Posts Tagged ‘Penny Ballem’

City Caucus gets it wrong again

Posted by Jonathan Ross

The City Caucus "throw as much mud against the wall as possible and see what sticks" style of reporting has once again fallen far short of accuracy.

UPDATE:  Jeff Lee of the Vancouver Sun also demonstrates how useful a simple phone call can be in gauging sensational yet false storylines.

The conjecture:

“Vancouver’s City Clerk responsible for Freedom of Information requests Paul Hancock, Manager, Corporate Information & Privacy, has tendered his resignation. It is believed that Hancock did not have another job opportunity when he made this decision.” (EDITOR’S NOTE: Crack reporting at its finest)

“”However, it was well known how frustrated he had become working for this administration.” (EDITOR’S NOTE: From another phantom source at City Hall)

“Hancock was on the receiving end of Ballem’s tirades, and remained dignified despite enormous pressure by the Vision Vancouver government to obscure and stifle access to information.” (EDITOR’S NOTE: Where is the proof that comes anywhere close to backing up this allegation?)

The facts:

“City manager Penny Ballem said that the just-announced departure of freedom of information officer Paul Hancock for another job…”

“Ms. Ballem said Mr. Hancock is leaving for a “wonderful opportunity” elsewhere. “He has other interests around FOI that will be a great fit there.”

Now unless the City Caucus boys are calling Penny a liar, it seems as though they didn’t bother to do even the basic level of digging about why Paul Hancock is really leaving.

But why would they bother to seek out the facts when speculation and innuendo suits their purposes far better?

Internal City Hall dissent isn’t what it has been reported to be

Posted by Jonathan Ross

Not everyone within City Hall is up in arms about the internal change that is currently occurring, as some might have the public believe.

Frances Bula wrote a story about the changes that are going on at City Hall, which is fascinating enough in its account of how those within the Hall are reacting to the way in which things are being shaped by the Vision administration.  But then there was this comment left at her blog, which I for one don’t find surprising in the least:

Read the rest of this entry »

Quick hits

Posted by Jonathan Ross

Read the rest of this entry »

“Future candidate???” Mike Klassen launches another empty attack on Mayor Gregor Robertson

Posted by Jonathan Ross

Shameless political advertising or serving in the job that he was elected to?

There was once a time where famed blogger and potential future NPA City Council candidate Mike Klassen thought that promoting the Olympics and Paralympics, and more specifically the free activities and events that populated the city during those periods, was a top priority:

“The Vision Vancouver Council seem to have had an aversion to promoting the Games since they were elected, so as to not upset part of their base who oppose the event.” – August 18, 2009

“Dwindling public dollars needn’t be the stumbling block for BC and Vancouver to sell itself to the world. Any savvy marketer knows there are a million opportunities to generate international buzz, and we only have to exploit them — NOW!” – August 18, 2009

“It wasn’t rocket science to understand that most of us can’t afford to attend Olympic events, but want to enjoy the party. How come bloggers are the ones making things happen?” – Jan 26, 2010

“Perhaps the best way that we get good value for our investment is to partake of the dozens of free events being staged during the Games. Think of the message we’d send to the world when thousands of us show up to celebrate in our own cities.” – February 23, 2010

“Then, almost as if the light went on, Canadians fell in love with hosting the Olympic & Paralympic Games. The change in mood was so sudden and so ebullient, that it came as a complete surprise to Games veterans. Even Jacques Rogge described Vancouver’s enthusiastic embrace as unprecedented.

Many theories exist now on why it worked so well, but there is no doubt in our minds that the key ingredient was the numerous free activities.” April 13, 2010

Klassen was also a supporter and web designer for Mayor Sam Sullivan around the time that the former Mayor appeared in the ad pictured above, designed to promote businesses who were facing disruption due to the Canada Line construction.

Yet from that point until the present, Klassen has had some political setbacks.  First, Klassen witnessed his own brethren within the NPA turn on their former fearless leader, supporting an adversary who at the time claimed that “a lot of people have lost confidence in Sam” and that there was “concern within the party that Sam may have been taking money for one purpose and using it for another” with regards to fundraising.

And then of course came Vision Vancouver’s Gregor Robertson, whose emergence on the municipal political scene rankled Klassen to no end, turning him and his writing partner into the new Mayor’s “biggest critics.

Along this bumpy political journey in recent years, Klassen has developed a condition where he often forgets what he once advocated for.  Mike’s Mother’s Day post (linked to in the last paragraph) is a perfect example of this unfortunate syndrome.

Read the rest of this entry »

Sun Feb 05, 2012

February 2012
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
  
 1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29  

FACT OF THE DAY

In 2010, Vancouver had fewer than half the number of murders than it had in 2009.  There were nine homicides within Vancouver’s city limits, down from 19 killings the previous year.

Quote OF THE DAY

“Perhaps it was my silk dress or the new perfume I’ve been wearing lately. When I asked Suzanne Anton what her New Year’s resolution was, she replied, “To kiss a pretty girl!” and pecked me on the cheek.”  – Writer Emily Barca describing her encounter with the lone NPA City Councillor on New Year’s Eve.

Archive

Tags