Municipal Campaign Over: Provincial Election Next on Agenda

Now that we have made it through two elections in the space of two months - maybe we should take a break. Will politicos here in North Vancouver be able to enjoy some U.S. Thanksgiving turkey, and then a peaceful non-campaign driven Christmas/New Years season?

Hardly! With the Provincial election looming May 12, 2009 - expect the campaign Christmas cards to fly and the prognostications to start immediately!

Take for instance the Ipsos Reid poll reported in the Vancouver Sun today. That poll flying in the face of an Angus Reid poll a few days ago showing the NDP with a five point lead over the BC Liberals. Today's poll says the BC Libs actually have a 9-point lead over the New Democrats.

Don't you love politics!

The B.C. Liberal government continues to run comfortably ahead of the New Democratic Party, according to a new poll by Ipsos Reid.

The poll -- which contrasts sharply with one released on Friday by Angus Reid Strategies -- gives Premier Gordon Campbell's Liberal party 44-per-cent support, nine points ahead of the NDP.

The Angus Reid poll Friday gave the NDP 44 per cent, which translated into a five-point lead over the governing Liberals.

"I'm not going to comment on the difference," Ipsos Reid spokesman Kyle Braid said Monday, adding it is his policy not to comment on polls from competing companies.

"I've gone through ours, I'm comfortable with the results, and I think I'll let the numbers and our record stand for itself."

The Ipsos Reid numbers show little change from the provincial polling the company has done over the past two years, with the Liberal party dropping just three points from the support Ipsos Reid was tracking in June.

Source: Vancouver Sun, Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Mayor acclamation = low voter turn out.

A 16.7% municipal voter turn for Saturday's election is pretty disappointing.

I was at Tommy's restaurant Sat. morning and one of young employees there asked another employee, "What is the date today?" I interjected, "It's Nov. the 15th, Civic Election Day, are you going to vote?" She looked at me, sighed and said, "I don't pay any attention to local gov't. "Well, the election has come and gone, the community was given a chance to participate but like the young employee at Tommy's, very few took that opportunity. We could just have had just an election for retired Clr. Janice Harris' vacant seat at the end of the day.

Speaking of Janice, I found it interesting how she allegedly recommended to the local greens not vote for any of the incumbents except Lisa Muri. Apparently she was steamed about the whole Bus Barn issue. Lisa didn't vote in favour of the Bus Barn but her long standing green stance still gave her merit as an incumbent.

Someone said to me yesterday that the majority of voters really go to the ballot box to elect a Mayor and they vote for a few familiar Councillors and maybe a Trustee or two while they have pencil in hand. Without a Mayor's race to attract the voters, it's a bit of a rout.

Wendy Qureshi and Paulo Pucci should have run just to get the electorate out. Perhaps we would have a different face on District Council if they had.

Final Results: City of North Vancouver Municipal Election 2008

Unofficial results from the CNV.org website:

Darrell R. MUSSATTO is hereby declared to be elected by acclamation as Mayor.

  TOTAL % OF TOTAL

COUNCILLOR

 

Pam BOOKHAM 3296 (11.8%)

Craig KEATING 2970 (10.6%)

Rod CLARK 2704 (9.7%)

Guy HEYWOOD 2621 (9.4%)

Mary TRENTADUE 2590 (9.3%)

Bob FEARNLEY 2571 (9.2%)

Sam SCHECHTER 2525 (9.0%)

Cheryl LEIA 2402 (8.6%)

Ivan LEONARD 2087 (7.5%)

Kelly NIELSON 1327 (4.8%)

Ron McINTYRE 1109 (4.0%)

Joe HEILMAN 853 (3.1%)

Richard VICKERY 347 (1.2%)

Behgam RABBANI 289 (1.0%)

Ron SOSTAD 214 (0.8%)

 

SCHOOL TRUSTEE

 

Linda BUCHANAN 3881 (33%)

Susan SKINNER 2852 (24.2%)

Mary TASI 1844 (15.7%)

Chris DORAIS 1676 (14.2%)

John HARVEY 1519 (12.9%)

 

TOTAL VOTERS 5540

Total Eligible Voters: 31,346

Voter Turnout: 17.674%

Successful candidates are identified in  bold.

