• This is a deceptive story at first glance, because street parking (both in terms of rates and hours of payment) seems to dwarf cities like Toronto and Montreal.  This story represents a huge success for the Mayor and his Greenest City Action plan.  Take a read of this quote from Julian Jones, vice-president of business development for Impark, who “attributes the slowdown to three things: an increase in taxes on parking from 12 to 35.5 per cent, the opening of the Canada Line and that people discovered transit during the Olympics and continued to use it.”  And I don’t care what the usual suspects say – this website and this video is in particular are both awesome.  It is the kind of approach that really has a legitimate shot at getting people engaged and interested in being a part of the initiative.

• From what I have heard, last night’s Vancouver Park Board meeting was quite respectful, all things considered – definitely no throat slashing gestures or middle fingers off camera as was perpetrated by some of the West End residents with City Council a couple of weeks back.  The vote was 5-2 against Stuart Mackinnon’s motion, and while it got a little heated (the anti-captivity crowed were chanting for the Vision Commissioners to resign at one point), it was a healthy debate.  What bothers me is this “woe is me” type of commentary that is now coming out of Mackinnon’s mouth – “I’m very saddened that the chair (Jasper) chose to personalize the debate.  I don’t think it’s good for any politician to stray from the debate.”  Hmmm…here’s a question Stuart:  how is Aaron Jasper’s claims that you were initiating “political mischief with this motion” any different from this:  “Green party commissioner Stuart Mackinnon, on the other hand, told the Straight by phone that he questions the motivate behind the motion. “I think it’s more about government-bashing than altruism,” he said. “I think it’s put forward by people who have political ambitions for themselves. They’re claiming it’s because the HST is going to increase fees for people, yet this board voted unanimously for a four-percent increase [to recreational-services fees] across the board last November. If people were genuinely concerned about people’s ability to pay, then why did they vote for a four-percent increase in our fees?“  Another pot calling the kettle black, me thinks.

• After reading this and this and unfortunately actually having the fortitude to sit through this, I can’t help but be reminded by one of my favourite Ozzy tunes.

• I read Jeff Lee’s column in the Vancouver Sun yesterday, and regardless of whether it is Sam Sullivan or Gregor Robertson that neighbourhoods are rallying against, I was left puzzled.  Is Vancouver a city of neighbourhoods – buroughs, if you will – that have absolutely no interest in anything outside of their vicinity?  Are grand visions for the city – major initiatives that are looking to improve the city, regardless of whether they involve density or increasing rental stock – impossible in Vancouver?  At one time I was a huge fan of the CityPlan and community visions process.  Now, I am not so sure anymore.

• I absolutely love this addition to this year’s fireworks competition.  Once again, I truly believe that it is an extension of what we witnessed during the Olympics.  In spite of a lifetime of tepid civic pride and involvement, Vancouver really has come alive, as witnessed during the World Cup and Canada Day in recent weeks.  I am very happy that this city is finally becoming as active as the lifestyle that this “outdoor paradise” tends to emphasize in its branding.  And no, I am not going to be hanging around downtown Granville Street to document the enthusiasm as some with what must be classified as an active social life might be inclined to try (see above).

• I really want to try and attempt to get courtside seats for this game.  Yes, it is preseason, and yes, the Raptors no longer have any name recognition with Chris Bosh gone, but damn it, I miss basketball in this city and Steve Nash is a Canadian sports legend.  Like I did with UFC 115, I think I might be willing to dole out a little cash to make my second and probably only appearance next to the rich, famous and beautiful.  OK…so I’ll probably be the odd one out with regards to that criteria.

• From where I stand, no need to “improve compliance” with this aspect of policing, boys and girls.  Quotas rather than road safety are the cause of most of the infractions doled out, in my humble opinion.

Alright, that’s it for now folks.  Have a fantastic day.

UFC VP of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner is the man who made all of the details run smoothly at Vancouver UFC 115 card, in spite of the amateur nature of the VAC officials he had to deal with.

