Showing posts with label election. Show all posts
Showing posts with label election. Show all posts
Will Tomkinson
Friday, November 28, 2008

This Just In....(insert telex noise here)

Eagerly awaiting the last official results of the 2008 New Westminster civic elections, we are pleased to relay that the judicial recount for the position of school trustee has been completed. In a message this afternoon from New Westminster Deputy Chief Electoral Officer Doris Fassbender, the results were announced:

Following a two day judicial recount at the BC Provincial Court, New Westminster Registry, Judge Her Honour Alexander declared the results for the office of School Trustee for the 2008 General Local Election for the City of New Westminster. Brent Atkinson received 3665 votes and Vivian Garcia received 3663 votes. Therefore, Brent Atkinson was declared School Trustee-elect.
As reported here, Vivian Garcia was endorsed by re-elected Mayor Wayne Wright.

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Will Tomkinson
Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Royal City Bloggers and Journalists Agree: We Suck at Voting

Who really won the recent New Westminster 2008 municipal election? Not us, because we are a bunch of chumps that can't make it to out to stuff a slip of paper into a box. Do we harbour some long hidden fears of elementary school gymnasiums? Terror at the nasty chance of an electoral paper cut?

Our manifest idiocy has not gone unnoticed by the scribbling classes. Even here, at Tenth to the Fraser, we have noted our past 26.2% participation lameness. Now, with renewed evidence of our callous disregard for our franchise, Shelley Fralic boldy scolds us in today's issue of the Vancouver Sun (Nov14, 08, A4) ,

In short, our growing pains, while an indication of a bright future and a solid economic base, are profound.

So you'd think the citizens of my town, who chose this place to live, would give a damn about what happens to it.

And you know, Fralic is not alone in her keen perception. She rightly points out that while New Westminster is the kind of town where you can meet with several generations on a bright day in the park and know all of them, we must reconcile that community spirit with the dearth of spirit that is made plain by this year's dismal showing. Pat Tracy from the Record agrees in her blog and wants to cause a 'hoofra' of her own and call attention to the fact that with such apathy, even large families can sway a sizable portion of the poplar vote.

Strengthening the chorus of those who decry the poor participation, Niki Hope eloquently reminds us of what I have heard and also hold to be true, that:
It is pretty sad that so few people bothered to walk a few blocks to help determine how their hefty taxes will be spent and who will help guide their children’s education.
Now after that kind of drubbing, and from so many sources, come on citizens! I want to see you volunteering at the Shiloh Church food bank, donning an or joining a municipal committee. We owe it to ourselves to vote and further to participate in a meaningful way in our city. Dance with seniors, hug a hooded teen (or whatever); anything to ameliorate our mass participation in nothing on voting day.

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Jocelyn
Sunday, November 16, 2008

Post-election Post (Editorial)

Now that the dust has settled and the result is no different than last election (Is it just me or does anyone else have deja vu from October?), perhaps there's no wonder that a proportion of New Westminster's citizens voted (in a completely non-binding way) to increase the electoral cycle from 3 years to 4 - perhaps this proportion of the population believes that since nothing will change, why go to the expense to have elections so frequently?

I'm sure that in the coming weeks, editors, electors and candidates will toss around theories for the lack of change of the council, the apparent dearth of an expected "Grimston Park Effect" and as to how to deal with a 50-year age gap between sole newbie, Jamie MacEvoy, and the rest of City Council, but I am pretty confident that it can all be boiled down and neatly answered with my pet theory about New West - I call it the "One Highschool Effect" or OHE for short.

I have long held that it is the peculiar makeup of New Westminster's school district that has kept the politics, neighbourhood relationships, development plans and even traditions bound to a small town mindset. One highschool of 2200 kids (when I was there) provided the sort of demographic funnel that kept almost everyone in the population within 4 or 5 degrees of separation - just enough to mean that you wouldn't stop everyone on the street for tea and cakes, but just right to mean that everybody's mom, dad, uncle, realtor, dogwalker, dry cleaner, Waffle House owner knew whose kid you were, and likely what elementary school you went to (and thus your neighbourhood and socio-economic status).

In a town where most families have children who grow up, leave, and then come back to raise their kids, often with three or four generations of one family having attended the same high school, memories are long and tradition is revered. In a town where it must seem like most "newfangled" developments seem to fail - the once shiny and bustling Quay Market now dreary and empty; hundreds of shiny new condos built on the old Penn lands all leaky, and an apparent inability to keep any sort of floating vessel at the Quay for long, and the loss of Royal City Centre as a viable retail space - perhaps there is some suspicion of new ideas, and the people who bring them? Perhaps this small-town feeling that has preserved New West's historical charm, has kept residents wary of change - especially where their government is concerned.

Certainly it seems that the longest serving members of Council are those who are also older - whatever happened to Jerry Dobrovolny, who was the youngest - and cutest! - thing to hit council when I was a teenager. He was the first one to use large-format campaign signs, the first to put his face on his signs and the first one to use colour. The net effect was to send the message that perhaps Jerry, a late-thirties family man and city engineer in Vancouver, was perhaps the only candidate running for council in 1995 who knew how to use a computer. When did he leave?

One quick look at New Westminster's Mayors shows how this city likes to hold onto its leaders. Muni Evers' service spanned three decades, from 1968-1982; beloved Mayor Betty Toporowski served almost 10 years (despite the "racy" painting incident!), and with a third term looming ahead of him, mayor Wayne Wright is likely to top up to 9 years himself. There hasn't been a single-term Mayor since J.L. Sangster in 1949-1950! (Take that, Sam Sullivan...)

It seems obvious that New West values its history and perhaps is wary of change. This is bound to change given the rapidly changing demographics of both the city and the provincial population in general, however I can't help but wonder whether there isn't still a silent majority block of voters whose wishes are felt every three years when they again vote in a comfortably familiar set of Mayor, Council and School Board.

Perhaps if the lack of change in governance across the board is part of a larger community effort to thwart change through historical preservation, the mayor and council may need to watch out or they might find themselves on display in Irving House one of these days.