Final Results: District of North Vancouver Municipal Election 2008

The District of North Vancouver announces the following (unofficial) election results for the Local Government Election:

   

MAYOR: Walton, Richard (by acclamation)

   

COUNCILLORS:  

  Hicks, Robin 6,799 (14.63%)

  Muri, Lisa 6,515 (14.02%)

  Little, Mike 6,506 (14.00%)

  MacKay-Dunn, Doug 6,186 (13.31%)

  Nixon, Alan 5,322 (11.45%)

  Bassam, Roger 4,691 (10.09%)

  Fair, John 3,708  (7.98%)

  McKee, David 3,674  (7.91%)

  Birrell, Peter 3,068  (6.60%)

   

SCHOOL TRUSTEES:  

  Thornthwaite, Jane 6,257 (21.03%)

  Stratton, Franci 4,889 (16.43%)

  Back, Holly 4,344 (14.60%)

  Forward, Barry 3,944 (13.26%)

  Gerlach, Cyndi 3,379  (11.36%)

  Campbell, Ian 3,315  (11.14%)

  Williams, Linda 2,812  (9.45%)

  Kadioglu, Matt 810     (2.72%)

 

Number of eligible voters: 59,673 

Total ballots cast: 9,973 (16.71%)

The Eve of North Vancouver Elections

As this was the last day for All-Candidates meetings before Nov. 15th I would like to wish 'All the Best' to both acclaimed Mayors, City and District Councillor and School Trustee Candidates on Election Day. May the best women and men for the job win! Very well done to you all for your hard work during your campaigns this past month. Although I am more familiar with District Politics, it seemed fair play, civility, and respect was the order of the day in both campaign fronts. No doubt those of you who are elected will face some of the toughest challenges of any elected municipal office in recent history. I commend you for taking on this immense responsibility.

Do our municipalities need "fixers"?

Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
-Lord Acton-

Who ya gonna call when things go wrong?

Not city hall. Nanaimo has slammed the door on one family, and things are no better in other B.C. cities

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/columnists/story.html?id=14cc5ed2-ed7d-40e0-a9aa-ef9eb05143fe

Daphne Bramham's story brings up, once again, what is very wrong with our municipal governance and the BC Community Charter. Here is the gist of her story about a family's gift of land to the City of Nanaimo, refused:

"...To break the logjam, some civic experts have advised Fushtey to hire a "fixer" -- as if this were some Third World country..."

"...There used to be an inspector of municipalities, but the office was a victim of downsizing and deregulation. The inspector had a staff and the power to do random inspections, investigate and even overturn decisions made by municipalities.

A number of years ago, his oversight powers were handed off to the ombudsman's office, which has no staff with expertise in municipal disputes and is responsible for a long laundry list of ministries, authorities, Crown corporations and even self-regulating professional bodies.

That opened the door for shenanigans by both civic administrators and elected officials and left citizens with nowhere to turn for help, even though politicians and civic staff have had their powers enhanced.

Since the inspector's office has shut, there's been explosive growth in most B.C. municipalities. Discretionary zoning and deal-making with developers have become the norm and municipalities are increasingly using money tucked away in special funds to avoid going to taxpayers for borrowing approval.

Between 2000 and 2006, municipal governments' spending increases have been astronomical -- averaging nearly double the combined rates of population growth and inflation, according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. Among its findings is that average civic wages are 14 per cent higher than those in the private sector.

The federation wants more transparency and improved oversight. It wants restrictions on wage increases and additions to staff. And it wants all spending increases limited to the combined increase in population and inflation.

Since the B.C. Liberals approved the Community Charter, municipalities have been able to sue citizens, which has resulted in a rash of so-called SLAPP suits -- Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation.

Last spring, after Powell River sued three citizens for defamation, the B.C. Civil Liberties Association launched its own action asking the B.C. Supreme Court to declare that no government has the right to sue its citizens.

Surrey's Mayor Dianne Watts believes there's another problem: political complacency. Because of public apathy and/or confusion, incumbents rarely lose. But Watts believes new ideas and fresh blood are needed. So she's pushing for a three-term limit -- nine years and out.

All of those solutions require the provincial government taking action.

But until then, citizens' ultimate recourse is casting informed votes. And, across the province, we all get our chance this Saturday."

Guy Heywood – Does he really represent everyone?

I would like to ask you a question of the people of North Vancouver.

Does it matter to you that your elected representative represents everyone’s interests fairly and objectively? Unless you are on the political fringe, you would obviously say, “Yes, it matters to me that fair and equal representation be given to everyone who is a resident of our community!” After all it is the summation of our collective thoughts that makes North Vancouver unique and special.

