed from above and order was regained from chaos. The new leader want me back on the executive committee, but I declined as these activities interferred with my UVic classes and work.

You can become a good politician, if you are OK with being ruthless, the cloak and dagger games, and Machiavellian concept of screw them first before they have a chance to do the same to you.

I have a Sociology/Political Science UVic degree; I know politics. I recently worked for Elections BC in the 2005 BC Elections call centre. There is a life after political partisanship. I learned how to be a hard person.

#18 Scaper

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Posted 12 November 2006 - 01:54 AM

People that have been observing politics at the municipal level have long realized that solutions to Victoria's most pressing issues cross traditional left/right boundaries. Whether it be amalgamation, heritage, sewage, environmental or social issues, people (with the exception of a handful of stubborn holdouts) have found that old-fashioned concepts of left and right somewhat irrelevant.


I play Left Wing in Hockey usually, but sometimes I play center, and right wing too.....

But really isn't it all about scoring goals!!! And having someone good on your team between the pipes???

:?

#19 Holden West

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Posted 12 November 2006 - 02:18 AM

The political system is like a bird. It has a Left Wing and a Right Wing. Except the Right Wing and the Left Wing work in oppostion and are in conflict, and the bird is unable to soar.

I envision a world without Left or Right Wings fighting each other, so the bird would more resemble a stubby snake, or large shrew, except with feathers and a beak.

O.K., no more wine.
"Beaver, ahoy!""The bridge is like a magnet, attracting both pedestrians and over 30,000 vehicles daily who enjoy the views of Victoria's harbour. The skyline may change, but "Big Blue" as some call it, will always be there."
-City of Victoria website, 2009

#20 Caramia

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Posted 12 November 2006 - 03:17 AM

I'm so called 'left' but I don't think that just because there is a problem with homelessness and addiction in our city the whole thing should be shut down with City Council doing nothing but fretting about the streets. The arena was a good thing imo, although I hated the commonwealth games. Also, I don't understand how you can say you have been watching council and still think that Sonya Chandler is unilaterally stimulating the rest of council on this issue. Councillor Charlayne Thornton-Joe is probably the hardest working individual I have ever met on these issues. She's been like a pit bull trying to get people to sit up and take notice of what's going on. I challenge you to find out a bit more about what efforts are being expended before you criticise with such a broad brush.
Nowadays most people die of a sort of creeping common sense, and discover when it is too late that the only things one never regrets are one's mistakes.
Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891

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