5915 replies to this topic

[Awaiting Juno]

Here's the thing - every person who wants someone other Lisa Helps needs to do something to help that happen.  Really the best thing is to encourage people to vote, and to be open about why you will or will not be voting in a certain way.  Like Stephen?  Great, do a facebook post on why.  Prefer Gary, again - do your bit to help.  Like Gary but think he'll split the Vote and that Stephen has the best odds, again be vocal about this.  Grassroots, virtual "knocking on doors" can make a difference, even if you have neither the time nor the inclination to be a campaign volunteer.

[vortoozo]

What's to say many of the items on that list wouldn't have happened under different leadership?

Certainly it's a stretch to attribute everything on there to Helps.... eg... Pavement design?

Many things on that list have widespread support.

[Casual Kev]

I think Mr. Hammond is a fine choice for mayor, and frankly, I like that his run at it isn't premeditated.  What you've got is a person who, when it mattered, stood up for his neighbourhood.  Who has thought about what is going wrong, and is passionately moved to move Victoria in a better direction.  This isn't a career move for Mr. Hammond, rather this is because he cares.  I've spent a bit of time looking into his background, and this is a person who has spent a career helping organizations be more functional workplaces.  This is someone who is probably better able to understand a dysfunctional system and make concrete and positive changes to move it towards a more functional place.  At his core, he strikes me as not ideological, but pragmatic - at his core, a different kind of politician.  

 

Perhaps the only positive to come from Ms. Helps' term as mayor is a bunch of people who are truly moved to do their parts to make Victoria better.  A bunch of people who have had to become acquainted with their inner activists, and who now understand that when those who don't usually raise a stink just sit on the sidelines, those who are left are not really those you want leading the municipal government.

 

I think you're flattering Hammond too much. His activism is essentially "get the bums out of the city" coated in political jargon for Victorian sensibilities, with no actual thought given as to what things like "responsible social housing" or "housing stock that addresses the need of neighborhoods" could turn into action. I don't know how municipal politics have been done here, but this stuff is a broken record in the mainland. "I want more convenience and less eyesore for myself" is hardly pragmatism.

[sebberry]

When you go to vote this fall, just remember - do you really want a council that dictates the method by which people can transport their lunch to work?

 

I've run out of grocery bags.  Here's my lunch in a garbage bag.  

 

[rmpeers]

What's to say many of the items on that list wouldn't have happened under different leadership?
Certainly it's a stretch to attribute everything on there to Helps.... eg... Pavement design?
Many things on that list have widespread support.

I think the odds of the items on that list happening under any other regime are phenomenally low. Which of those items do you perceive as having widespread support?

[rmpeers]

I think you're flattering Hammond too much. His activism is essentially "get the bums out of the city" coated in political jargon for Victorian sensibilities, with no actual thought given as to what things like "responsible social housing" or "housing stock that addresses the need of neighborhoods" could turn into action. I don't know how municipal politics have been done here, but this stuff is a broken record in the mainland. "I want more convenience and less eyesore for myself" is hardly pragmatism.

I think you're completely misrepresenting Hammond's perspective. I hope he will lay out a realistic plan for addressing homlessness, and given his experience, I expect he will.

[On the Level]

I think you're flattering Hammond too much. His activism is essentially "get the bums out of the city" coated in political jargon for Victorian sensibilities, with no actual thought given as to what things like "responsible social housing" or "housing stock that addresses the need of neighborhoods" could turn into action. I don't know how municipal politics have been done here, but this stuff is a broken record in the mainland. "I want more convenience and less eyesore for myself" is hardly pragmatism.

I listened to Hammond when he first came on CFAX.   There was no "get the bums out of the city" at all, but more of where was the leadership from the feds, province and city for the past 20 years to let these people fall through the cracks to where it is now.

 

Your response reminds me of all of the misguided dogma that is the CoV council.  Quite frankly, it's pathetic.  Citizens should not be afraid to walk in their neigbourhood.....and the two children that were stabbed to death by two individuals with mental illness that were homeless, one while they waited for a bus outside the TC and the other outside McDonalds......but as you trivialize it.....it's reduced to  "I want more convenience and less eyesore for myself".   Good luck with that.  The rest of us want those individuals to receive treatment more that just going to jail after something horrible happens. 

Edited by On the Level, 27 August 2018 - 11:10 PM.

[vortoozo]

Which of those items do you perceive as having widespread support?

 

Bike lanes, bag ban, artists in residence, direction on dispensaries. Yes, lots of opposition too, but not as one-sided as the sentiment that we often see here. There's also some pretty petty stuff on there - musical railings etc.

 

Here's my opinion, and I've seen a few others post something similar: I'm not opposed to the overall direction that's been taken over the past few years. Sure, I don't agree with every decision that's been made. But that's normal with any government.

What I don't agree with is the lack of transparency, the condescending attitude, and the overall Trump/Ford-like style of governing. Those have me considering who I'll vote for. But given that policy-wise, Helps is closer to my ideals than the others, I'll probably end up having to suck up the shortcomings and vote for her this fall.