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Briana Tomkinson
Saturday, November 15, 2008

New West says 'no' to change

Despite a well-organized campaign by the Voice party to convince voters New Westminster needs profound change, the resounding public response has been a polite, "No thank you." Unofficial election results show only one new face on council: 12th Street booster, longtime Douglas College Student Union leader, Save St. Mary's Hospital organizer and antipoverty activist Jaimie McEvoy, who appears to have stolen the seat of our longest-serving councillor, Calvin Donnelly . Donnelly has been a city councillor for 18 years, since first elected in 1981 (according to the city website's official bio ... I assume he has not been in office the whole time or else it would be 27 years, no?).

It's the same story on school board, despite the vocal outcry over plans to situate a new school in Grimston Park, six of the seven school trustees are incumbents - and the seventh is former city councillor Casey Cook . There is a slight touch of drama here: Wright-endorsed newcomer Vivian Garcia was so narrowly edged out by incumbent Brent Atkinson (sorry, can't find a link for his bio) that there will be a recount to confirm the tally.

And the final confirmation that New Westminster voters are pretty happy with the way things are? The response to the referendum question on whether council terms should be extended from three years to four was YES . That one's a bit of a puzzler though - civic elections throughout the province occur every three years on the third Saturday in November . The referendum question is explicitly non-binding. Are we really going to put ourselves out of sync with every other municipality in the province and move to a four-year election cycle? I don't know about you, but the first I heard that this question was on the table was when I had my Sharpie in hand at the polling station. It's a surprise to me that we're even considering the question.

The story of the night for me is just how poor a job the news media did of reporting election results from municipalities other than Vancouver and Surrey. Of all the TV stations, CBC included, only Shaw Cable (!) had special election coverage. Other stations just had superficial updates during commercial breaks. Online, the story wasn't much better. The only site that did it well was the official City of Vancouver site, which reported faster results than any of the media sites (and, of course, didn't cover New West!).

New West results were not online at all (except as reported by us, repeating Shaw Cable's coverage). Because Shaw wasn't online, and their numbers went by so fast, we actually snapped photos of our TV screen in order to capture local information for this blog. We were monitoring the Vancouver Sun, CBC, the Georgia Straight, 24 Hours, the Record and the Newsleader and it pains me to say that we were the first to report New West results online. The Record wasn't too far behind in reporting the first results after all poll results had come in. The Newsleader had nothing until the results were complete. The big media organizations had nothing at all for New West.

The very best coverage was on Twitter. Big Media's overstretched staffers couldn't beat the efforts of dozens of passionate political junkies scouring the Internet for information on the election and sharing the dribs and drabs of info as it came in. CBC's best move came in asking the Twitter community to tag election-related Tweets with the code #civicelection2008, which allowed for easy, consolidated tracking of most of the related commentary.

To me, all this is more evidence that the rest of the Lower Mainland considers New Westminster insignificant, and that is something I hope to change somewhat through my efforts online. I'd love to see more people blogging and Tweeting and Facebooking the New Westminster perspective and trumpeting our city's successes so that the rest of the Lower Mainland might see that New West is more than what they view through the windshield trundling along Stewardson.

For those of you who didn't choose to vote, you lose all right to complain for the next three (maybe four!) years. If you felt your taxes were too high, crime too bad, arts undersupported, parks lacking or schools crowded, you had your chance to effect change. Suck it up, buttercups.

The final election results will be posted on the City of New Westminster's website on Nov. 19 after 4 p.m.

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Briana Tomkinson

New Westminster civic election results

All polls reporting: so far, results show Wayne Wright still has the 'Wright' stuff (har de har har). Blair Armitage appears to be out of luck.

Council results so far:

  • Jonathan Cote
  • Lorrie Williams
  • Betty McIntosh
  • Bill Harper
  • Bob Osterman
  • Jaimie McEvoy

School Board:

  • Casey Cook
  • Lorrie Watt
  • Lisa Graham
  • Jim Goring
  • Michael Ewen
  • James Janzen
  • Brent Atkinson

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Briana Tomkinson

2008 online civic election results

If you're looking for information on civic election results as they roll in, here are a few sites to check (I am watching and will post New West information as I see it as well):

Know of any other sources? Post 'em in the comments. 

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Will Tomkinson
Thursday, November 13, 2008

Tenth to the Fraser Endorses Candidates for Mayor and Council, School Trustees

As previously announced, we, as the authors of this blog, have decided to endorse a slate of candidates for Mayor, Council and School Trustee. We have tried to pay close attention to the political events and articles in the local paper but, we are ordinary citizens and we have no insider's knowledge of the various alliances that our local candidates may have with each other. This is our endorsement as independent folks and this is our blog so... these are the endorsed candidates for Tenth to the Fraser:

Mayoral Candidate: Wayne Wright

Wayne has been warm and approachable throughout this campaign and as recently reported on tenth to the Fraser, we have not exactly had the Armitage campaign beating down our door to get our vote. I have found Mr. Wright more conversant on the issues, plugged in to the needs of the city and I have noticed that Mr. Armitage stays so close to his talking points that he seems to give the same speech at every event. Frankly, in addition to a workable attitude, we have also found that this city has made some great progress over the last years and that Mayor & Council should be tasked to keep it up. One of my hopes for the Mayor is that he gets a better communications strategy. We are advocates of digital transparency in city politics and I think that can start at the Mayor's office.

Council:
Lorraine Brett
Linda Fletcher-Gordon
Jamie McEvoy
Betty McIntosh
Neil Powell

Brett is creative, modern and articulate and seems like the kind of person that transforms a committee into a group of people that gets things done. Linda Fletcher-Gordon seems compassionate and truly interested in advocating for the stated interests of residents and she values research and consideration when making decisions. McEvoy has shown a level of service and volunteerism that we rarely do in society today. If any candidate can be seen to represent the interests of the marginalized in our city, it is McEvoy. Betty Mack (McIntosh) is so well liked by the citizens and a real civic booster. I imagine her as the perfect council member for regional boards or junkets. She also brings years of council experience and institutional memory to the table. Neil Powell would be a new face to council but a familiar on on the police board. I was more impressed by his communications at the candidate meetings than by any other Voice candidate.

Council: Honourable mention
Matthew Laird
Gavin Palmer
Jonathan X Cote.