If this is the case, then you should read this attached letter printed in the North Shore News January 2005. Of note is the first person who signed off on this letter.

So I ask those voters who are considering supporting this political wannabee, are you aware of his past intolerance and bigotry? This is a time of non partisanship...he certainly showed no willingness to listen and to allow the democratic process to proceed. What was he and his friends afraid of? Will we see this kind of smear campaign every time he doesn`t agree? Can you be assured that your interests will be fairly and objectively represented by Guy Heywood?





Guy Heywood – Does he really represent everyone?

Cost reduction to the District/City Taxpayer

Laugh me out of North Vancouver you may but, what about the idea of eliminating municipal by-elections? This idea may be better suited to the Provincial level but perhaps it could save us a few bucks locally. The cost to the District taxpayer for the 2004 by-election was a cool $96,04.11. Thank you Mr. Bell.

So have an empty seat while an incumbent moves up the ladder or other reason until the next regular election, you say?

What if during the regular election campaign we chose , two more 'alternatives' in case of a by-election that could assume a seat if needed. I know there hasn't been too many by-elections in the District or City in recent history but, why not have one or two people ready to take a seat that might come up? Whoever was voted to the 7th and 8th spots in the regular election could be the alternatives. Perhaps pay them a nominal fee to attend critical meetings so they are in the loop. This also has the potential for a smoother transition than electing someone who is a rookie during a by-election. This could also mean rewriting the local Election Act but, it might be worth looking at.

Are BC municipalities governed like antiquated backwaters?

When compared to other provinces or US states, some argue that that the governance model for BC's municipalities is not keeping up with the times. Combined 2008 budgets for West Vancouver, North Vancouver City, and North Vancouver District, for example, total more than $299 million. That's a lot of money. When one includes the influence that councils can have over property values by means of zoning decisions, the values are much larger. Yet, as the Vancouver Sun reports:

Despite the significant budgets the local governments run and the land-use decisions they make, there is no institution that plays the role of an auditor general, essentially being an independent watchdog for the taxpayer at the city level. Thus, there's no independent authority charged with doing cost-benefit analysis on the taxpayers' behalf, measuring how their money is being spent, wasted or even stolen.

Patrick Smith, a political science professor at SFU, for example maintains that:

"We're a backwater on this stuff," says Prof. Smith. "This information should all be online. In other provinces, you can get access to all of this."

It's worth noting the professor, along with SFU professor Kennedy Stewart, have been calling on the province for years to improve municipal accountability.

In a 1998 paper, they even called for Victoria to create a deputy conflict-of-interest commissioner, with responsibility for overseeing municipal matters. They also requested the creation of a deputy freedom of information commissioner, who could provide quick rulings on accessing municipal records.

Is this an issue for the North Shore, and indeed, for all BC municipalities? Should our councils be lobbying for the creation of independent auditors, conflict-of-interest commissioners, and freedom of information commissioners? Or are we well-served now by our current processes and thus do not need to divert funds away from pressing social issues to focus on more provincial intrusion into municipal affairs?

5 Days to Election 2008: District of North Vancouver

Apart from the plethora of All Candidates meetings, this has been a somewhat uneventful campaign in the District.

Voters in the District appear not so much concerned about density as to where the "density pods" are going to be located. Early in the campaign newbe candidate Peter Birrell raised the bar on this one by stating that he would like to see several towers built behind Capilano University. While Mayor Walton worked hard to steer the debate to be from the "eyes of a 17-year-old" and how development in our various neighbourhoods should proceed from the perspective of our young people.

Transportation was also pushed as an issue by most candidates - when are we going to see some serious bicycle lanes in the District?

So is it still a case of all the incumbants winning and one newcomer joining the ranks? There has been alot of talk amongst the sitting Council that they work well together.

How's it all going to finish? It's anyone's bet!

Campaign Countdown: City of North Vancouver

Six days of campaigning remain in the upcoming Municipal Election in the City of North Vancouver.

Affordable housing and density appear to be the main issues getting people out of the armchairs and into the voting booth.

There has been a whole lot of door knocking goin' on and it would be great to hear from the front lines what the average voter is talking about this election.

Wednesday should be a bellweather day with thousands of promotional mailouts set to hit the doorsteps before the weekend vote.

Where will you be November 15th?