61 replies to this topic

[Ms. B. Havin]

As posted to the "Playground" thread, Russ Francis's Monday Magazine column in the July 19-25 issue criticizes parks and how they're managed, asserts that we have "little" left of parks in Victoria, and then segues into predictions for next year's election. So here's the rest of that column, [url=http://web.bcnewsgroup.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=117&cat=23&id=1028751&more=0:b7478]Watering Can In, Atkinson Out[/url:b7478], part 2:

The Victoria city council could look very different after next year’s municipal election. The left may well take control, perhaps even winning the mayoralty.

New Democrat councillor Dean Fortin says he’s been asked by numerous people to run for the top job, and one consultant believes Fortin could win even if mayor Alan Lowe leaves his hat in the ring.

“I don’t see why someone like Dean Fortin couldn’t beat Alan Lowe this time,” says Bernard Schulmann. One reason is that the New Democrats, running under the Victoria Civic Electors banner, have a natural advantage by being listed on the ballot as a slate.

The VCE should have been able to elect at least four last time, instead of simply re-electing its two incumbents, Fortin and Pam Madoff.

Schulmann noted that in 2005, left-wing candidate Ben Isitt pulled a remarkable 44 percent of the vote, despite what Schulmann regards as Isitt’s weak qualifications. (“I’d be hard-pressed to think of someone less-qualified to be mayor,” he says.)

This week, Isitt says he is still considering his options for next year, but he will “definitely be on the ballot.” Isitt won’t rule out another mayoralty bid, though adds that it remains an “open question” whether he would run alone again, or join up with the VCE.

I’m told that an election debriefing session with Isitt and the VCE brass last fall did not go well. So we could yet see Isitt running separately from the VCE once more.

Another factor in next year’s election may be the capital region’s vast sewage treatment project. It is all but certain that parts of it—if not all—will be built as a public-private partnership (P3), since the province’s one-third share of the total cost will likely be dependent on the project being a P3.

Since P3s have, at best, a mixed reputation in Victoria, it could prove a boon for New Democrats, who generally oppose them.

Regardless, get ready for an NDP-Green controlled city.

[G-Man]

Pff. They are dreaming. Of course if they keep telling themselves that it might make them feel better.

[m0nkyman]

On the bright side, if we had an NDP/Green controlled city, we wouldn't have to worry about traffic disruptions from construction....

[Baro]

They could bar most all significant construction or growth in the city, sending it out to langford and declaring it an environmental and social victory.

[Caramia]

I think Dean Fortin is actually pretty cool, although I like Alan Lowe as Mayor. If Alan wasn't running, I'd consider Dean.

[Holden West]

Coun. Sonya Chandler and her husband, Roy, are the proud parents of baby Penelope-Rose Gracey Chandler,born Aug. 9. The first-born for the couple weighed in at 3.7 kilograms.

Nuts--I had ten bucks on "Ché Suzuki" in the "name the baby" pool.

Ah, well. Congratulations anyway.

[Holden West]

Times Colonist
Published: Sunday, August 26, 2007
[Thumbs up] To pub entrepreneur Matt MacNeill [sic], whose Irish Times and Penny Farthing have already made a mark, for plans to convert the Boom Boom Room on Wharf Street to a venue for live East Coast music. It's a welcome step toward a saner late-night scene downtown.

© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2007

God forbid [url=http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/story.html?id=a42bcbc2-6365-42c6-baaf-bd3583667eab&k=31349:c1f2c]24 hours[/url:c1f2c] [url=http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/business/story.html?id=13a22aa6-91c1-4456-b47e-b93a5ef4fe8f&k=98498:c1f2c]goes[/url:c1f2c] [url=http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/comment/story.html?id=5fbe055c-08d5-4d00-bbe9-6a161f9c1627:c1f2c]by[/url:c1f2c] without the Times-Colonist mentioning Matt MacNeil. I mean, he seems like a decent guy and good businessman but I haven't seen coverage like this since Mother Teresa died.

I bet he's going to run for mayor and the T/C thinks this is a good idea.

Build a condo in this town and you're Satan's spawn. Open a pub downtown and you're the Second Coming of Christ.

[Ms. B. Havin]

^ Very likely, especially given that the articles vapidly fawn over MacNeil, which really gives the impression that the T-C is "spinning" the man.

[obscurantist]

So I was reading [url=http://www.publiceyeonline.com/archives/002625.html:4323b]Public Eye Online[/url:4323b], and it mentioned something about the Victoria Civic Electors' "proposal to disband." I looked a little bit further, and it appeared that this was a bit of a gloss on a [url=http://web.bcnewsgroup.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=117&cat=23&id=1049475&more=0:4323b]Russ Francis column[/url:4323b] about an upcoming VCE meeting:

On September 23, fellow and fellowess travellers will get together for a “consultation about tomorrow’s VCE,” according to the notice sent out last week by party president Patti Stockton. At the meeting, party brass will present two different “visions of the future.”

The first would be to “revitalize” the VCE, by recruiting a new executive to track down enough good candidates so that the New Democrats will control the council. (Of course, in keeping with the VCE’s constitution, when and if the VCE chooses a new executive, “at least 50 percent” shall be women.)

In other words, business as usual. Snore. That’s just what the right-of-centre would love to see.

Welcome, mayor Don Roughley and council!

But the second VCE “vision” is a little more interesting.

“Dissolve the current organization and establish a committed and experienced investigative team.”