These guys either only got one of the votes available here at Tenth to the Fraser, or were interesting enough to be raised from the forgotten remainders of the campaign list. Matt Laird has a great website and on that site, he has some very interesting ideas. His facility with the internet point to a willingess to offer a new level of civic transparency in the Royal City he only has one of our two available votes. In person, he does not deliver on his potential. As reported here before, I (notice the singular) think that he might have a hard time adapting to the team nature of our city council. Gavin Palmer didn't get very high on our radar but his apparent common sense and his dogged advocacy for the Queensborough neighbourhood are admirable. I endorse Gavin Palmer as Mayor of Queensborough. Jonathan Cote gets one vote here on Tenth to the Fraser. I can' t really say why. His answers seemed general and non-committal. He showed an exemplary command of the use of buzz words and he was always in a suit. I guess that just about earns one vote around here. (ahem).

School Trustee:
Casey Cook
Mayleen Crespo
Ben Kapusta
Kirpaul Kaur
David Phelan
Shelley Waldie

I don't think we can honestly endorse a full slate here on the trustee side. Even the above list might be streching it. It is not because there are not fine candidates running, just our level of information. Casey Cook has been highs and lows with me. I had some great chats with him recently and I love how he voiced his early opposition to the parks into schools controversy but I have often found myself grumbling at the Record or the Leader after reading one of his letters. He gets the nod. Kirpaul Kaur must be the best thing since sliced bread if you judge by her telephone campaign and lawn signs. She also spent some phone time with us and really made an impression. Kapusta has the right idea (IMHO) when it comes to middle schools, parks and etc. I want to learn more but at this point, he gets a nod also. The other candidates seemed to meet my capricious requirements. I have read statements by them and tried to distinguish their positions from the noise of my dishwasher and that nagging feeling that my 18 month old is playing with a toilet brush. They get the nod for beating my signal to noise ratio.

There you have it! How Tenth to the Fraser will vote. Go on out there New Westminster; VOTE! We barely saw 1/4 of the electorate vote in the last election. Lets see if we can beat 40%. Don't take our word for it. Exercise your franchise this November 15th.





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Will Tomkinson

Winner, Best Campaign Staff: Kirpaul Kaur


Taking a (web)page straight from the David Plouffe hand book, this local school trustee candidate has been kicking it Obama style by launching a polite and engaging army of telephone campaign staff on the voters of New Westminster.

Oh yes, after getting a call a week ago, my wife asked some questions about the "School on Grimston Park" controversy (against btw) and as a follow up, she asked further questions that the volunteer simply could not answer on Ms. Kaur's behalf. "May I take your information and Kirpaul can get back to you?" Why Yes! Lets do that! One day later, Kirpaul Kaur herself called in, eager to help answer a voter's questions and assist the democratic process (get that vote!). Almost 40 minutes later, we were satisfied that we had been talking to a genuine, honest and thoughtful candidate.

While in a recent article in the Record, she states that a third middle school was a priority, Kirpaul (and all of the candidates) submitted their brief blurbs before the Grimston Park Blowup. Since that time, many candidates have learned, like the citizens of the West End, of the details behind the school building options. She stated that she wanted to lead and direct a process that would solicit options from stakeholders and the community, synthesise them down to a manageable format and present them for deliberation to the public. We need some schools built but which ones do we need, how do we want to organise them? She also advocated a level of transparency and informatuon sharing that can only be achieved through the internet.

So then this evening, not 15 minutes ago dear readers, I was called by another Kaur-ista. "Hello, I am calling in support of Kirpaul Kaur". After a brief an ironic conversation, my call waiting started to beep. I ended the Kaurnversation and picked up the other line: " Hello I am calling on behalf of Kirpaul Kaur!"

Woah, if that is not someone who can get things done... I don't know what is.

ENDORSED: Kirpaul Kaur by the two voters at Tenth to the Fraser.

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Will Tomkinson
Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Interview With Mayoral Candididate, Wayne Wright

Several weeks ago, I contacted both candidates for mayor: Wayne Wright (independent incumbent) and Blair Armitage (Voice New Westminster) and invited them to reply to an email interview to discuss various topics and give voters a view into what they were both like as people. I say I contacted them but really I contacted Wayne Wright and a few gatekeepers for Mr. Armitage. After striving twice and half-heatedly feigning interest for a third time, I gave up on the possibility that Mr. Armitage would lend his 'voice' to this blog; so this post goes to Mayor Wright alone.

Getting the answers from Mayor Wright was no stroll through the Queen's Park Rose Garden either I will tell you. The response email was not sent properly or perhaps sent correctly but to someone else, and I did not receive it when the Mayor intended me to. After some back and forth however, he did promptly return a call and arrange for a moment where we could go over the responses via telephone. I was pleased that he had followed up to ensure I had the email and impressed at how generous he was with his time. Perhaps he learned the earth shattering importance of this blog from Matthew Laird, a recently featured candidate for council...
Well then, here are the questions and answers, presented as paraphrase, not verbatim:

10-2TF: What is the best part about being the Mayor of New Westminster? What has been the most fun?

Wright: It is really the people I meet and have met in the city. That is the most fun. The best thing is to really move forward on the issues and make a difference.

10-2TF: What advice would you give to any new councillors that may be elected this year?
Wright: For our new councillors, I think it will be really important to listen and learn and get a sense of how things are done before diving into a topic or an issue.

102-TF: What big issue or problem led to the formation of the 'Voice New Westminster' slate?

Wright: I think they are basing their campaign on dishonesty. They talk about problems that are dealt with and dissatisfaction in the city when a very recent Ipsos-Reid Poll measured an almost 90% satisfaction rate from the citizens of this city. By all of the meaningful statistics, our crime rate has also fallen and is now lower than at any time in the last ten years.

10-2TF: What kind of administration would we see from Wayne Wright, if re-elected, over the next three years?

Wright: Residents would see the same kind of administration as they see now with an open door policy to anyone who wants to lend their advice or opinions. They will continue to see an inclusive and responsive Mayor's office.

10-2TF: What role, if any, do you see New Westminster playing as we host the world for the Olympics in 2010?

