#VanElxn2018: Price Tags Editor Slate [Update] — Ken

Update: things have evolved, no big surprise. The Vancouver 1st mayoral candidate has disgraced himself in my eyes, and other eyes, with a now-deleted video around the subject of SOGI education. This calls into question the judgement of candidates who ally themselves with this mayoral candidate.  I note that only one Van1 candidate has left the party over this.

I have also learned more, and revised some scores as a result. Many thanks to friends who prompted me to review some of my thinking. 

The 2018 civic election in Vancouver will ask voters to pick from a daunting list of candidates — 1 Mayor (from 21 candidates), 10 Councillors (from 71), 7 Park Board Commissioners (from 33), and 9 School Board Trustees (from 33), a grand total of 158 candidates.

Price Tags editors Ken Ohrn and Colin Stein have decided to share their personal slates and selection rationales; look for Gordon Price as he plays objective pundit on a screen near you on election night.

I did the first rough cut based on simple criteria. Several parties seem to stand for the wrong things, so all their candidates are out.

In particular, the NPA’s major disqualifier is their insistence on a quasi-veto for neighbourhoods when it comes to new affordable housing, more density and renters as new neighbours. Coalition Vancouver’s Trump-lite mayoral candidate just seems ridiculous, what with the facts-optional approach to policy decisions, and the blinkered view of issues’ importance.  [Vancouver 1st now joins this group].

The second cut was to eliminate no-hopers and the frivolous. This is a small group.

For those remaining, I chose weighted criteria and scored the candidates on each one. The criteria and scores are mine alone, and yours may differ considerably.

I think the incoming council will not be party dominated, unlike most of recent past councils, so major decisions and directions will not come from a single partisan back room. These will arise from the thinking of individual councillors, the informal coalitions they may form, and their circles of advisors and confidantes.

Mayor: Leadership, trust, transportation (bike lanes, UBC subway). A mayor, as figurehead, should be non-partisan, and willing and able to pull together a disparate group and get it moving in a useful direction. Without a strong leader, we face the distinct possibility of a council of chaos and dysfunction.

Councillor: History of service, partisan or cooperative nature, focus on housing, transportation (bike lanes, UBC subway). Given the turnover, I want a few councillors with experience of what is involved. Council experience is preferred, but there are so few incumbents in the race. Otherwise, I looked for evidence of a history of working with disparate groups, boards, councils and so on. Those in parties with a possibility of partisan leanings lost points on cooperativeness — as did those with apparent single-issue focus. I’d prefer council members that can learn to work together.

Park and School: Experience, focus on the business of parks or education, potential as a future councillor or leader.

As things evolve, I may evolve my thinking too (it’s been known to happen). I reserve the right to change any or all of my slate.

MAYOR

5 – Shauna Sylvester

Honourable mention: Kennedy Stewart

COUNCIL

6 – Crook, Adrian
7 – Fry, Pete – Green
20 – Evans, Catherine – Vision
36 – Paz, Tanya – Vision
45 – Swanson, Jean – COPE
54 – Blyth, Sarah
65 – Yan, Brandon (OneCity)
66 – Carr, Adriane – Green
68 – Weibe, Michael – Green
71 – Deal, Heather – Vision

Honourable mentions: Wade Grant, Diego Cardona, Derrick O’Keefe

PARK BOARD

2 – Demers, Dave (Green)
18 – Shivji, Shamam (Vision)
23 – Hurlbut, Rick (ProVancouver)
25 – Zubco, Cameron – Vision
26 – Giesbrecht, Gwen – COPE
28 – Irwin, John – COPE
29 – Dumont, Camil (Green)

Honourable mention: Steven Nemetz

SCHOOL BOARD

2 – Reddy, Jennifer – OneCity
6 – Fraser, Janet – Green
7 – Bercic, Carrie – OneCity
12 – Gonzalez, Estrellita – Green
15 – Jaaf, Erica – OneCity
23 – Leung, Aaron (Vision)
26 – Wong, Allan – Vision
31 – Arnold, Erin – Vision
32 – Oger, Morgane

Honourable mentions: Diana Day, Tony Dong, Barb Parrott

TOTALS

Independents – 4
COPE – 3
Green – 7
OneCity – 4
Vision – 8
ProVancouver – 1