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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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#21 Ms. B. Havin

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Posted 12 November 2006 - 08:55 AM

...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 wholeheartedly agree with you, Caramia. Chandler has managed to get herself mentioned in the press a few times, and therefore her name has flashed on the radar, even though there's precious little action to back it up. It's Thornton-Joe who works much much harder, and moves things forward. I really wonder why she gets relatively little press attention?
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#22 zoomer

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Posted 12 November 2006 - 02:19 PM

Over the years Lowe has become a better politician, and has himself grown past the left/right dichotomy.

I also have a lot of respect for Thornton-Joe, but little unfortunately for Chandler. She seems somewhat lost, bewildered, undecisive, and over her head, all of which is quite obvious if you see her in action at City Hall.

Worse yet, she was voted in under the Green banner, yet has done little to advance the cause in Victoria, and seems oblivious to the concepts of managing urban growth.

#23 Ms. B. Havin

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Posted 12 November 2006 - 02:40 PM

Over the years Lowe has become a better politician, and has himself grown past the left/right dichotomy.

Very true!

I also have a lot of respect for Thornton-Joe, but little unfortunately for Chandler. She seems somewhat lost, bewildered, undecisive, and over her head, all of which is quite obvious if you see her in action at City Hall.

Worse yet, she was voted in under the Green banner, yet has done little to advance the cause in Victoria, and seems oblivious to the concepts of managing urban growth.

Absolutely right on. She is clueless.
When you buy a game, you buy the rules. Play happens in the space between the rules.

#24 Scaper

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Posted 12 November 2006 - 02:51 PM

Hey, what's going on here....????


:lol:



I absolutely agree with you guys in respect to the councilors mentioned above...

The Mayor, Sonya Chandler, and Charlayne.

The election is two years away; we should try and get this site to a place where we can be a number one source for Voters to educate themselves on their local politicians. I hope that the days of meaningless T.C. plugs for Pam and Friends win elections on pure name recognition.

#25 Mike K.

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Posted 13 November 2006 - 10:20 AM

Alan Lowe has brought up the topic of Vancouver's homeless being displaced to Victoria for 2010. The Olympic organizers assert that won't be the case...

Olympics won’t push homeless to Victoria, organizer vows
Games will benefit society as a whole despite mayor’s predictions poor will be sent here, he says

BY CINDY E. HARNETT Times Colonist staff
— With file from Louise Dickson


Vancouver’s homeless will not be swept off the streets and onto the ferry to Victoria to accommodate the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, organizer John Furlong said yesterday in Victoria.
Furlong wants everyone to be “enriched” by the sporting extravaganza and rejects a recent assertion by Victoria Mayor Alan Lowe that Vancouver’s downtrodden are coming here now —and in the future — as a result of an Olympic bid to polish the streets of the poor.
“I don’t think that [will be] happening and I don’t think that’s happening now,” Furlong said in an interview after speaking at the Community College Business Officers’ annual meeting at the Victoria Conference Centre yesterday.
“I think everyone is doing everything they can to make sure this is an extremely positive experience for everybody,” he said. “The whole issue of housing is being looked at hard today.”
Lowe said last week that he’s “concerned” about an exodus of poor from Vancouver. “Definitely, we have noticed more homeless in Victoria and some are from Vancouver,” he said. “Obviously, when major international events of this nature happen, you’re always going to find the city will be on a campaign to clean things up and there will be displacement.”
But Furlong envisions the Games as a “celebration of humanity,” and said all the corporations with whom the Olympic committee is dealing are being encouraged to ensure the Games “are sustainable” and benefit society as a whole, long after the Games finish.
He cites two B.C. First Nations communities — Lilloet and Mount Currie — where unemployment has dropped significantly, as workers have been trained and hired to work on Olympic venues.
“It tells you what the Games can do,” Furlong said. “The men and women working on the project are inspired. It’s affecting their kids.”
In Furlong’s speech at the conference, he told about 200 delegates that the provincial and federal governments have funded the Games at $580 million. The project is on time, on budget and ahead of schedule at many of the venues — the completion of the first will be announced this week. mailto:ceharnett@tc.canwest.com

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#26 m0nkyman

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Posted 13 November 2006 - 11:00 AM

Councillor Charlayne Thornton-Joe is probably the hardest working individual I have ever met on these issues.


