May 11, 2010 - 12:12 pm |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
Park Board Commissioner Stuart Mackinnon is playing politics with an issue that is supposed to be close to his heart.
I read with interest Park Board Commissioner Stuart Mackinnon’s blog post from last Friday, which levied criticism at an article published in the Vancouver Courier on the same day, entitled “Green commissioner opposes Beaver Lake plan”.
In his rant, Mackinnon accuses the Courier of getting the details of his political machinations wrong, and goes on to advocate for an overall stewardship plan for Stanley Park.
Well, I have done a little digging about the specifics of what exactly happened, and it is clear that Mackinnon is playing politics with an issue area that a) is a huge component of the core principles he campaigns upon and b) is one that he and his political higher-ups feel as though has been fumbled.
Mackinnon’s rebuttal to the Courier is not only inaccurate, but is also without the proper context regarding priorities and motivations. Here is a clearer account of this whole affair.
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March 9, 2010 - 9:06 am |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
COPE and Vision Vancouver sang and danced together in 2008, but will their tryst continue in the 2011 electoral campaign?
The recent utterings of hypocrisy by Councillor Ellen Woodsworth and Councillor David Cadman have got me thinking about the electoral cooperation that COPE and Vision Vancouver successfully exercised in the 2008 civic election.
(On a side note, I will be very interested to see how many events Councillor Woodsworth actually attended during the Olympics, as the rumour is that she was frantically asking for tickets to any event she could possibly insert herself into – regardless of comments by her colleague Councillor Cadman about said tickets being “a perk of position.”)
The deal between COPE and Vision currently remains in limbo, as both sides seem to be content to let things be ironed out at the last minute, as was the case in 2008.
Here are the strategic considerations for both sides to consider in a conversation that would be wise to have sooner rather than later.
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February 1, 2010 - 11:00 am |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
Councillors Cadman and Woodsworth are immersed in Olympic sized hypocrisy over Olympic tickets.
So COPE’s two City Councillors – Ellen Woodsworth and David Cadman – and their lone Park Board Commissioner – Loretta Woodcock – have been invited to the Olympic opening and closing ceremonies but have refused, citing the fact that they aren’t willing pay for tickets on their own, and thus they are not going to accept them from the City.
To begin with, there are a lot of things that these officials probably wouldn’t do on their own if their weren’t elected – sitting in Council chambers until past midnight listening to concerned citizens have their voices heard, attending events on many evenings and on weekends at the expense of family time, reading reams of staff reports that most likely is comprised of a small forest by year’s end, just to name a few – but they do them because they ran for office willingly, and are now fulfilling the duties associated with the job.
But what bothers me about this vacuous martyrdom (each and every Councillor should at the very least be responsible to attend the ceremonies to represent the host city) is that it benefits no one (do they think that by not showing up the city is going to save money when the tickets have already been purchased?) and worse, it has all the characteristics of partisan hypocrisy designed to get media attention.
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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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