December 3rd, 2008 fbula
This just in from city hall, folks, as leaks continue to sprout at city hall.
(For those who don’t realize the intricacies, the Globe’s Saturday story about chief financial officer Estelle Lo’s severance pay was information that came from, yes, yet another in-camera meeting. I’m beginning to wonder when we’re all just going to get text messages straight from these confidential meetings.)
Anyway, here’s the news release from the city about Mr. Peck’s appointment. Better start stocking up on quarters for the payphones, you leakers.
City of Vancouver News Release
December 3, 2008
City appoints barrister to investigate information leak
The City of Vancouver today appointed Richard Peck, Q.C. to conduct an
independent investigation regarding the leak of confidential information
relating to the Olympic Village in Southeast False Creek.
Council passed a motion calling for the appointment of a barrister
pursuant to sections 176 and 177 of the Vancouver Charter at its final
council meeting November 25, 2008.
In accepting the appointment, Mr. Peck has indicated he will complete
his inquiry in two phases. Phase one will focus on: the adequacy of City
policies and procedures relating to in- camera meetings; the treatment
of sensitive documents, and the use of the confidential information. The
second phase of the inquiry will, if necessary, be a fact-finding
process to determine to a reasonable degree of certainty how and by whom
confidential information was disclosed. The necessity of the second
phase will be decided pending the outcome of the current Vancouver
Police Department investigation.
Mr. Peck is scheduled to present written findings relating to the first
phase of his inquiry to Council by mid-February 2009. At that time, a
decision on whether to proceed with phase two will be made.
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December 3rd, 2008 fbula
It’s always so thrilling for us media types to find out who the new administration is going to bring in as support staff. The only thing that’s possibly more fun is looking at poll-by-poll data of elections going back 30 years.
Anyway, Gregor Robertson’s team seems to be unusually reluctant to make any permanent appointments at this juncture, but news of the temp appointments is starting to trickle out. As I posted before, Mike Magee, the guy who helped create Vision Vancouver as it exists today and longtime friend of Gregor’s, is the interim chief of staff for six months.
For the moment, Maria Dobrinskaya, Gregor’s former CA at his former Fairview constituency office, is doing scheduling.
And I’ve just recently heard that Brent Humphrey is going to be the interim communications guy (i.e. replacing Sam Sullivan’s David Hurford, if that can possibly be done).
Brent was Mike Harcourt’s press guy until Harcourt left government and he and his wife, Laurie Best, ended up moving to Kamloops for several years and working there. Humphrey was media liaison for former mayor Mel Rothenburger for a while and also taught in the PR department at Thompson Rivers U.
They’re back in the city now. Interestingly, Ms. Best is currently head of the Vancouver’s communications department, meaning she spends a lot of time with city manager Judy Rogers, helping figure out appropriate city responses to the current craziness swirling around city hall.
There’s this little item from a 2005 Thompson Rivers newsletter for those of you who research communications people’s backgrounds.
Former Student Returns as Faculty by Sarah Huston
Almost 26 years after he had first attended Cariboo College, Brent Humphrey is back on campus, teaching Public Relations in the Journalism department at TRU.
Brent attended Cariboo College, in 1979, finishing two full years of Arts before transferring to the University of Victoria. While at Cariboo College, he said that one teacher really inspired him as a writer, “Alastair Watt was my English teacher and he introduced me to Literature,” said Humphrey “He sparked an interest in writing and developing my skill,”
While he was a student he saw the unique social scene Cariboo College had to offer, “It was an excellent experience attending the college, it was my first exposure to student life,” said Humphrey. Humphrey decided to attend Cariboo College because of the location and the opportunity, “I was able to explore my interests and become serious about school before I went away.”
Humphrey says that the education he received at Cariboo College was excellent preparation for the University of Victoria, where he completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science.
He then went to Langara College, graduating with a Journalism diploma. Humphrey worked for a few years at community newspapers where he covered a number of different beats.
He realized he had a passion for politics so he left journalism and took a dream job in Public Relations, representing the former premier Mike Harcourt. He worked with Mike Harcourt until he left office.
Humphrey then returned to Kamloops where he set up his own PR consulting firm and began teaching at TRU, “I moved back for my family and the lifestyle.”
Humphrey says that TRU is unique because of the campus social scene, “There is a positive bond here, so many students attending one university and not all are from Kamloops.” He says that the bond it is still evident, even as a teacher, “The small classroom size is huge advantage for students and teachers to develop that bond.”
Humphrey says that he loves teaching in the Journalism department and feels that it is a very useful and practical program, “There is a huge demand for skilled PR professionals and no one else offers this type of major.” “The facts learned are so closely connected to the profession,” adds Humphrey.
Humphrey says that he is excited about the changes happening at TRU, “I feel pride in the fact that the small campus I once attended grew into such an impressive institution.”
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December 2nd, 2008 fbula
The wheels are starting to turn with Vision Vancouver’s big homelessness plan. As part of that, mayor-to-be Gregor Robertson, Councillor Raymond Louie and Housing Minister Rich Coleman had a meeting on the weekend to talk about what’s possible and what’s not. You can read my Globe story here.