Wright: New Westminster does not have a direct role in the games but we will have a role to play hosting the world. I have a few surprises that we are working on that will really leave an impression but I won't be saying anything about that yet. We also have the opportunity at that time to really invite everyone to join us in 'Celebrate 150' as New Westminster commemorates our 150th year.
I have a few surprises that we are working on that will really leave an impression but I won't be saying anything about that yet.

10-2TF: If you were an animal, what animal would you be?

Wright: An eagle. I was named as an eagle by the First Nations. The name was a gift and I was honoured by their choice. (Citizens may recall that an eagle illustration decorates the back of the Mayor's somewhat antique Ford Truck as a spare tyre cover, along with the phrase "Good Bye, Good Luck!".

10-2TF: There has been a lot of talk in this campaign about the mood or attitude of the various platforms. Some candidates speak endlessly about 'being positive' while others have presented a very dark and negative view about life in the city and have suggested that a souring relationship with city staff is an example of this attitude. What do you think needs to happen to improve this?

Wright: If you walk into City Hall --and ask anybody--people will say that it is a fantastic place to work, it is the best and it always has been. We have the support of our staff.

10-2TF: For some voters, environmental concerns may be at the top of the list of issues that are important to them. What initiatives do you propose that might improve our environment?

Wright: Now there we have just completed a study of all city vehicles in use and have some great recommendations on how to better use the vehicles we have for better fuel economy and, where appropriate, to change the way we use some vehicles and change some of the vehicles that we use. Also, we will continue to encourage responsible development in the city and environmental construction methods. When it is complete, New Westminster will have the only gold standard LEED constructed building in British Columbia. We should be proud of that and we will do more in the future. (Note: LEED is Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, provides standards for environmentally sustainable construction.

10-2TF: Many voters are most interested in social issues. What do you see as an area for improvement?

Wright: It is our parks, we need more parkland in this city and we are working hard on that for our waterfront. We need to see more amenities like the Civic Center for downtown and investments in other parts of the city. We will have the casino revenues to assist with that.

10-2TF: For business and employment: what is the best way to foster growth in the City?

Wright: We have to preserve the industrial lands we have left and mixed use lands. In the downtown we have seen a real benefit from changing the traffic and driving methods there. Also, while keeping our historical heritage in place, we need to be flexible with the developers that are here to do business in our city.

10-2TF: Thanks for being a part of this questionnaire! I have only one more question. What is something funny about yourself that you could share to help voters relate to you as a candidate?

Wright: I'll tell you one thing. In the Philippines, in Quezon -- our sister city there -- the Mayor, Sonny Balmonte, started giving me a nickname, "Sunny Wright." In parts of the Philippines, they are not as fortunate as here. They paint their houses bright colours to help keep up the spirit and I guess he thought I had a "Sunny Disposition." Recently, also, Fidel Ramos, the "Savior of Democracy" in the Philippines, stopped by here in New Westminster for a visit while on his way back from Toronto. The Consul General called and asked if I would mind meeting with him and I jumped at the chance. It is great to meet with leaders like that and represent the people of New Westminster.

Well that is it folks. I wish I had something for you to compare it to but only the one mayoral candidate sees the awesome power of the mighty blog, I suppose.

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Will Tomkinson
Monday, October 27, 2008

Tenth to the Fraser Endorsements Due

Many newspapers and websites have chosen through history to forgo complete objectivity and endorse a candidate or candidates in an election. Often, the choice made is an illustration of that publication but it is often the intent of the endorsing journal to present a choice that, in their view, would be preferred by their readers. Such is the value of knowing ones audience. The New York Times, for example, first endorsed a presidential candidate with Republican Abraham Lincoln, who would later lead America in a war to emancipate the slaves of the Confederacy, and has most recently endorsed Sen. Barack Obama, also a unique product of the story of Africans in America.

Here on Tenth to the Fraser, we have no historical leg to stand on. As far as you know, we could be rabbits escaped for the Queen's Park Rainbow Playland Petting Zoo but nevertheless, we have decided that we will be endorsing our own custom slate of candidates for Mayor and council.

Blog Editor Briana and I (William) will each be presenting our picks later this week, after we have had a chance to hear another scheduled All Candidate Meeting (this Tuesday) and hand out gobs of Hallowe’en candy. In an election that will be so poorly followed an attended, we figure it is almost a necessity to publish these choices as a way of synthesising and evaluating what is available from the candidates.

Or we are both full of it. You decide.

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Will Tomkinson

Mea Culpa, New Westminster Style!


Earlier on Tenth to the Fraser, I reviewed an All Candidates Meeting at the Queensborough Community Center. I really appreciated the event, difficult as it was in organizing an evening where 17 different candidates for Mayor and Council all tried to introduce their next three year plan to the citizens of New Westminster.

I tried to give readers of this blog a brief window into the candidates positions, and present my impressions about them as candidates. We will be covering tomorrow evening's All Candidates Meeting (Oct 28th, 2008 at the Queensborough Community Center again) as well and I hope the evening is just as illuminating.

One of the counsellors whose performance I reviewed was ill at ease with how he was perceived and had heard from others in the community also. Matthew Laird, independent candidate for council, contacted me earlier today to discuss the event. To review, here is my briefly stated impression on his message at the meeting:
Matthew Laird (council, ind) I was surprised by this candidate. I have spent some time on his website and he has some very interesting ideas and suggestions, many of witch I find compelling. In his remarks, he certainly has a good list of practical, achievable improvements (increased composting and others) but he seemed to have his emotion or frustration with city council run away with him. He made his points aggressively and with a fast speaking style and was hostile to the record of the last councils. My wonder was how he would be able to work with the next council and team if he was elected. He certainly has vision but a more friendly and less confrontational pitch style might come in handy.
He explained to me that he had not been feeling himself that evening and that for a variety of reasons, the presentation in Queensborough was not his usual style. In a related blog post, Mr. Laird elaborated:

At last Tuesday's Queensborough debate I made an error, my opening remarks were far too negative in tone. I'm embarrassed to have conducted myself in this manner, directly contradicting how I said I would run my campaign.

I take full responsibility to the excessive attacks on the current council, while they're certainly not perfect, my remarks crossed a line. I would like to apologize to my fellow candidates.

