This image demonstrates the way some feel that City of Vancouver staff need to act when implementing the agenda of a democratically elected government.

I read the comments for this posting by Frances Bula and laugh.

Are we to believe that the previous Vancouver City Manager Judy Rogers was somehow apolitical when, as an example, she distributed a confidential memo to staff that accused the unions of using the 2007 civic strike to defeat the NPA in the next election?

Regardless, the recommendations that come from staff are only as good as the direction the Council chooses to ultimately head towards – a position that Gregor made very clear during the 2008 campaign:

“Staff are there to provide information and not to make decisions…that should be left up to those that are elected by the people.”

The same applies to the issue of street homelessness.  Gregor Robertson campaigned on ending it by 2015 as his number one issue during the election – no surprises there.  And, as the map in the linked article demonstrates, those were the results that the Vancouver electorate returned in the ballot boxes.

So you’ll forgive me if I also scoff at the criticisms of a man who presided over the Mayor’s office during a period where street homelessness increased by 37 per cent in spite of promising a reduction of 50 per cent (yes…clearly a pipe dream).  Oh yeah, and a former provincial cabinet minister and his “blue chip law firm” got contracts for consulting on the initiative (half of the budget is reported by the Tyee to have been spent in the first year).  The initiative I am referring to – Project Civil City – brilliantly demonized the homeless and the mentally ill by using law enforcement to ticket people without a permanent address.

Truth be told…the Council years under Larry Campbell were far, far worse.  But then again, they aren’t there beating the drums against an agenda that the voters of Vancouver overwhelmingly endorsed.

There is an agenda with regards to targeting homelessness.  The people of Vancouver overwhelmingly embraced the party that advocated it as their number one priority.  NIMBY neighbourhood minorities that support this intent as long as it doesn’t involve their piece of paradise will never be appeased no matter how much consultation is engaged in.  The Mayor is making sure that he is living up to his campaign commmitment, and the majority of Vancouverites understand the importance of tackling one of Vancouver’s most systemic problems.  Tangible efforts both in terms of shelters and more permanent housing arrangements are coming on line quickly.

Tough issues are always going to be controversial to those who do not support change that impacts them personally.

Political leadership is about mitigating these narrow interests and staring them down in favour of leaving a lasting legacy for Vancouver’s downtrodden populations.

Enough said