Since Vancouver city councillor Meggs has resigned in favour of a senior staff position in the spankin’ new GreeNDP gov’t in Victoria, Vancouver voters may be heading to the polls on Oct 14, subject to City Council’s approval of the date.
BTW, the vacant Vancouver School Board seats do not have a by-election date or plan as yet confirmed by the Prov gov’t. Hopefully, these two by-elections can be made coincidental.
Who, I wonder, will toss their deposit into the coffers? How hotly will this seat be contested? Do any voters care?
- Vision: Patti Bacchus?
- NPA: Kirk (synch those lights!!) Lapointe, Gabe Garfinkle, Sarah Kirby-Yung, John Coupar? (Which of these has mayoral profile and gravitas? )
- Greens: Pete Fry?
- OneCity: Judy Graves
- COPE: hello, anyone?
- Christy Clark: everyone knows her vote record in Vancouver makes this a slam-dunk. And talk about mayoral profile. Yowzers!
For the trivia-minded, feast on this sure-fire party starter:
By-elections are very rare in Vancouver. The last one was in 1992, when then-Councillor Bruce Yorke of COPE resigned due to ill health. The NPA’s Lynne Kennedy won the seat.
Yorke gained his Council seat in 1985 in another by-election, beating Phillip Owen to win a place on Council.
Over its more than 125-year history, Vancouver City Council has had just 16 by-elections.
You took the words out of my mouth. Hopefully the NDP makes a statement and lets us have an elected VSB at the same time as the by election for Councillor. Persoanlly I would like to see another Green councillor.
I’m open to Michael Geller giving it another go.
Agreed re: concurrent VSB vote.
Michael Geller would make a valuable contribution with his experience and knowledge of the development industry — and “retirement” freedom to criticize that same industry and the city. His advocacy of fee simple rowhouses, family-sized multi-family housing, transit and Smart Growth principles would be my guess of what he has to offer that’s new. I wonder where he sits on blanket rezoning of RS1 and possibly other RS zones to accommodate these elements, possibly with informed design guidelines to keep the changes less than radical?
Judy Graves’ contribution via her empathetic work on the homeless file was remarkable. I’m not sure where her other strengths rest, but you wouldn’t have a greater advocate for the homeless and poor on council than her.
Vision needs a stronger opposition, and I’d agree with Bob that the Greens may offer a good candidate. However, reading over Adriane Carr’s prior anti-development comments made me cringe with the level of naivety and support for NIMBYism over balanced public consultation. Using a citizen’s assembly to rescue the previously flawed Grandview Woodlands consultation and community plan was not her idea. It should have been. So should have the Greenest City initiatives.
I once voted for Elizabeth Murphy in part as a damper to Vision’s development roller coaster. I will not do so again if she throws her hat in. Though I can agree with careful development after superior consultation, especially in established neighbourhoods, I cannot fathom the reasoning behind glass bubbling RS zones when we have a distinct land shortage exacerbated by RS zones that freeze 80% of all residential land in the city for 30% of the housing.
Are there any labour candidates willing to run? Thomas, are you willing to face the people with your views on the public sector?
I love Judy Graves for her tireless efforts on behalf of the homeless and those without, but I want also to hear about a more wholistic vision for the city moving forward on many fronts, including family and workforce (non-subsidized) housing, transit, job creation and the environment. So I’ll wait and see how her platform develops. I don’t know anything about One City, either. I think a few Vision members have been in their chairs waaaay too long and need to make some room for fresh ideas and younger candidates.
Is there a candidate willing to advocate for bus lanes, signal priority, more bus stop seating and other transit friendly road use policies. If after 8 years VISION can’t figured it out by now they never will