When Matthew Laird says he is for a different kind of politics, he really believes it. Whether acknowledging the criticism from others and presented here on this website will help his campaign or not, it does show a certain level of conviction, if not micromanagement, to directly address the issue and apologise.

As I had mentioned in my initial review, I do find many of this candidates issues compelling. Perhaps at tomorrow night's debate, I will see the side of Mr. Laird he intends for me to see. Until then, check back here for updates.....for Election 2008!

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Briana Tomkinson
Saturday, October 25, 2008

Traffic congestion in New West

Traffic congestion and public transit infrastructure are named among the top issues for most civic election candidates in New Westminster - and it seems we're not alone. Greater Vancouver is experiencing major growing pains related to suburbun expansion. Cost of living has boosted growth in areas like Pitt Meadows, Coquitlam, Surrey and Abbotsford, but the majority of jobs are still located in Vancouver. The result is gridlock due to the funnel effect of so many people coming into the downtown area through a limited number of access points.

Unsurprisingly, those at the wide end of the funnel want to twin the Port Mann bridge, hoping it will speed their commute into town. We at the narrow end - New Westminster, Burnaby and Vancouver - are more likely to oppose it, fearing it will only bring more non-residential traffic into our communities.

Writes the Vancouver Sun:

In the south-of-the-Fraser communities of Langley, Surrey, Delta and White Rock, where gridlock on the bridge is a huge issue, nearly 75 per cent of candidates agreed or agreed strongly that the bridge should be twinned.

Artist's rendition of a twinned Port Mann Bridge.

Artist's rendition of a twinned Port Mann Bridge.

Handout

In the Tri-Cities area, support was even higher. Eighty-five per cent of candidates agreed.

In the core communities of Vancouver, Burnaby and New Westminster, where many fear that more lanes will bring more traffic, only 30 per cent either agreed or agreed strongly with the bridge twinning.

New Westminster council candidate Betty McIntosh said she'd like to see the new South Fraser Perimeter Road completed to siphon off some of the traffic that now runs through New Westminster, which, as the geographical centre of the region, has a disproportionate number of vehicles travelling through it
"New Westminster is a compact, well-planned city with a large volume of transit users. We can work, live and play within our city boundaries," she said.

Lorrie Williams, also running in New Westminster, said the city could "easily become just the crossroad to other places" and it needs well-planned commuter and truck routes and cooperation with other municipalities to share the burden.

As a central access point for the Lower Mainland, New West benefits from proximity to both the city and the suburbs, but as this issue highlights, there is a dark side. Too much traffic is just pass-through traffic, and it impacts local traffic, air quality, quality of life and also our businesses. 

The Sun quoted Williams and McIntosh, but here are some opinions from other local candidates on the traffic situation here in New West and what to do about it (quotes from the Sun's poll data and candidate websites): 


Mayoral candidates:

  • Wayne Wright (incumbent): "Always a problem in a Geographic centered city like N.W. Biggest issue is North Fraser Perimeter Road and bridges and how they will be brought through the city.The road goes directly though the middle of downtown and our new residential areas and the bridge heads are congested already.We will be working directly with Translink and the Province to address these problems. There will be solutions but there will be large capital costs necessary to do the right thing."
  • Blair Armitage:  Ipsos Reid poll rates traffic as high priority with New West voters (note: I tried looking for more detail on the Voice website but I was unable to find the info I was looking for. If you're reading this Voice, SEO is everything. Get your Google juice on!)
Council candidates:
  • Jaimie McEvoy: "New Westminster needs more support for cyclists, include more bike routes and bike racks throughout the city ..... We need to ensure that when Patullo Bridge is replaced that city council is a strong advocate for its citizens, ensuring that the new bridge improves traffic, and does not increase traffic on our local streets."
  • Matthew Laird: "New Westminster is at the cross roads of the Lower Mainland, we have an opportunity to be an example of progressive urban planning, making a walkable, livable city focused on sustainability."
  • Bob Osterman: "New Westminster has over 350,000 cars driving through our city each day, our roads are clogged and the consequent accidents and car pollution concern every resident. To go from West to East at rush hour can take 30 minutes to travel 2 miles."
  • Lynda Fletcher-Gordon: "The amount of traffic in New Westminster will not decrease. In fact, without the provision of more public rapid transit, it is likely to increase. While we want to have a walkable city, we also need to consider how to keep the traffic moving and avoid gridlock. While I support traffic calming devices generally, the traffic calming devices on the main roads and intersections contribute to the gridlock that often happen - especially at 6th and Royal. They cause congestion as those drivers who want to use an alternative route or merely turn from Royal onto 6th are prevented from doing that."
  • Terrance Owen: "New West suffers from severe road and rail cross-traffic to and from other municipalities. These road and rail routes fall under federal and provincial jurisdictions. The city needs the cooperation and support of these senior levels of government to provide alternate routes and containment that will alleviate the problems created for New West."
The Vancouver Sun is leveraging the data gathered in their municipal candidates' issues survey well here, but this quote from their article again highlights how they missed the mark from a technology standpoint.

To help you on voting day, Nov. 15, you can use the database as a personal ballot, printing off a list of all candidates and then circling those that best reflect your views.

Print it out and circle the candidates you're voting for? C'mon Sun, you can do better. The data is there, all that is needed is the technical execution to make it more useful. If the Sun doesn't have the technical resources, they could at least provide the data in an easily remixed format so that others with the knowledge and the desire could create something better suited for the Web.

Readers, if you notice that I'm missing a candidate's published comments on the issue, leave a note in the comments. If any political candidates wish to expand on their comments, go right ahead!

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Briana Tomkinson
Friday, October 24, 2008

New West candidates on the issues

When it comes to e-campaigning, many of our local candidates fall short.

A few - the Voice slate, Jonathan Cote, Matthew Laird - are doing a reasonable job of leveraging the web to communicate stance on the issues.

The others who have inadequate web presences or lacking any website at all are doing both their campaigns and New West citizens a disservice.

Mass media can only communicate so much about municipal politics, due to the constraints of the form. The web, on the other hand, has the potential to provide much more detailed and localized information if leveraged appropriately.

Thankfully, for New West voters, The Vancouver Sun has stepped in to help fill the information gap. The Sun has published a municipal election database online incorporating information from civic candidates around the region about where they stand on local issues.