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December 2nd, 2008 fbula
One of my alert readers noticed this little story up on the Vancouver Sun website this afternoon, about the city suing an engineering firm connected with the Olympic village construction.
I should point out that the lawsuit is over a part of the project that is the city’s responsibility, nothing to do with Millennium. The city had to build the roads, the park and the foreshore as part of its development of the whole site.
And, while it’s not great to have a lawsuit, I know from experience (in a past life, I used to type transcripts of examinations for discovery) that construction sites generate lawsuits on a pretty regular basis.
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December 2nd, 2008 fbula
I know you were excited by the election and all. But still, it was gratifying to see my webalizer stats showed me that this blog got just under 47,000 hits for the month of November.
That’s up a considerable amount from the 31,000 in October and 29,000 in September. All I have to say is thanks to all of you. It’s cool, if I can use that phrase without sounding ancient, that there are so many of you who get off on reading about this city and how it works.
Also thank you to CTV, which supports my second blog and gives me lots of space for more thoughts (and has very sharp design), to the Tyee, which has included my blog in their blogroll, and the many, many people who have linked to me.
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December 2nd, 2008 fbula
It was a strange event, befitting a strange term of government.
And the tribute to Mayor Sam Sullivan, attended by about 400 in a banquet room at the Westin Bayshore, also felt kind of sad. Although several people said many nice things about Sam, mostly about his personal courage in overcoming his disability, the ashes from his reign filled the room.
At one table, there were all the Non-Partisan Association candidates who got wiped out in the recent election thanks to either 1) public rejection of Sam and all his ideas or 2) an internal party war started by those who feared that Sam was leading the NPA to rejection or 3) both.
At another, Councillor Peter Ladner sat quietly eating his salmon, which probably tasted more like crow, while guests heaped praise on the man Ladner helped to defeat for the mayoral nomination last February, giving him the chance to lead his party personally over the cliff.
At still another table, the city’s senior staff gathered, wondering what new trials await them after three years of chaotic rule and now no one knows what next with the new group coming in.
The lunch ended with city manager Judy Rogers being literally chased out of the room by a couple of reporters trying to get her to comment on the recent report that former chief financial officer Estelle Lo has been given a severance package of about $200,000. (”No comment, that’s a personnel matter,” said a grim-faced Rogers as she led Janet Brown from CKNW and Ted Field from Global on a merry chase through the hotel, showing that her fitness regime is really paying off as she outpaced them briskly.)
That minor fiasco, the latest in the larger mind-boggling melodrama of the Olympic athletes’ village and its financial problems and the ongoing leaks from city hall that uncover bits and pieces of it, was the tail end of a term that started with the mysterious role of James Green and the mayor’s connection to it. We’ve never seen a term with so much political intrigue and unsolved mysteries and hopefully we never will again.
But none of that was mentioned at the lunch, although the past and current troubles had to have been present in people’s minds.
Instead, it was an unalloyed tribute to Sam, with one speaker after another saying they didn’t have it in them to roast him. (The one to come closest to a roast was host Vicki Gabereau, when she described Suzanne Anton as “Vancouver city councillor and lonely girl” — referring to Anton’s new status as the lone NPA representative on council.)
Tung Chan, Lorne Segal, Suzanne Anton and Rick Hansen all praised him to the sky.
“I must confess, Sam Sullivan is my hero,” said Lorne, sounding pretty emotional. “Every now and then, a leader arrives in the community who achieves distinction because of the qualities of his mind and character. Sam Sullivan has not just been our mayor — he has been and will continue to be a symbol of the possibilities that lie within us all.”
Suzanne also praised his political courage, particularly in championing EcoDensity. “I believe it will be remembered as one of his great legacies.”
She also emphasized repeatedly how popular he was and the way people would cluster around him when he went through town.
And Sam himself made one of his most heartfelt speeches. He talked about how he remade himself into another person by making two decisions, 23 years ago. One, that he would stop thinking about himself and start thinking about others. And second, that he would set goals and think big.
He also told a story about going to an event in those early years, where someone carried him up the stairs and when Sam thanked the man for carrying him, his porter replied: “You carry me just as much as I carry you. You inspire me.”
Sam returned that compliment to the audience. “Every one of you carried me and had a role in making my life beautiful. In so many ways, you have made my life blessed.”
It was sad for everyone because it reminded all of us of how Sam seemed to have so much possibility and somehow it all got blown. Some will blame the media. (Though Sam thanked us for giving him a real beating, instead of those saccharine profiles he used to be featured in. You’re welcome.) Some will blame Peter Ladner and his supporters. Some will blame the ignorant public.
But, for all the deserved praise, all the things that annoyed people about Sam kept sneaking into the tribute.
The video/slide show about him displayed a huge number of shots of Sam with famous people, like some teenager’s collection of autographs from his pop-star idols, leaving the lingering feeling that getting to hang out with celebrities was the most significant part of his job.