Sitting in the press conference a few days before UFC 115 took place, I couldn’t help but shake my head at the sight of the humbled and tentative Mirko Mladenovic, the former chairman of the Vancouver Athletic Commission (VAC).  Mirko sat their alone, possibly shocked that it was all happening in spite of his interventions, which at times put the whole event in severe jeopardy.

I say former because this is what happened yesterday, coming as no surprise to those of us who closely followed the proceedings of how the UFC finally got to Vancouver.

Comments like this show how clueless this guy really is:

““I’ve been on the board for three terms. I am only into this one four months. What has changed? What has changed is they wanted to kill UFC and I approved it.”

Excuse me?  YOU approved it?  And THEY wanted to kill UFC?

Wow.  Here’s the real story folks.

From the day that City Council lifted the MMA ban for a trial period of two years, the writing was on the wall that UFC was coming to Vancouver.

UFC VP of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner had been in contact with both GM Place and City of Vancouver officials for the past three years, and the December vote was the culmination of his efforts.

From December until April, the UFC and the City of Vancouver were in closed door discussions about liability, imdemnification and insurance issues.  In spite of shoddy reporting from the likes of Showdown Joe, the event was not ever in serious danger of being moved.

Although, after taking a look at these comments made by the grandstanding former head of the VAC:

“The City of Vancouver does not want to be in the sanctioning business.  After the UFC, we’re going to be at a major impasse.

“The UFC isn’t going to make any money off this.”

it isn’t hard to figure out why such misinformation was being spread amongst the media.  In the midst of heavy-duty and highly sensitive negotiations, Mirko was out in the media being a showboat, claiming that it was the VAC’s approval of UFC that was prompting city officials not to dispose of the event.  NOTHING could be further from the truth.  In fact, Mirko’s ill-timed comments that the City didn’t want to sanction UFC almost provided the impetus for the whole negotiating process to fall apart.  He was a hindrance, not an advocate that made a positive impact.

Far from being at an impasse, the City is now aggressively pursuing a way of importing a more professional system of sanctioning in lieu of the BC Government showing any initiative to form a provincial sanctioning body.  Talks with Quebec to piggyback off of their system are already in the works.

And UFC didn’t make any money off of the event?  Give me a break.  The take for Dana White and crew was about $4.5 million, making it one of the highest gates in UFC history.  That is of course not even counting PPV revenues, which is where the real money is made.

How clueless was Mladenovic in this whole process?  Well, here is just one example: he had to get Ratner to print up forms for the judges’ scoring and bring them up from Vegas because he didn’t have any idea as to what was involved in his role.  In fact, on a myriad of issues, from medical requirements to sanctioning to rules and regulations to purses for the fighters, Ratner had to spoon-feed the entire VAC throughout the two months from the announcement of the event to the day of the fights.

And so what did Mirko do to make up for his shortcomings?  He made it a point of giving City of Vancouver staff a taste of his venom with abusive comments and emails.  From what I have heard, to call him belligerent would be the understatement of the year.  There is apparently a file f0lder full of correspondence from Mirko that accused officials of corruption, incompetence, stupidity – and the language used indicates that harassment and intimidation was his preferred method of getting his point across.

Dave Rudberg is perfectly suited to take on this file.  In fact, with all of the issues of insurance and safety, his Olympic experience will be invaluable in making things run smoothly from this point forward.  He gets how to run a big event, he understands the issues and concerns of the city intimately, and he is professional and well versed in how to deal with the media.

Don’t feel sorry for Mirko, folks – he is far from an MMA martyr.

UFC will be back next year, folks – you can take that to the bank.

Thank goodness that Marc Ratner and his staff won’t have to jump through all the hoops that were necessary this time around.

UFC is big business, and the City of Vancouver needs mature professionals handling the file from this point forward.

Rudberg certainly fits that bill.

Meatheads that wear this kind of apparel and hate on gays and others is not exclusive to the UFC audience.