Here's how it breaks down in New West.

According to their survey answers, here are the key differences between mayoral incumbent Wayne Wright and rival Blair Armitage:

While Wright is running on his record as a capable, experienced manager of our city, Armitage is out to change the status quo. In particular, Armitage feels that council hasn't been responsive to citizen concerns regarding proposed developments.

  • Both candidates named crime and traffic congestion in their top three issues, however Armitage also feels taxation is an issue while Wright is concerned with homelessness
  • Armitage's answers are research-based, citing poll data, news reports and regional statistics to support his points; Wright's responses seem more qualitative, drawing on his experience as mayor for the last six years.
  • Wright supports maintaining our local independent police force, while Armitage would like to see a consolidated Metro Vancouver police force
  • Armitage strongly supports increasing development fees, while Wright is neutral on the issue
  • Armitage wants to proceed with twinning the Port Mann; Wright opposes the project
  • Armitage believes New West is "plagued with sprawl and poor land-use planning" while Wright disagrees
  • Armitage believes government bureaucracy and inefficiency is costing taxpayers
  • Armitage supports changing from an at-large election system to wards
I'm finding the Sun's data very helpful in gaining clarity on what each candidate stands for. As a blogger and data nerd, I do have some constructive criticism.

The data should be fully indexed and easily searched/compared. It is, after all, intended to help aid comparison between candidates. It's hard to get that perspective when you must look at one at a time.

Ideally, the Sun would make the raw data available for people to parse & sort as needed to extract the information they seek. The experience as it stands is exactly like a printed pull-out voters' guide. I appreciate that it is accessible online and that the paper made the effort to compile the information, but I also can't help see it as an opportunity lost.

UPDATE: I figured if I wanted the data I better do something about it. I've published a consolidated spreadsheet online via Google Docs aggregating the info from the Sun. It's only partial - many of our candidates have not responded yet - but I will update as I see that new candidates' views are added.

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Will Tomkinson
Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Opening Salvo: Mayoral Candidates

As reviewed in a previous post, all 17 candidates for Mayor and Council were present at the Oct 21st All Candidates Meeting, hosted by the Queensborough Residents Association. We have heard from the Council hopefuls already. Here I review my impressions on the Mayoral candidates; Wayne Wright (incumbent) and Blair Armitage. Each man had an opening and closing statement and moderator Dean Wells had a number of questions reserved just for the Mayor's race.

Blair Armitage looks the part. He is a squarely built, senatorial and businesslike and he began his remarks forcefully calling for a police depot to be built in Queensborough, perhaps into the addition planned for the community center. A law an order candidate; that is how he came across. Cleaning up crime and graffiti (I just did some cleaning my self as a matter of fact, on the back fence) and making the town safe for all the families.

Armitage was cutting in his attack on what he views as an aloof council (and Mayor) that doesn't listen to the views of the citizens groups. He cites opposition to development projects and towers that were approved even though they were spoken against in council meetings. He did come across as being against further development or building. I would be interested to hear more on how he would plan to handle the pressure for growth in the Lower Mainland.

During the question period, many of his answers were direct and matter of fact and he often did not use the time alloted to him by the moderators. During one memorable answer Armitage insinuated Mayor Wright had presented a Gucci Plan to cover the open ditches in the neighborhood with the design that it would be rejected and that Queensborough residents really wanted a modest plan. Mayor Wright's proposal to deal with the shocking projected cost of the ditch remediation plan was to do a pilot project over a short block to get a better idea on the true costs. Both candidates received hearty applause for their positions.

The loudest and most sustained applause was after Mayor Wright's opening remarks. He passionately (and maybe a little too loudly) boosted the record of the last council and New Westminster as a city. He was a bit of a bull-dog politician during this two minute opener but he used that time to insist that he looked after the whole city, as a unit and that he maintained an open door policy for any citizen. I was almost a little uncomfortable hearing him loudly "take full responsibility for the lase six years" of governance. It was as if you were a kid watching your dad in an argument with your principal. After insisting that no city in the Lower Mainland was better prepared for the expected recession, he took his seat to a full and lengthly applause. I noticed VOICE candidates Wandell and Osterman shifting uncomfortably as the hall went quiet again.

One Exchange I appreciated was a question on illegal suites:
Illegal suites have not been closed down and the likelihood of our city's bylaw being enforced is remote. What is your position on this?
Mr. Armitage, presented a position that "we can not allow our citizens to blatantly thumb their nose" at the by-laws and he suggested a mechanism to make it easier or more attractive for owner's of illegal suites in New Westminster to get their suites approved and updated to code. Mayor Wright's response showed a clear difference in philosophy between the candidates as he firmly insisted that unless great strides were made in affordable housing with more participation from other levels of government, illegal suites were a necessity in the city and should only be monitored to ensure public safety. In my view this was the one point on the debate that showed the greatest contrast. I have included the answers here on a video for you to decide.

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Will Tomkinson

Yikes! Bias. I Hardly Know Thee.

I was just reading Pat Tracy's neat blog From the Editor's Desk . Her most recent post is about the difficulty in remaining unbiased while relating political events. Or at least being perceived as unbiased. As the editor of the Record and the Burnaby Now, she has to keep on top of those concerns as her papers cover the municipal elections:
And then there’s New Westminster, where The Record has been accused of both being for and against the new civic slate, Voice, which is running a full-throttle campaign.
I have also had this experience now with this website. Hey, the stakes are low but these pages are for all of New West so when I was writing about the recent all candidates meeting in Queensborough, I wanted to give each candidate a fair review. As I sit down now to write about the presentations made by the Mayoral candidates, I think to myself, 'do I really need to be fair?' There are plenty of opinionated blogs out there. I think for now, every one gets an even shake. There is lots of time for broad generalisatons and disparaging remarks between now and November 15th.

Let me know if you agree!