And, I'll have to add, Helen Hughes.

She isn't resting on her laurels either.

#27 Mike K.

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Posted 13 November 2006 - 11:09 AM

Hughes is amazing. Her departure as councillor in 2008 will be a sad day for local politics.

She's very much a realist and doesn't play the hype or fearmongering games, as does Coun. Madoff and other councillors who need drama in order to capture media attention. Hughes sees what needs to be done and does her best to do it, regardless of what her fellow councillors think and regardless of the media attention (or lack thereof).

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#28 Ms. B. Havin

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Posted 16 November 2006 - 05:12 PM

There's an article in the Nov.15 edition of Victoria News about the statue of Michael Williams, recently unveiled near Swans/ Market Square. The article is online: [url=http://www.vicnews.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=36&cat=43&id=772319&more=:801a7]Statue honours philanthropist[/url:801a7], and I posted it on the Arts & Entertainment forum in the thread about Williams's collection moving to Starfish Glassworks.

Anyway, the reason I bring it up in the Alan Lowe thread is for the following bit, from the article:

The notion of erecting a statue to the Maestro of Market Square, the Lord of Lower Johnson, the Oenophile of Old Town, was not unanimously approved by the city, on whose property the work sits.

Nonetheless, Victoria Mayor Alan Lowe was on hand for the dedication ceremony, talking up the statue, the group that pushed through the idea and Williams himself.

Never one to let an opportunity to turn a slick phrase go by, Lowe characterized Williams as a visionary and pub owner who "saw the ugly duckling and turned it into a beautiful swan."

I don't know, but there's something about this sort of underhanded snarky journalistic tone that really rubs me the wrong way. It's incredibly biased ("talking up", "opportunity to turn a slick phrase", etc.), without being upfront about being biased. It's like having your cake and eating it, too, as in: "I'm an objective journalist so you have to give me credit, but I'm going to use certain weasel words to colour your perception of what or who I'm describing."

C'mon, Don, take off the gloves and hit him if you want, but don't give us allusions to "slickness" (what with the ultimate "slick Willy" having been in town only last week -- everyone who reads this will think, "oh yeah") as though you could objectively measure "slick." If you were upfront about it, you'd have to let us know why it's ok to describe him as "talking up" and being "slick," as though the mayor were a used car salesman. It's just typical for the calibre of journalism we have around here: innuendo.
When you buy a game, you buy the rules. Play happens in the space between the rules.

#29 Holden West

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Posted 16 November 2006 - 06:04 PM

Hmmm...look at the politicians who drifted into Victoria this week: Bill Clinton, Brian Tobin, Mike Harris...

Maybe Lowes' newfound "slickness" was washed over him following those recent arrivals. Something in the water?
"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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#30 Caramia

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Posted 16 November 2006 - 09:28 PM

The reason Swans is called Swans is because when Michael Williams decided to renovate it a lot of people scoffed, after all, it was a derelict building in a derelict area of town. He put up a sign that said "I may be an ugly duckling now, but watch me turn into a Swan." Then, when the place opened, he called it Swans.
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.
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#31 gumgum

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Posted 16 November 2006 - 09:31 PM

I had no idea. Nice little story.

#32 Ms. B. Havin

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Posted 16 November 2006 - 09:41 PM

The reason Swans is called Swans is because when Michael Williams decided to renovate it a lot of people scoffed, after all, it was a derelict building in a derelict area of town. He put up a sign that said "I may be an ugly duckling now, but watch me turn into a Swan." Then, when the place opened, he called it Swans.

Great story... So it really was an ugly duckling, and fairy tales carry some truth....
When you buy a game, you buy the rules. Play happens in the space between the rules.

#33 Holden West

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Posted 16 November 2006 - 10:00 PM

^The Buckerfield's building was an unremarkable, forgettable old building in a gritty, industrial part of town. It was a garden centre where you went to pick up a few bales of peat moss or steer manure.
"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

#34 aastra

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Posted 16 November 2006 - 10:32 PM

Can't say I've ever tried steering manure. Sounds tricky.

#35 gumgum

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Posted 17 November 2006 - 07:53 AM

har har har

#36 TheVisionary

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Posted 18 November 2006 - 07:25 PM

Hmmm...look at the politicians who drifted into Victoria this week: Bill Clinton, Brian Tobin, Mike Harris...

