Archive for September, 2009

Posted by Jonathan Ross

“Council has made it clear that they’re not interested in us talking about a property-tax increase.” – Vancouver City Manager Penny Ballem regarding the necessity to make cutbacks and achieve efficiencies from within

Vancouver Services Review thoughts

Posted by Jonathan Ross

No long diatribe on Penny Ballem’s memo to staff regarding the Vancouver Services Review, except to say that redundancies between departments and branches of the City should have been eliminated a long time ago.  There is no reason why the Park Board and the City of Vancouver should have separate grounds crews, as an example.

oldcityhall

City of Vancouver staff redundancies have grown since this photo was snapped.

Here are the highlights:

Read the rest of this entry »

Laying his green on the table

Posted by Jonathan Ross

A municipal economic strategy has always seemed to be lacking at Vancouver´s municipal level of government.

Of the three civic elections that I have either been a participant in or an observer of, economic issues have always played second or third fiddle to a wide array of issues (open up one of the party platforms from last election and take your pick).  I have also known the VEDC to be the orphaned child of City Hall with minimal collaboration with the Mayor’s office.

So putting partisan affiliations aside, Gregor Robertson’s speech at the Board of Trade this coming Wednesday is worthy of attention.

Gregor’s green agenda should play large into the talk, and I’ll be interested to see what kind of specifcs the former entrepreneur lays out.

gardening-hands

And so Gregor's green dreams begin.

Hate it or love it, critics and supporters will have the opportunity to offer up their critiques.  Regardless, at least there will be something to talk about, which is more than can be said about other administrations and their attitudes towards building Vancouver’s business case.

And no, a trademark protecting your own intellectual property does not qualify as an economic strategy.

A few framing queries

Posted by Jonathan Ross

Which City of Vancouver elected official wanted taxpayers to pay the costs of their return from vacation so that they could attend a meeting?

CivicScene is working on providing that answer for readers very soon.

On a completely unrelated matter, does NPA park board commissioner Ian Robertson have the proper authorization to be using the Vancouver Park Board official logo on his personal website, which also happens to have his party’s logo on the same page?  Maybe some of our readers from within the Park Board can answer that question, anonymously or otherwise.

Wed Feb 08, 2012

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FACT OF THE DAY

In 2010, Vancouver had fewer than half the number of murders than it had in 2009.  There were nine homicides within Vancouver’s city limits, down from 19 killings the previous year.

Quote OF THE DAY

“Perhaps it was my silk dress or the new perfume I’ve been wearing lately. When I asked Suzanne Anton what her New Year’s resolution was, she replied, “To kiss a pretty girl!” and pecked me on the cheek.”  – Writer Emily Barca describing her encounter with the lone NPA City Councillor on New Year’s Eve.

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