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Will Tomkinson
Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Opening Salvo: Council Candidates

The Queensborough Residents Association hosted what was for some, the opening salvo of the 208 Civic Election Season in New Westminster. With 25 days until voting day, this all candidates night at the Queensborough Community Center was the first of five similar nights where the 2 Mayoral Candidates and 15 prospective city councilors present their views to the public. The night was moderated by QRA President Dean Wells.
The roughly 35 citizens who attended the 'debate' were treated to a list of questions, some pre-posted and some freshly minted by the Queensborough Residents Association. Each candidate also presented opening and closing remarks. The event started at 7pm and lasted about 2 hours.
With so many questions and 17 candidates there is no way to present each answer or position here but it was a great night to see the personalities on display. My perception of the event was that it was lively and upbeat but with an undercurrent of dis-satisfaction and even rancor amongst the Voice New Westminster candidates and Mayor Wright and others that support him. I am no NW political insider but I seemed like this election is the latest battle in a larger struggle between the two groups.
Matthew Laird (council, ind) I was surprised by this candidate. I have spent some time on his website and he has some very interesting ideas and suggestions, many of witch I find compelling. In his remarks, he certainly has a good list of practical, achievable improvements (increased composting and others) but he seemed to have his emotion or frustration with city council run away with him. He made his points aggressively and with a fast speaking style and was hostile to the record of the last councils. My wonder was how he would be able to work with the next council and team if he was elected. He certainly has vision but a more friendly and less confrontational pitch style might come in handy.
Bill Harper (council, ind, incumbent) Bill Harper is known by many New Westminster-ites but less by me so this really was an introduction. He was proud to highlight the past councils record and strengths and stress the importance of business growth and the re-development of commercial corridors. Harper is affiliated with the CUPE union backed campaign.
Lynda Fletcher-Gordon (council, ind) One of 5 female candidates (with Betty McIntosh, Susan Wandell, Lorrie Williams and Lorraine Brett) wanted to look to the future to determine our needs and find a mandate from residents through consultation and active collaboration. Her 'research and sound planning platform' might resonate with some even as it leaves out any policy proscriptions for today.
Jamie MacEvoy (council, ind), a labour endorsed candidate was at easy with his message after decades of volunteerism and activism with New Westminster's homelessness, refugee and low income assistance issues. In my view he presented a positive vision on how New West can continue re-building its commercial base. I liked his up-beat attitude on the past 6 years and the future of the city and his 'pledge' to work diligently with any and all of the elected candidates if he is chosen as a counselor.
Gavin Palmer (council, VOICE) Introducing himself as "Palmer, Gavin Palmer", this Q'bro resident and founder of the QRA highlighted his past work for traffic and bridge safety in that neighbourhood and felt at home with an easy, likable manner and a folksy way of relating to others. Mirroring the VOICE position of criticizing a lack of transparency on the current council, his remarks prompted Lorrie Williams to shake her head in disbelief from her position at the table.
Lorrie Williams (council, Ind, incumbent) herself a teacher and Q'bro resident and a labour endorsed candidate was in fact the first to speak and the last of the evening. She also had the bad luck of being asked wild-card questions (that were not previously released to the candidates) rather than the pre-printed ones simply on the basis of the debate lottery. She spoke well and highlighted her dedication to Q'bro and New West. In her closing remarks she said how she loves this city and watches it closely. I appreciated that.
Steve McClurg (council, VOICE) campaigned for the VOICE slate in its entirety rather than focusing on his own attributes as a candidate. Not one of the most positive or up-beat candidates, McClurg also presented the last council as unfortunate and the views of citizens as unheeded.
Calvin Donnelly (council, ind, incumbent) has served the council for 18 years and his experience with the issues showed in his answers. He is often found at civic events hosting amplified public karaoke parties in the streets. He was the only candidate to evoke the New Westminster of past generations in his description of yesterday's Queensborough as a farming community filled with hard workers. His facility with the details of tendered contracts, city policies and mandated legal procedures showed (as it did for Betty McIntosh) but he did not offer any new ideas or policies to bring to this election. I would have liked an indication that he is working to meet the challenges we have in front of us as a city and I will be looking or that in the next debate.
Betty McIntosh (council, VOICE, incumbent) surprised me by saying she was with the VOICE slate and that "we can think what we want about that", meaning that if we thought it was good, well fine, but if we disapproved, don't hold it against her because she is her own boss. I believe it too. She presented herself, as always, as a competent, positive individual with a keen and judgmental point of view on the daily topics. Her 9 years on council and many years as a nurse root her to the community and she seemed fully happy and casual in the role of candidate.
Jonathan Cote (council, ind, incumbent) is one of the four younger candidates on the 17 remember list. In his answers and speeches he so artfully avoided saying anything concrete or notable that the most I learned about him was that I was pronouncing his name wrong (Koat-ay, not Kote). While he had a positive attitude and a professional manner, his catch-phrases and buzz words only really revealed that he wanted to get elected again, not why he should be on council for 3 more years. Cote is a labour endorsed candidate.
Terry Owen (council, ind) is a business owner on Columbia St with a very entertaining way of talking. He seems unpredictable and he talks very fast. He is running on a policy of good fiscal planning and a thorough examination of the issues. I will have to reserve further judgment for another experience though. Mr. Owen seemed a bit nervous addressing us folkies but that could all disappear by the time the next candidates night is held. Mr. Owen was asked to run for council by incumbent Mayoral candidate, Wayne Wright.
Niel Powell (council, VOICE), another younger candidate highlighted his work on the NW Police Services committee and as a member of Sapperton/McBride Residents Association. A teacher and comfortable speaker, Mr. Powell's ongoing priorities were the preservation of our natural environment and the opposition of the Waste to Energy Plant at the CanFor location in Sapperton. I liked this candidate but he is in my demographic. He repeatedly referred the the 'stewardship of our natural resources which I think is odd for such a small, heavily urbanized fully integrated city. What natural resources, the rose garden in Queen's Park? Poplar Island?
Bob Osterman (council, VOICE, incumbent) is looking or re-election on the voice slate as a candidate firmly against Wayne Wright and others on the current council. His remarks indicate a fluency with the issues and the responsibilities and operation of civic government and like many of the voice candidates, he call for the Mayor and Council to listen more to the citizens. No candidate explained why this was really and issue but it came up a few times. Mr. Osterman is concerned with towers being built here, and there and with the direction of development in the city .

That sums up the counselor's portion of the event. Check back soon for my take on the Mayoral Candidates and some uploaded video of some of their answers.

