November 8, 2010 - 12:56 pm |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
This is the way the NPA's membership is being treated by the party with regards to choosing candidates.
For many months, November 20th was heralded as a rebirth for the NPA – the day that the party would collectively choose candidates for the next election.
But due to a lack of interest, the nomination day was only promoted as the first round of the process, with “a second set of nominations to be held in the spring of 2011.”
Eventually, what was supposed to be a day for hope turned into a very limited screening of what the party was about to offer to the public – two candidates for City Council, one candidate for Park Board, and one candidate for School Board.
And now we know that the NPA board has decided that appointments/acclamations, rather than democratic elections via the will of the membership, is the way to go.
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June 2, 2010 - 1:20 pm |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
Former NPA Councillor Nancy Chiavario was completely handicapped with her fellow vcaTEAM running mates in 2002, largely because of a lack of funding in comparison to her competitors.
From the road, the report that has been released by the joint task force tasked with making recommendations for electoral change on:
- Campaign finance, including contribution / spending disclosure and limits, and tax credits
- Enforcement processes and outcomes
- Role of the chief electoral officer (B.C.) in local government elections
- Election cycle (term of office)
- Corporate vote
- Other agreed upon matters, (e.g. matters raised in UBCM resolutions such as eligibility of local government volunteers to be candidates)
is a pretty decent read.
I am intrigued by the prospect of four-year terms (which interestingly would put Gregor Robertson and Vision Vancouver into 2015 if they were to win the next election – their deadline for fulfilling their promise to rid the city of street homelessness).
But the campaign finance suggestions are really going to change the landscape of how local elections are run in British Columbia.
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November 2, 2009 - 7:08 pm |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
To Charlie Smith of the Georgia Straight, wards mean the dawn of a new political age in Vancouver.
Wards, wards, wards…if you are reading the Georgia Straight these days, Charlie Smith seems to have little interest in covering anything else these days.
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September 17, 2009 - 10:44 am |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
Vancouver has a long tradition as a city of NIMBYism (the not in my backyard syndrome), where developments, light rail proposals and homeless shelters have all at one time felt the wrath of a select group of Vancouver residents who truly believe in the superior pedigree of their respective neighbourhoods.
In fact, some Vancouver residents have elevated this type of attitude to the next level, coining a new term – NIABY (Not In Anyone’s Backyard) – and putting up an entire website devoted to showing opposition to “supportive housing initiatives and community treatments in mental health and addiction.”
Could packs of self-interested Vancouver residents cripple progress in the city with the introduction of wards?
So, in spite of my past support for the introduction of a wards electoral system in Vancouver, a conversation with a friend in town from Toronto yesterday has given me a different perspective, and filled my head with questions of whether this city in particular would benefit from such a change. Read the rest of this entry »