[Victoria Watcher]

Bike lanes, bag ban, artists in residence, direction on dispensaries. Yes, lots of opposition too, but not as one-sided as the sentiment that we often see here. There's also some pretty petty stuff on there - musical railings etc.

Here's my opinion, and I've seen a few others post something similar: I'm not opposed to the overall direction that's been taken over the past few years. Sure, I don't agree with every decision that's been made. But that's normal with any government.
What I don't agree with is the lack of transparency, the condescending attitude, and the overall Trump/Ford-like style of governing. Those have me considering who I'll vote for. But given that policy-wise, Helps is closer to my ideals than the others, I'll probably end up having to suck up the shortcomings and vote for her this fall.

I don’t think the bike lames have anything even remotely close to widespread support. and they were not even mentioned prior to the last election.

[Mike K.]

Let's not forget that Unifor333 (representing transit drivers), the Canadian Federation for the Blind, dozens of vocal business owners and many constituents have voiced their absolute criticism of the bike lanes, their design and the fall-out caused by them.

[Cassidy]

That the bike lanes gave us the single lane for cars that is now Fort St. at the Bay Centre speaks volumes ... a major thoroughfare reduced to a single lane by Helps and her minions. It's despised by Victoria drivers, and the height of stupidity in general terms.

Bike lanes were (are) hyped by a tiny, but vocal subset of the local population ... and are generally considered a waste of money by most residents.

 

Also, the photo above of a bag lunch in a garbage bag should speak volumes ... a municipal mayor and her "crew" tell 85,000 people how they can carry their lunch to work, or their groceries home.

 

Kick 'em all out this Fall ... or forever hold your peace.

Edited by Cassidy, 28 August 2018 - 06:38 AM.

[mbjj]

I can't vote for a liar (Helps).

[Coreyburger]

I don’t think the bike lames have anything even remotely close to widespread support. and they were not even mentioned prior to the last election.

 

Anti-bike lane candidates in other cities have tended to lose. The NPA ran on two elections on an anti-bike message and got spanked by Vision. Only when the housing market went south did Vision start losing support but mostly to parties further left. Seattle also ended up in a fight between two mayoral candidates - one who wanted bike lanes and one who wanted them more. The anti-bike lane candidates all lost in the primary.

 

Every piece of public polling I seen from any North American city, including Victoria, says that ~60-75% of the population supports more bike lanes.

[Victoria Watcher]

 

Every piece of public polling I seen from any North American city, including Victoria, says that ~60-75% of the population supports more bike lanes.

 

ok well here is the first ever poll you have seen that says that's not the case.  you must not read much.

 

Alberta in particular seems slow to warm to bike lanes — Calgary and Edmonton were the only two of eight metro centres surveyed where fewer than half the respondents said separated bike lanes were a good thing. 

Calgarians also led the pack in saying there were too many separated bike lanes, at 37 per cent, followed by Edmonton at 36 per cent.

 

https://www.cbc.ca/n...ivide-1.4725702

[Victoria Watcher]

where is the victoria poll you have read?

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 28 August 2018 - 07:20 AM.

[Hotel Mike]

Look, some of what Lisa Helps and  her administration has accomplished is admirable. But the manner in which changes and decisions were brought in is appalling. It's time for a fresh start at Council. I believe we'll be better off with a new bunch around the table.

[Love the rock]

I think you're flattering Hammond too much. His activism is essentially "get the bums out of the city" coated in political jargon for Victorian sensibilities, with no actual thought given as to what things like "responsible social housing" or "housing stock that addresses the need of neighborhoods" could turn into action. I don't know how municipal politics have been done here, but this stuff is a broken record in the mainland. "I want more convenience and less eyesore for myself" is hardly pragmatism.

I’m for “stop attracting new bums to our city “ policy We’re full for our size .
Stop putting out the welcome mat . I was walking downtown last night with a male senior who was born and raised here , big in stature . He didn’t feel safe around ten o’clock walking from the IMAX to the parkade . He brought it up not me .It’s not an eye sore issue for me it’s a safety issue .I don’t feel safe .I’ve had an issue where I thought I was going to be attacked in broad daylight on a weekday on a Yates st . I didn’t do anything other than walk down a street .Does my safety take second place over the rights and actions of the ever present vagrants. If so get your tax money from them to run the city .

Edited by Love the rock, 28 August 2018 - 07:56 AM.

[spanky123]

A little cryptic but it looks like Stephen Andrew is entering the race for council and backing Hammond.

 

https://www.facebook...phenAndrewNews/

Edited by spanky123, 28 August 2018 - 07:43 AM.

[spanky123]

 

Every piece of public polling I seen from any North American city, including Victoria, says that ~60-75% of the population supports more bike lanes.

 

Big difference between some lines painted on the side of the road and what we have on Fort and Pandora.

[sdwright.vic]

Every piece of public polling I seen from any North American city, including Victoria, says that ~60-75% of the population supports more bike lanes.

Here is my question, have you ever commented on anything on VV besides in a pro bicycle stance? If so, it's very difficult for me to remember?

When comments are only one sided in nature and toward only one topic you become a lobby instead of an individual.