Maybe Lowes' newfound "slickness" was washed over him following those recent arrivals. Something in the water?


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes, besides the ex-politicians sizing up $1000000+ condos to buy, former NHLer/real estate developer Luc Robitaille was also at the fancy pants party with Mayor Lowe. These are the kinds of people I refer to when I say "selling out my mother's apt. builidng to the developers". We wouldn't make any money selling out to build a low income housing building or homeless shelter facility. Come on people, "it's all about the money". To think otherwise is a foolish delusion of utopia.

Everyone has a price, everyone! Even you. Some do it for money, power, lots of toys, fame, glory, whatever turns you on.

Come on Victoria, bring in the MONEY BAGS!

#37 Ms. B. Havin

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Posted 26 November 2006 - 09:54 PM

Monday Magazine had a longish, favourable (!!) article on Alan Lowe in the 11/22 edition. The longer article isn't online (yet?), but there were two sidebars, [url=http://web.bcnewsgroup.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=117&cat=43&id=776676&more=:865bc]one of which is available[/url:865bc]. It deals with the Arena (SOFMC), and its fall-out on Lowe's narrow re-election in 05:

Defending the arena

By -A.M.
Nov 22 2006

A year after narrowly winning a third-term as mayor, Alan Lowe says one factor in the election was negative media coverage of the new Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre on Blanshard Street. There were long construction delays, you'll recall, and a laundry list of concerns ranging from whether it was a good financial deal for the city to whether it was actually built well enough.

Today Lowe insists the city got a good deal by entering a public-private partnership, or P3, with RG Properties Ltd. to build and operate the rink. For starters, the P3 meant the city paid $28 million even though the building almost certainly cost RG more than that to build. Abbotsford, which is building a similar size arena, he says, is looking at a $55 million price tag.

And now the Victoria rink is bringing in money. "Right now we're actually getting money to pay down the debt," he says. In two lump sums the operator will pay the equivalent of about $275,000 a year to the city. It's already made one of those payments, says Lowe. In contrast, he says, the city used to pay about $500,000 a year to run the old Memorial Arena.

As part of the deal the city also gets 1,500 hours of ice time each year, as well as 1,500 hours of "dry floor space" when the ice is covered up. The city also gets a ticket surcharge when there are events at the arena. "With that, I think we do have a very good facility for the money."

Then you add in the intangibles-bringing acts like Rod Stewart or Bill Clinton to town that likely wouldn't have come otherwise; increased business for restaurants near the arena. There's a lot to be proud of, says Lowe.


When you buy a game, you buy the rules. Play happens in the space between the rules.

#38 G-Man

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Posted 07 December 2006 - 08:59 PM

Hey no one mentioned that Alan Lowe is no longer Chair of the CRD he was bumped for Langford's Mayor with Esquimalt's mayor taking the deputy chair position.

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

 

It has a whole new look!

 


#39 Ms. B. Havin

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Posted 07 December 2006 - 09:52 PM

^ Yes, right. It was Denise Blackwell, who represents Langford. See [url=http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/capital_van_isl/story.html?id=8747d154-6992-430c-a5e1-0a377e5ec66b:e3d53]this[/url:e3d53] article. The secret ballot again came down to a tie, and the group drew the winner's name from a hat. (Last year it was a coin toss.) (Political science in action!) From the article:

Blackwell, a Langford councillor since 1992 and on the board since 1995, said the CRD under her stewardship will be less focused on Victoria and more on the region as a whole. Most of the time, Blackwell said, she and Lowe were on the same side of an issue. But she thought Victoria's concerns were becoming too much of the focus for the region.

(...snip...)

The board has been sharply divided on issues, something Blackwell also hopes to change.


Lowe commented:

"The chair can set some direction and try to allow for more communication, more openness, more outreach. But because the CRD is so complex, it's quite staff-driven," Lowe said.

...which made me think of "Yes Minister" (and subsequently, "Yes Prime Minister"), the British sitcom that showed how "staff" (the bureaucrats) run things while the politicians pretend they do....
When you buy a game, you buy the rules. Play happens in the space between the rules.

#40 Galvanized

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Posted 07 December 2006 - 11:04 PM

^Haha, I loved that show.
Past President of Victoria's Flâneur Union Local 1862

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