Was this incident a hate crime?  Well, sounds like a safe bet with some neanderthals who yell homophobic garbage at someone while bashing in their head 50+ times.

But to blame the UFC for this is just nonsense.  This could have been a hip hop or metal concert, a Canucks game, or another event.  To say that a hate crime is caused by drunken guys inspired by watching a fight is a stretch to say the least.

Just yesterday I was standing on Robson eating at my favourite shawarma place at about 4:30 in the afternoon, when three guys who were also eating there got up, ran towards a BMW convertible stopped at a light (female driver, male passenger), and beat the shit out of the guy, with a dramatic scene that followed.  These Ed Hardy wearing, tattoo gangster wannabes are everywhere in Vancouver these days.

I understand that the couple who were assaulted feel this way, and quite frankly, they have every right.  But taking a step back from the situation would give a clearer perspective in terms of culpability.

Dana White and Gregor Robertson meet for the first time before last Thursday's press conference.

UFC 115 has come and gone, and Vancouver has not lost its moral high ground, nor was the event overtaken by gang warfare.  Most importantly for the issue of the day regarding the card, there were no major injuries to warrant concern about insurance or indemnity for the City.

No, UFC 115 was a spectacle of epic proportions that brought a broad cross-section of fans from across Metro Vancouver to GM Place.  I saw kids that were under 10 and jumping off the walls, and I saw senior citizens who God bless their souls, had trouble walking up the stairs.  I saw guys and girls, I saw ethnicity across the rainbow that Vancouver has to offer, and saw casual and diehard fans in the crowd.

It was well run, it was entertaining as hell, and it made a mint for local economy (one figure I heard from someone who tracks this kind of stuff told me it was at least in excess of $13 million).

UFC is definitely coming back to the city – that has been confirmed by Dana White, and further echoed by the Mayor’s office.

And in the end, it was the political muscle of Gregor Robertson that turned a bureaucratic nightmare into a huge win for the city.

Showdown Joe and I made up after our blog war over whether the UFC had pulled out of Vancouver back in April.

When Showdown Joe of Rogers Sportsnet incorrectly reported that the UFC had pulled out of Vancouver (read the comments for some interesting tidbits from Joe and I), the event was in peril.

The city licensing department, and more specifically department head Tom Hammel, had never dealt with anything like this, and were completely unaware about the fight game (in spite of their report back to City Council).  The Vancouver Atheletic Commission was and continues to remain completely clueless.  Councillor Raymond Louie had put in some very difficult conditions on the lifting of the MMA ban back in December that made the insurance components that a promoter needed to put on the table overwhelming.  There was a complete lack of knowledge about what MMA represented, or really how much money it could inject into the city.  And finally, there was no movement from either the federal government to change the criminal code, or the province to create a provincial sanctioning body.

That is when the Mayor stepped in.  He pulled the parties together.  He sat in on the meetings that took place between city staff and UFC officials.  He played deal maker with Vegas when he had to.

And why?  Because he got it, both in terms of what the general public was pushing for, and for the impact it would have on the city.  He was not tied up in dogmatic nanny-state politics, but rather he followed the populist winds while at the same time going through great lenghts to protect the City and more specifically taxpayers from any undue risk.

That is why the day after last week’s press conference, Dana White praised the Mayor like no other politician I have ever witnessed (and I have been following White and the UFC for many, many years).

Robertson stepped in, and brokered a successful result.

Funnily enough, this might be one of Gregor Robertson’s most popular interventions, the circumstances of which prove why this man is going to be Mayor until 2015.  Of that, I would put good money on.

I want to take a moment to commend UFC VP of Regulatory Affairs, who was truly the unsung hero in all of this.  His work with the athletic commission (for which I must say is truly a joke), and his ability to educate and provide the infrastructure to make things run smoothly, was out of this world.  He was a driving force behind this win, and deserve recognition (even if he doesn’t particularly care about it).

UFC will be back within 12-18 months, my friends, and for all of you who missed out on the show, I highly recommend you get tickets next time.  This was a show that few events in Vancouver can rival.