December 4, 2009 - 4:35 pm |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
Mackinnon was baffled and baffling in front of Council last night.
Last night City Hall attracted quite a crowd – approximately 90 individuals by my sources’ count – with the majority obviously there to speak in front of Council about their opposition to the cuts being made as part of the budget process.
Mayor Robertson let children and seniors speak first, and some of these early presentations, including an adorable group of brothers and sisters between the ages of 5-11 talking about how they love reading and how they wanted libraries to stay intact, were very touching and I am sure difficult for Council to hear in light of the decisions they still have to make.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: All assertions use paraphrasing based on several first hand accounts, meaning that there was no tape recorder to confirm exact wording. Thus, this is only my interpretation of what has been communicated to me).
Park Board Commissioner Loretta Woodcock made a very quick presentation, talking about how the Bloedel Conservatory and the Stanley Park petting zoo have been “orphaned” and encouraging Council to consider modest tax increases to make up the shortfall. Woodcock was articulate, direct and to the point, as well as being reasonable in her requests.
Stuart Mackinnon, on the other hand, didn’t make out as well.
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November 25, 2009 - 9:32 am |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
The financial bridges to Toronto's City Hall will be dramatically changed if City Council accepts the recommendations handed to them yesterday.
If you read Charlie Smith of the Georgia Straight or SFU Professor Kennedy Stewart with kind of regularity, you would think that the only type of electoral reform to consider for civic politics comes in the form of wards.
But as pointed out in Smith’s above-linked article, Vision is looking at other means of changing the parameters of voting in the City of Vancouver:
“Jang said the Vision caucus’s priority in electoral reform is to come up with a “comprehensive package” that covers issues like campaign finance and disclosure rules.”
If that is the case, Jang et al. should look east to the City of Toronto, where corporate and union donations are on the verge of being banned from civic elections.
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November 18, 2009 - 10:05 am |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
Metro Vancouver is stepping up its collaboration with the UBCM.
Some completely false allegations have been made about Vancouver Councillor Kerry Jang’s removal from the board of the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM). I want to clear up the misconceptions.
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November 17, 2009 - 10:34 am |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
Anton is tackling the important issues at City Hall
It is so refreshing to finally have a City Councillor tackling the tough issues at City Hall.
Kerry Jang? Well he has been tied up with petty issues like finding shelter for the homeless and negotiating with the provincial government to secure funding for affordable housing. Geoff Meggs? He is the point person for Council on the Olympics, filling his time with trivial matters like renegotiating the financing for the Olympic Village so that taxpayers save $90 million. Andrea Reimer? She is tasked with shepherding the implementation of the Greenest City Action Team’s detailed 10-year plan entitled Vancouver 2020: A Bright Green Future, which in this administration is clearly an unimportant set of responsibilities that will have little to no impact on the City of Vancouver.
Thank God for lone NPA Councillor Suzanne Anton, who is clearly on a roll and continuing her string of superstar performances with this motion, which will be brought forward at today’s Council meeting.
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