April 1, 2010 - 12:57 pm |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
Just when you thought you have heard it all from Vancouver's City Hall, Gregor Robertson has gone and added some shock-jock communications to his staff.
The calls and emails started pouring in last night as I was finishing moving, but as of 20 minutes ago, I can now confirm that Mayor Gregor Robertson is on the verge of adding a new communications staff person to his team.
I cannot mention any names due to the City’s human resources department working on the details of the contract as I am typing this, but I can report that this individual used to be a former 24 hours columnist and is well versed in the art of personal political attack, something that has been sorely lacking in Robertson’s cabal since he first took office.
My sources have provided me with information about a loud, one-sided argument that occurred at City Hall Monday night involving His Worship and former communications chief person Kevin Quinlan.
The details, from those who could actually hear the back and forth from the hallway outside of Robertson’s office, are not pretty.
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March 23, 2010 - 12:00 pm |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
At the end of January I wrote a post concerning the Pivot Legal Society’s red tent campaign and how I thought it was a sham designed to raise money as much as it was to raise awareness.
There was also the tent village at 58 Hastings (complete with its own website) that remained for the duration of the Olympics and which on the surface seemed like a non-evasive way to bring attention to the plight of the homeless in Vancouver, and particularly within the downtown eastside.
But with news like this that emerge about those who resided in the tent village, I am only infuriated by the individuals who casually protest, often to supplement their income, no matter what the issue.
Though they may be social activists to some, they are nothing more than the real poverty pimps that feed off of the plight of others in my eyes.
Now don’t get me wrong – I am all for fighting for a cause, particularly when it comes to housing the homeless.
Though, I am far more inclined to be in support the City of Vancouver’s homeless count that began this morning and will run for the next 24 hours.
The utility in this kind of exercise trumps the efforts of those who choose to pervert a cause for their own selfish interests.
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March 22, 2010 - 10:33 am |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
The City of Vancouver has the potential to do so much more with its property assets.
I am no expert on the Property Endowment Fund (PEF), which ambiguously is approximately $2.5 billion of indeterminate assets. I know that it is a significant part of Vancouver’s financial profile, and that it is essential to our credit rating. Outside of that, I am very unclear as to its purpose. So, I started to do some basic reading to get up to speed.
Created by TEAM in the in the 1970s, the PEF took those properties and leases owned by the city which were not in the near term intended to be used for municipal purposes (roads, parks or non-market housing sites) and consolidated them. It was operated through the real-estate division on a market basis (meaning they are able to provide a reasonable return as if they were privately held) and held within the fund to grow it into an endowment producing annual revenues. It is also a means to stablize the city’s credit rating, which in turn allows the city to secure the lowest possible borrowing rate for any loans.
As described by the legendary May Brown:
“The city was selling land every year, putting money into general revenue to keep taxes down. Art Phillips said this has got to stop. We’re cannibalizing our land . . . The value of the PEF in those days was $100 million. The rationale was simple: citizens should share in the profits from any increase in land value.”
A fantastic concept, to be sure.
But the PEF has now grown into a fund that has reached this seemingly untouchable status, with the only money utilized out on an annual basis (publicly, at least) is $7 million to offset increases in property taxes.
I feel there is so much more that the City of Vancouver could be doing with such a collection of assets.
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March 18, 2010 - 10:38 am |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
A telling set of documents regarding the Ark Tsisserev affair have been sent to CivicScene, challenging the trumped up claims of a group of political motivated individuals.
I have just received a very telling set of documents regarding the Ark Tsisserev issue, which has now taken on a level of political maneuvering and innuendo that doesn’t line up with the facts.
Alex Tsakumis writes in his post from yesterday morning that:
“…this whole matter began after I was leaked the email stream between Ark Tsisserev and his colleagues, from October, November and December of last year and then into early January–when he first raised concerns related to life safety issues with respect the the Olympic Village and then was concerned about inspection limitations for the pending Olympics.
He adds in a challenge regarding the safety sign-off by Tsisserev:
“If all Olympic venues were approved by city electrical inspectors in accordance with all recognized electrical and safety standards, release all the reports.”
In a post from February 9, Tsakumis also seems to suggest that Ark was fired as the whistleblower who was bringing forth safety concerns, and whom the city wanted to silence:
“An outstanding employee is fired after he spent the last two months of his tenure seeking answers to safety concerns about the Olympic Village that would be filled to the brim by unsuspecting Olympic athletes from all over the world not ten weeks from when Mr. Tsisserev discovered something might be wrong. In the midst of, presumably, seeking corrections, that exemplary employee is unceremoniously marched out of his office like a common thug, in front of his staff…”
I now have evidence in hand that proves otherwise.
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