2544 replies to this topic

[Mike K.]

The question now is whether Geoff Young and T-J will remain as councillors, or retire, or one of them seeks the mayor’s seat.

Helps said this would be her last term (we have to go with that for now) meaning the mayoralty will be up for grabs. Will Isitt go for it, and risk losing his safe council seat? Will Young go for it? T-J?

[Stephen James]

Congratulations to Stephen. A bit of light! 

 

I would like to know about Christmas decorations also. I spent a couple of hundred dollars downtown yesterday, doing my part for local business. Would have been nice to see some. 

Me too!  Went for a mental health drive to see Christmas lights and included a drive through Oak Bay village. The drive home to James Bay through d.t. Victoria was a bleak ending. 

 

The worst part of me suspects its another version of Benemy's hate for any Judeo-Christian tradition, which is just sad and mean at a time like this.

[Nparker]

...The worst part of me suspects its another version of Benemy's hate for any Judeo-Christian tradition, which is just sad and mean at a time like this.

I am an atheist and I love Christmas/holiday season lights and decorations. I don't associate them with any religion, just something that brightens the darkness of this time of year. I am not sure who Comrade Isitt thinks he is impressing with his stance on holiday decor.

[rjag]

Another takeaway, Hardman did not win a single poll. SA dominated every single 1 with the closest being Crystal Garden and SJ Willis. Unofficial_StatementOfVotesCastRPT.xlsx (victoria.ca)

 

Very surprised at the poor showing of TV at Oaklands as I thought Fernwood would have been a TV base.

 

Looking forward to seeing the financials on this as well. 

 

And as someone said before, we should all be thanking Laurel Collins & Murray Rankin for this result. 

[On the Level]

Me too!  Went for a mental health drive to see Christmas lights and included a drive through Oak Bay village. The drive home to James Bay through d.t. Victoria was a bleak ending. 

 

The worst part of me suspects its another version of Benemy's hate for any Judeo-Christian tradition, which is just sad and mean at a time like this.

 

The answer we'll get back is around covid and budget, but it's exactly that type of answer which is so disingenuous.  There is an endless flow of funds/grants for political allies and pet projects.

[Mike K.]

Do we know when Stephen begins his new role?

Victorians liked the idea of Together Victoria in 2018. But the affinity for the organization began to wane when the UVic activist side of the equation began to permeate municipal politics, like the accusations from Potts about ulterior motives for fire safety checks, the accusations of intolerance by an electorate that complained about criminality in their neighbourhoods which TV councillors called survival crimes, the immediate call for a 50% raise in council’s pay, the call to defund Remembrance Day, and most recently the depth to which TV’s involvement in the social services industry goes. And that’s not including Hardman’s role in the PiT counts that created a political opaqueness around homelessness in Victoria and its true inputs.

Meanwhile what exactly changed for Victorians? Rents continued to rise, the rental vacancy rate has remained historically low, rapidly rising crime is affecting local businesses (lots of TV supporters work for small and local businesses; they can see the impact of imported crime on their employers) and residential neighbourhoods, the downtown core has been dragged down into a shadow of its former self where the municipality doesn’t even bother to decorate for the Holidays, and ironically we are experiencing the financial pains of what a decimated cruise industry would yield following Isitt’s complaints about the industry and how he doesn’t like it. Well, here we are. And we’re just at the beginning of a financial wallop that won’t go away when COVID ends (remember, we have to pay it all back, and pay it forward).

[Mike K.]

And I’m just scratching the surface. Don’t forget about calls to defund the police and line up social services agencies to provide alternate public safety programs, the parking situation in downtown Victoria which saw Sunday paid parking rolled out for a free youth bus pass program (never mind the disregard for parking issues in general) which didn’t raise enough money and need taxpayer support, and so, so much more.

The sad part is, while the experiment was botched early on, the trajectory continues and its still picking up speed. It is a runaway train and that’s where we begin this January. How long it takes to stop the thing is anyone’s guess but it will be a challenge that will remain for years to come as the municipality realigns itself with managing the basic necessities of a city and unwinds itself from special interest goals and agendas more fitting of UVic’s student union.

[Mike K.]

First and foremost we need to stop the dilly dallying around housing. All housing is good. It should not be split into what is “affordable” in someone’s opinion, and what isn’t. The basic fundamentals of supply and demand are still at work here no matter what a councillor believes is “good” for their community.

Try as hard as he might, Isitt won’t solve the housing dilemma when council approves 1,000-units of housing a year as 2,000 people move to the region. The nixing of the Cook Street Village condominium on the grounds that it’s not in keeping with Isitt’s housing preference is the literal key ingredient of the housing dilemma, but TV supporters keep wishing that it is something else that’s driving up housing prices, rental rates and keeping the vacancy rate at record lows.