And what would the investigative team investigate? “Best practices in municipal organizing and election campaigning.” That’s not a bad idea.

There’s more. The team would also consult with “New Democrats and the broader community,” to possibly create a new organization to elect a majority of “progressive individuals” to the city council.

In other words, no longer would one need to be a card-carrying NDPer to join the new outfit. ...

So is this a good idea?

I don't live in Victoria anymore (and didn't live in the city proper when I was there), but I always got the sense (confirmed by what I've read on this board since then) that the candidates from the civic left in Victoria, both the flakier and less flaky factions thereof, are wonderfully well-meaning but rather misguided folks who I couldn't actually have voted for if I'd had the opportunity. That goes for Madoff, Isitt, Chandler (I know she's Green, not VCE), and even Fortin. And I consider myself on the left. Which raises the question of how representative they are of the actual left in Victoria.

Perhaps dissolving the VCE and starting over, as long as it isn't just a rebranding, could be an opportunity for some new people to step forward. People with a more positive urban vision than Madoff's "I-like-density-but-it-has-to-be-affordable, I-like-affordable-housing-but-not-if-it's-too-dense" conservatism, or Isitt's conservatism disguised as radical socialism, or Chandler's conservatism disguised as environmentalism, or Fortin's compromise between these three extremes (to paraphrase what Mort Sahl said about Eisenhower and Stevenson's clashing views that desegregation should occur either "moderately" or "gradually").

But hopefully that's happening anyway, regardless of what the VCE chooses to do. The question is whether the VCE has the sense to figure that out, or whether they want to keep withering away into irrelevance.

[Holden West]

The problem is, so much of Victoria's challenges are related to development, drugs, homelessness--issues that straddle traditional party lines of "left" and right". A hardcore conservative might want to help the homeless not because he's a bleeding heart but because it could eventually lower his taxes. A hardcore leftist could favour developers building high rises because it could preserve green space. These views might not sit well with the Party bosses.

Leftist voters might like the candidate that supports their efforts to construct a community garden or [url=http://www.fairfieldcommunity.ca/?q=node/232:4301e]urban gathering space[/url:4301e] using volunteer labour--something the Unions and the NDP might be very critical of.

I'm sorry I missed that Isitt interview this morning on C-FAX. I wonder what he said about his nemesis the VCE.

[obscurantist]

Agreed. So maybe dissolving the VCE and NOT starting over makes more sense, given that the civic right isn't organized along party lines right now either?

[Caramia]

I honestly think party politics are outdated for reasons Holden very nicely illustrated. Victoria's civic atmosphere runs moderate enough that it isn't always even possible to tell what party people are voting from (unless you read their biographies). Really, what we need on council is people who will put aside party agendas and educate themselves issue to issue, and then do the work required to move forward.

[G-Man]

Make up their minds on each issue specifically rather than on an abstract party plan? Why that sounds as evil as "Spot rezoning"!

[Caramia]

yes, my heresy knows no bounds.

[Holden West]

More on the Isitt interview with Sean Holman:

http://www.publiceye...ves/002628.html

[Jeffamartin1970]

I hope Alan Lowe wins the mayor race or at least the left wing candidate does not. The left are not business people and could not run a lemonade stand in general terms. I would like to see a the council with a more middle of the road support but not too much left wing support. If you look at typical left governments at the provincial level, they have wasted money and hurt the taxpayers and done little for long term success of the province as a whole. I am not saying the right does not make mistakes. Most of the problems Alan Lowe has faced as mayor could best be solved by more provinical help and amalgamation. Homelessness, to be fair to mayor Lowe, is an issue that Victoria is carring the burden on too much and to many of the other municipalities are done next to nothing to help make greater Victoria a better place by helping with issues like homelessness. I do not think any left wing mayor could do a better then Alan Lowe on many of the problem issues in Victoria. They require help beyond just one muncipality , and require help from other governments like the province and the federal government. I am sick of the the NDP's out of date approach to politics. They are not business people and do not generally run very good governments. I would not mind, maybe a green candidate or two on council. I am always open to new voices, but what we really need is to reduce the number of municpalities and muncipal bureaucracy that is plagging the Greater Victoria area.

[G-Man]

^ I disagree. I don't think that someones business savy is affected by who they vote for. I would bet that many of Victoria's business owners vote for the left side of the spectrum. I myself tend to vote NDP or Green though not always as it depends on the candidate and have held some very successful garage sales.

[Mike K.]

I would not mind, maybe a green candidate or two on council.

Sonya Chandler was the sole Green Party candidate to win a seat in the last election. She opposed high-density developments in the core and butted heads with private investment opportunities when they appeared in front of council. She'd champion green thinking and sustainable development one day and then vote against it the next, repeatedly citing irrelevant issues and concerns (say, with respect to a 14-storey building she voted against, that it represented everything Victorians did not want their downtown to become, etc -- because Victorians want a sprawly region built atop hillsides, right?).

[spanky123]

The business community hates Lowe but would rather see him in the job then a nutbar like Isitt.

As usual the NDP and Greens will blow themselves up midstream and the pro-business slate will be installed for another term.

[VicHockeyFan]

The business community hates Lowe but would rather see him in the job then a nutbar like Isitt.

I agree. They didn't hate him when he first got in, they liked him. But I'm not sure what the business commmunity has in mind when Lowe leaves. I didn't particularly like Bob Cross, but I'd have him back.