July 30, 2010 - 11:28 am |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
NPA President Michael Davis didn't seem to have as scrutinizing an eye when his party and Sam Sullivan were in power.
It is no surprise that the NPA came out swinging following Vision Vancouver’s release of their financials yesterday:
NPA Calls Vision Vancouver Fundraising astonishing
Vancouver—Vision Vancouver today released statements showing they have raised over $433,000 since March 1, 2009.
Vancouver Non-Partisan Association (NPA) President Michael Davis says Vision Vancouver is taking municipal campaign fundraising to astonishing levels.
“In front of reporters, Mayor Robertson says campaign finance is out of control and should be reigned in through legislation,” says Davis. “Behind the scenes, the party he leads is taking close to half a million from developers and trade unions in a non-election year. What do you suppose these donors expect in return?”
The documents filed by Vision Vancouver show they took $433,560.83 in contributions since March 1, 2009. The party used $241,666.70 to pay off their 2008 campaign debt and spent $181,522.35.
“Residents should be very concerned about what how much this Mayor is prepared to pay to stay in power,” adds Davis, “and who is paying the bills.”
But Davis had a different set of criteria when talking about the donations that his own party received for the 2008 election.
Read the rest of this entry »
July 16, 2010 - 11:49 am |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
Modular housing is still transitional in nature, but it is a smart first step for the City of Vancouver to take on as part of its goal to offer more affordable housing options.
It is a fantastic idea for the city to start freeing up land for modular housing. As I have suggested before, the property endowment fund and all the vacant land owned by the city is the ticket for leveraging partnerships to get different forms of housing built within the City.
With the province likely tapped out with regards to additional spending on housing, and with the federal government nowhere even close to the issue, it is contingent on the City to get moving on using its assets to full advantage.
Check out Monte Paulsen’s fantastic series from April on modular housing and the impact it can have both in terms of sustainability and alleviating the housing crunch that this city is currently facing.
It is about time that the City started to lead with regards to building housing as opposed to always relying on the provincial government.
This Council’s fulfillment of their major plank of solving street homelessness by 2015 and creating more affordable housing options is contingent on this kind of proactive approach.
October 6, 2009 - 9:43 pm |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
Linda Solomon held her relaunch party for the Vancouver Observer tonight to a healthy crowd of friends of supporters. Solomon has spent years building an audience for her Pulitzer Prize nominated brand of journalism, and her online newspaper has grown from a labour of love to a true pillar of the Vancouver media landscape. It is strongly recommended to keep abreast of everything Vancouver, as it is one of my without fail daily reads.
I also ran into The Tyee’s editor David Beers, who let me know about the website’s newly established partnership with the Museum of Vancouver, both of which will be jointly sponsoring an ongoing speaking series about some of our regions most pressing issues. This Friday the first event will feature one of BC’s most interesting political/public affairs reporters Monte Paulsen, who will give a talk entitled Ending Homelessness: What Works which will have an illustrated presentation that will survey the state of homelessness in B.C., a review of the history of homelessness in Vancouver, and an exploration of strategies to end street homelessness across the province. Monte is brilliant, and the presentation will undoubtedly be thought provoking and powerful.
