3079 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

Not fit to lead: 

 

Alto (lives elsewhere)

Potts - weak

Loveday (lives elsewhere)

Thornton Joe (past her due date)

Isitt (communist)

[spanky123]

In the absence of a well known, right of centre business person running for Mayor ... we'll have to discuss those that are running. Such conversation doesn't automatically translate into "best person for the job" ... only "best candidate in the current field".

 

In other words Alto keeps her mouth shut and does what she is told. The perfect candidate for special interest groups who will no doubt all have their hands out as we slide into recession and funds dry up.

[Midnightly]

Those folks who've actually worked in any capacity with Alto will understand why her calm demeanour is refreshing compared to the remainder of Council.

She's definitely not the "ideal" candidate in my view, but if you've worked with her, you'll know she's well read on any given situation, not prone to knee-jerk reactions on the spot, and is otherwise demonstrative of a well reasoned politician (albeit one that I don't always agree with).

 

Because this doesn't translate into agreeing with everything she's said or done, it also doesn't anticipate that she'd be a great mayor ... rather it only notes that she's a strong candidate among those currently running.

 

In the absence of a well known, right of centre business person running for Mayor ... we'll have to discuss those that are running. Such conversation doesn't automatically translate into "best person for the job" ... only "best candidate in the current field".

 

i don't doubt that she is a good person, a well reasoned person a person who has some stability.. she has lasted on council as long as she has by knowing which way the wind is blowing and how to vote in the ways to keep a section of voters happy.. to me though i think she is a person who is more quiet and towing the line (which can be a very important role) knows when to speak up in council if need be, i just don't see her being outspoken enough to be the face of the city.. she doesn't stand out she blends in to me

 

will she have the voice to call a council member out who is going on a tangent (Isitt likes to do this), will she be able to keep council meetings under control and not have them turn into 8+hours of chaos? will she be able to take all the flack thrown at her by the media and community that are unhappy with the current state of the city that just naturally comes with the job? or will she be another mayor like helps who says she's listening and it goes in one ear and out the other

Edited by Midnightly, 19 May 2022 - 09:37 PM.

[Nparker]

Ms Alto has one advantage on the current mayor - she doesn't seem to be an egomaniac.

[JimV]

Alto has voted with Helps and the looney tune group on most issues.  In her capacity as a member of the “Victoria Family” she was largely responsible for removing the JAM statue.  Not being as flamboyantly insane as some of her colleagues does not constitute a qualification for office.

[Spy Black]

I noted only that she was a strong contender in the current field of candidates ... not that she was a "great" candidate for the job.

 

It's fine to complain endlessly about inept politicians (I do it quite frequently) ... but in the end, you have to restrict your comments, and parse from #1 on down the list in terms of choices from those folks who have made the choice to run.

 

Kind of a "The Best of a Bad Bunch" mindset if you will.

[Victoria Watcher]

Alto votes for every dumb thing council has proposed.

 

https://opendata.vic...yor-and-council

 

[Nparker]

Ms Alto has one advantage on the current mayor - she doesn't seem to be an egomaniac.

...Not being as flamboyantly insane as some of her colleagues does not constitute a qualification for office.

I didn't mean to suggest she would be good for the CoV, just that she might be slightly easier to bear than the incumbent. In that regard, the bar has been set pretty low.

[spanky123]

Alto votes for every dumb thing council has proposed.

 

Ok I was wrong then, there was one vote where she differed from Helps - likely because Helps changed her mind after Alto voted when she saw the rest of council would vote against her!

 

I get it. You want my endorsement next election you keep your mouth shut and do as you are told. What I don't want is 4 years of special interest groups and developers doing the same thing.

Edited by spanky123, 20 May 2022 - 09:03 AM.

[JimV]

I think an endorsement by Helps would be as attractive to most voters as a case of the monkey pox and another increase in the gas price.

 

I also don’t think that Alto “does what she’s told.”  She has been a willing and active participant in most of the bad ideas that council has rammed down our throat.

[FogPub]

So, we have Andrew and Alto in the race for mayor so far.

 

Has anyone declared for council yet?

[Jacques Cadé]

Has anyone declared for council yet?

 

Dave Thompson: https://davethompsonvictoria.ca/

Krista Loughton: https://www.kristaloughton.ca/

Jeremy Caradonna: https://www.electjeremy.ca/

 

[Mike K.]

David Johnston is running for mayor as well, I think.