[Rob Randall]

Do we know when Stephen begins his new role?

 

When Alto won the by-election in 2010 she was sworn into office less than two weeks following the election. 

 

Of course this time around who knows.

 

It's customary for newly elected councillors to attend a governing "boot camp" to get up to speed on the technicalities of the job.

Edited by Rob Randall, 13 December 2020 - 10:03 AM.

[Nparker]

...It's customary for newly elected councilors to attend a governing "boot camp" to get up to speed on the technicalities of the job.

I'd posit that Stephen Andrew could handle his governance roll better today than Potts and Dubow after more than 2 years on the job.

[rjag]

Absolutely hilarious watching the TV supporters whine and complain over on the Local Gov 2.0 FB page. Blaming the mean spirit of Victorians, fear of homelessness.

 

Heres a classic. 

 

 

Seamus Ó Néill Wolfe

Shannon Tasker

 every by-election has low voter turnout. Combined with an inability to campaign due to the pandemic, it was even harder to reach many voters. Given those realities it is somewhat inevitable that turnout would skew older, wealthier and significantly more likely to own vs rent. That demographic generally (not only, but generally) tends to be more conservative and more susceptible to politics of fear.

 

 

[On the Level]

While all of this was underway before Covid, the crisis was used as a tool to have a final battle with the province and feds. It's all too ideological.  They were told what would happen yet did it anyways, and will continue.  It's illogical.

 

Horgan can't give into the CoV council beyond what he has done to date as that opens the door to every other special interest group forcing their will onto the Province.  He is also faced with realities that make a workable plan impossible, like the Charter.

 

TV continued doubling down on a nonexistent plan will only continue our downward spiral.  

[Nparker]

It's ironic that TV supporters should say that the "politics of fear" was used against them in this election. As far as I can see, Ms Hardman's campaign was almost entirely built around the politics of fear, especially in regards to Stephen Andrew's character.

[A Girl is No one]

And I’m just scratching the surface. Don’t forget about calls to defund the police and line up social services agencies to provide alternate public safety programs, the parking situation in downtown Victoria which saw Sunday paid parking rolled out for a free youth bus pass program (never mind the disregard for parking issues in general) which didn’t raise enough money and need taxpayer support, and so, so much more.

The sad part is, while the experiment was botched early on, the trajectory continues and its still picking up speed. It is a runaway train and that’s where we begin this January. How long it takes to stop the thing is anyone’s guess but it will be a challenge that will remain for years to come as the municipality realigns itself with managing the basic necessities of a city and unwinds itself from special interest goals and agendas more fitting of UVic’s student union.

This!! Every word of this!!!

[johnk2]

I'd posit that Stephen Andrew could handle his governance roll better today than Potts and Dubow after more than 2 years on the job.

He knows how things work, he's been around city hall for a long time.

[On the Level]

Absolutely hilarious watching the TV supporters whine and complain over on the Local Gov 2.0 FB page. Blaming the mean spirit of Victorians, fear of homelessness.

 

Heres a classic. 

 

Here is the link to the group.  https://www.facebook...3159759451875//

 

Ironically, some of the postings from TV supporters are exactly why the vote turned out the way it did.  

[rmpeers]

Absolutely hilarious watching the TV supporters whine and complain over on the Local Gov 2.0 FB page. Blaming the mean spirit of Victorians, fear of homelessness.

Heres a classic.

Another usual suspect was whining about his being an angry old patriarch or something. Oh, man...

[Awaiting Juno]

Must admit there's a bit of a bounce back in my step this morning.  This is the first step - and we need to clap back at every turn over the next two years.  We need to support Andrew while he's on council and we need to identify well qualified, diverse, balanced candidates to run in 2022.  People who live in Victoria and who plan on being here in the decades to come.  People who refuse to dismiss any of their constituents - TV showed, they aren't on everyone's side.  If you're not a victim, or willing to be self-loathing, you're not their people.  The reality is for most people: they aren't victims and they don't deserve to be saddled with guilt for things they didn't do.  The reality is, there are people who will use people to get things they don't deserve simply because they can.

 

Andrew can call the bluffs effectively.  He's been there - and isn't going to give in to their wants, but is going to focus on what is needed, while accommodating the needs of everyone else as well.

[Rob Randall]

There was far too much whining and boo-hoo-why-is-the-world-against-me in this election. I've never seen anything remotely like it. 

[rmpeers]

There was far too much whining and boo-hoo-why-is-the-world-against-me in this election. I've never seen anything remotely like it.

Yes. And my response would be, has your life gotten any better after 6 years of this? Probably only got better for certain folks getting municipal grants.