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Briana Tomkinson

Labour Council election endorsements

The New Westminster and District Labour Council has endorsed candidates for council across the region. Here in New West, the NWDLC's picks are:


Council:
School Trustee
  • Michael Ewen
  • Vivian Garcia
  • James Janzen
  • Lori Watt
The NWDLC is an organization representing trade union members locally. It is affiliated with the Canadian Labour Congress. 

• creation of a universal child care system;

• protections against privatization of our public health care system;

• an increase to BC’s minimum wage;

• changes to the Workers Compensation regulations to protect workers who work alone;

• government accountability and workplace standards for foreign workers;

• federal anti-scab legislation;

• stop the BC Liberal government from removing local government decision-making on transportation infrastructure in the Lower Mainland.

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Briana Tomkinson
Sunday, October 19, 2008

Voting is hard!

In the last federal election, Canadian voter turnout hit a record low, with just shy of 60% of the population casting a ballot on October 14, 2008. Hearing that over one-third of us chose not to exercise the right to vote is depressing ... until you hear that fewer than one-third of us bothered to vote at all in the last round of civic elections in British Columbia in 2005. With 26% voter turnout, New Westminster was only slightly below the B.C. average of 30%.



This is not something to be proud of.

And yet, this year's election, we may see even worse numbers. Few people in Canada were happy with this month's federal election results, no matter who they voted for. The whole exercise, as Rick Mercer pointed out, was nothing but a $300M waste of time.

Says Wikipedia:

The basic formula for determining whether someone will vote is

PB + D > C[4]

Here, P is the probability that an individual's vote will affect the outcome of an election, and B is the perceived benefit of that person's favored political party or candidate being elected. D originally stood for democracy or civic duty, but today represents any social or personal gratification an individual gets from voting. C is the time, effort, and financial cost involved in voting. Since P is virtually zero in most elections, PB is also near zero, and D is thus the most important element in motivating people to vote. For a person to vote, these factors must outweigh C. (Emphasis mine)

Whether or not the formula above is strictly true, it sure sums up the feeling for most people.

It takes creative thinking and an Annie-like sense of optimism to believe that your individual vote will impact the outcome of an election at the best of times. When you live in B.C. and CBC literally calls the outcome of the election the minute the polls close in your province, before any ballots in your province are counted, it's almost impossible.

Add to this a growing cynicism about the political system and the politicians in general, and you get a populace who don't feel their vote matters and doesn't feel there's much benefit in choosing one person or party over another (because "they're all crooks"). That leaves only civic duty - or in today's context, a sense of social or personal satisfaction in voting- to get you to the polling-place.

What does all this have to do with the civic election? Well having just gone through the rigamarole of a federal election that cost millions of dollars and changed virtually nothing, what little sense of 'duty' that still exists today has been spent.

For conscientious voters, it also means that having done the research to pick a federal candidate, you now have to start over and select not only one favourite, but a pack of them, including mayor, councillors and school board.

The time-pressed among us simply pick a party at the federal level rather than getting to know the local candidates, but that's often not an option at the municipal level. Here in New West, party politics are only just beginning to infiltrate the local political scene, but it's not really clear what policies really differentiate Voice New West from the current council other than a dislike of current mayor Wayne Wright (note to Wayne: time to update your site ... it's still plugging all-candidates' meetings from 2005!).

To paraphrase Teen Talk Barbie, "Voting is hard!" By which I mean, yes there's some work involved, but it's time to suck it up buttercup. Your city council is guaranteed to make decisions that will impact your quality of life, from potentially increasing property taxes to supporting community gardens, to improving parks and rec facilities and shaping the character of your neighbourhood.

Will and I will blog the information and impressions we have regarding New Westminster politics leading up to and beyond V-day. We're trying to line up some interviews with our local candidates, and we'll also try to dig into some of the top issues we see here in New West.

Drop us a line in the comments if you've got a specific question or issue you want us to tackle before the election and we'll do our best to accommodate.

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Will Tomkinson

Election 2008!

It is a great time to start a blog about New Westminster. Not only have we just completed a federal election cycle (where two incumbent New Democrat MPs Peter Julian and Dawn Black were returned to Ottawa to represent their ridings) but a municipal election is at hand as well. Hope for a warm, dry day for Saturday November 14th 15th! That is our day to go to the polls. The City web-page has information here and you can find links to many of the candidates running for Mayor, council or as a school trustee in the sidebar of this site.

In keeping with this blog's mandate to be about all things New West, I will to my best to keep the site updated, add commentary and present some of the interesting personalities and highlights of the campaign. I have emails in
now with a number of candidates asking for interviews or statements and just this weekend I kicked things off with a visit to the official campaign launch events for both Mayoral candidates.

I have to say, this might be a confusing year for some New Westminster
voters. For the first time that I know of, there will be a slate of candidates known as Voice of New Westminster running as a team against all other candidates. The Mayoral candidate for Voice, Blair Armitage is one of the founding members on the slate and the current Chair for the VANOC (2010 Olympic games) steering committee for the athletes village. On Saturday, yesterday, Voice New Westminster opened their office at the base of Belmont towers (near the Hub Barbershop, across from Starbucks). The office was busy with lots of supporters and street traffic and they were serving coffee, tea and cookies.I have not really gotten to the bottom of the reason for the slate as it has been the usual practice to run as an individual candidate in New Westminster elections. With some luc

k, I hope to have some direct information from their campaign.

Today was the opening of the campaign office for the re-election of the incumbent candidate, Mayor Wayne Wright. Their office in the 600 block of 12th st was also busy as a number of supporters shared laughs, hot-dogs, empanadas, and refreshments. Mayor since 2002 and often cited as the driving force behind "The Worlds Largest Tin Soldier" Wayne Wright shared the day with other candidates, supporters, curious citizens and other notables like members of the city's emergency services and recently re-elected MP, Peter Julian.

From my uninformed position, the voice group does seem motivated to change the landscape of New Westminster city politics but the folks at Mayor Wright's campaign do not lack for a positive attitude. The atmosphere at the 12th street campaign office was upbeat and festive. I expect to see a lively contest between the Armitage/voice contingent and those supporting Wayne Wright's bid for re-election. I hope to get into this more as the campaign goes on. Check back here for updates.


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