[On the Level]

Krista Loughton....lol

 

Adam Stirling on Twitter: "Recall: video of @CharlesBodi, @TheBackPackPro1, & newly announced Victoria Council candidate @KristaLoughton all holding up cameras filming each other outside @SOFMCVIC. A lot of familiar faces. Red Cedar Cafe partner @self_govern4us Kym Hines (awaiting trial) there too? #yyj https://t.co/dzX2b4yvXn" / Twitter

[Stephen James]

Dave Thompson: https://davethompsonvictoria.ca/

Krista Loughton: https://www.kristaloughton.ca/

Jeremy Caradonna: https://www.electjeremy.ca/

 

Goodness Krista Loughton; wish I hadn't seen this coming, lol.

 

Being unburdened by any ethical standards, she may do ok. She is the poster child for "the-ends-justify-the means", but without the courage to acknowledge the very same. Her childish decisions will be her undoing, per the movie references above.

 

She and Potts are a bit unhinged when it comes to their version of reality.

[Barrrister]

I worry that there are very few if any sane candidates for council much less a full slate. We will get more of the same by sheer default.

[Spy Black]

I would be highly suspicious of somebody perhaps running for Mayor of the City of Victoria if that person repeatedly attempted to get difficult and potentially controversial Council decisions moved in-camera in order to have their own personal comments and opinions kept secret from the public.

 

Folks need to do their homework here ... it's not difficult research, but it's not sitting there on the surface either.

[spanky123]

I understand that Stephen has a bad case of covid and I wish him the best. 

 

What bothers me about the recent flip flop is how it appears to have transpired. In the last COTW meeting the Mayor tried to get Stephen to change his vote by cutting a deal on timing of the public hearing. Ben correctly called a point of order and the Mayor acknowledged she was not allowed to do that. Stephen then voted in favour of sending the proposal back to staff.

 

Stephen has now said that his concerns over timing have been dealt with and he is in favour of bringing the motion back. Based on his comments it sounds like he had some sort of discussion with the Mayor (and perhaps other councilors) on this issue in private. That is not supposed to be how the process works. The COTW is the venue for discussing the merits of motions and amending them as needed. 

 

Now I understand that this happens in other munis all of the time which is why their public meetings are like 5 minutes! Victoria however has upheld its rules fairly consistently over the years however.

[Stephen James]

I would be highly suspicious of somebody perhaps running for Mayor of the City of Victoria if that person repeatedly attempted to get difficult and potentially controversial Council decisions moved in-camera in order to have their own personal comments and opinions kept secret from the public.

 

Folks need to do their homework here ... it's not difficult research, but it's not sitting there on the surface either.

I appreciate your reasoning very much, always do, and also worry that apathy will cost us a council of grownups.

 

I can't see past my own bias, of course, but suspect the division sown by our leaderless council has sufficiently rousted the masses. Even better, every mismanaged issue, every selfish dogma-poisoned decision, the flaunted democratic ideals in the name of the ends... all these failures lend themselves to devastating soundbites.

 

If the community focuses on non-resident councillors, the experiments perpetrated on Victoria by the UVIC sociology department echo chamber, the lying, prevaricating, the unreasonable burden placed on a city of 90,000 by academic hubris, the Mayor election will be a landslide.

 

By no means do I suggest any complacency. If the messages aren't properly distilled and strategically shared, alliances built, shoe leather worn, phone calls made, no bets.

 

I have a track record of 1/1 btw, which is no track record - I thought Stephen would win the by-election by a landslide because of one conversation that went like this:

 

A woman in a car stops suddenly in front of me, standing next to a Stephen Andrew sign,

"Is he with (pause)... those people, the mayor, her people?"

(I say no)

"Ok good, I'll vote for him."

She roars off in a hurry.

 

So much is packed into this. How hard it is to get a message across, how hard it is to even get the name right. The point is that this woman was obviously behind schedule, likely racing to pick up kids, maybe in between at least one job, and she was sufficiently moved to be angry, despite knowing almost nothing about local politics.

[Spy Black]

Well put.

 

I personally have an appreciation for in-camera meetings of public officials ... if and when those in-camera meetings are utilized for their intended purpose. An example might be the City of Victoria buying or selling a piece of land, or making a strictly procedural decision that will have financial or operational impact on a business or private citizen ... and where "advance" information as to how Council might be thinking could influence the value or operational ability of those concerns under discussion.

 

But when in-camera meetings are used for political purposes, used by political figures to speak out of one side of their mouth publicly, while speaking out of the other side of their mouth in-camera ... I find those concerns run deeper than many (but not all) of the concerns we've expressed over the years on this forum, and elsewhere.

 

I'm not saying that anybody does this, I'm just making note of the fact that it might have been done in the past, and if it was, it's very likely to continue into the future.