The section labelled “agent of change” had a depressing number of references to stories about things actually initiated by staff or that had nothing to do with the mayor — electric cars, booming construction, the city’s tedious No. 1 rankings, the police efforts to reduce violence on Granville by eliinating cars, and many more. A reminder of all those press releases where he announced his firm support for staff recommendations that everyone was going to vote for unanimously anyway.
And Suzanne Anton, while making a valiant effort to highlight Sam’s good qualities, noted that one of his key qualities was an ability to listen — and then she told a story that was all about how everyone at some banquet hung on Sam’s every word because his speech was in Chinese.
If anything, it epitomized why Sam’s team did so badly in the election. They mistook people’s admiration for his personal achievements, whether physical or mental, for political support of his policies.
In the end, it was Concord Pacific CEO Terry Hui who came the closest to capturing some essence of Sam, as he described several of his “surreal” moments with the mayor, talking about Chinese poetry late into the night or being taken in by Sam’s assertion that his wheelchair had four-wheel drive.
And he talked about a brief encounter he had with the mayor one afternoon — a very Vancouver kind of moment. Terry, who is an avid kitesurfer and unusual-sports guy, had just gotten an electric skateboard and rushed out to try it on the seawall after a day of meetings, not even bothering to take off his suit. He met the mayor while he was out there. Sam was interested in Terry’s new gadget and so Terry slalomed around on the seawall, showing the mayor what it could do.
In return, Sam said, “Watch this,” and popped a wheelie in his wheelchair. So there they were, a major developer and the mayor of the city, bopping down the seawall on an electric skateboard and a wheelchair running on two wheels.
“The best of luck and have more surreal moments,” Terry said at the end. “But don’t ask him to do a wheelie now. This is a less sporty version of the wheelchair he was on before.”
Maybe now he’ll go back to that lighter wheelchair.
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December 1st, 2008 fbula
In what seems to be a determined effort by Vision Vancouver to reprise 2002 but do it better, the team has decided to have its inaugural ceremony at Bing Thom’s beautiful new Sunset Community Centre.
For those with short memories, i.e. most of us, the winning COPE crew in 2002 decided to take government out to the people by having their inaugural ceremony at the Roundhouse community centre.
This time, it’s south Vancouver that’s being honoured. That’s in part to acknowledge the heavy involvement of the Indo-Canadian community in the election. In spite of the fact that almost none of the Indo-Canadian candidates running got elected, except for Vision’s Raj Hundal to park board, the 49th and Main area was a hotbed of political activity. There was a sign in almost every yard on 49th between Main and Fraser.
Bill Yee, the councillor (and lawyer) who was Mike Harcourt’s sidekick during the 1980s, will be the judge who swears in the new council in the ceremony, which will be held in the gymnasium. (There’ll be overflow areas with audio provided.)
Then everyone will repair back to council for the first meeting to appoint committees and so on. Insiders are deriving some amusement from the fact that all the gal councillors are lined up in the right side of council with Tim Stevenson (in order: Heather Deal, Tim, Andrea Reimer, Suzanne Anton, and Ellen Woodsworth), while the left side will be the testosterone row: Raymond Louie at the head, George Chow, Kerry Jang, David Cadman and Geoff Meggs. (Seats are chosen according to how many votes people got.)
And then after that, the work will start. Word is that staff are being told they’re not supposed to bury the councillors in weeks of briefings, as had happened in the past. Instead, the new Vision crew wants to concentrate on the big problems: affordable housing, homelessness, the Olympic village, and the budget.
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November 28th, 2008 fbula
In keeping with my recent post about slow blogs, my former Vancouver Sun colleague Lee Bacchus is coincidentally launching a blog — Splinter in Your Eye — which is a minimalist “slow” blog (, composed almost entirely of images that focus on Vancouver in transition. Photos are by Lee, illustrations by Bernie Lyon.
A great topic for this city where things change so fast, our biggest problem is looking at a hole-in-the-ground construction site and trying to remember what was there yesterday. I’m kind of envious, as one of my fantasy projects has always been to photography every building in the city so there’s a record of what stood on the site before the latest development project.
As Lee says, “It is not about “news” or “the latest thing” or “politics” or “technology.” It is trying simply to be about seeing what’s in front of us.”
Here’s the blog URL…
http://splinterinyoureye.blogspot.com/
Linked to this, Lee also has a photo essay on the last days of Little Mountain Housing Project called “Ghost World” in The Tyee.
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November 27th, 2008 fbula
I called up my various friends and acquaintances who work in investigative reporting across the land, as well as checking with some local media lawyers on this issue. I’ve posted the good bits from what I found on my CTV blog here.
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November 27th, 2008 fbula
Sorry for the short absence there, folks. Just a lot to do between covering the last council meeting and finishing off the teaching year at Langara and and and.
I have to say, it was nice to hear people talk about what their time on council had meant to them (and B.C. Lee got the best laugh with his “and always leave your door unlocked — you don’t know what exciting things might happen”). But it was too bad we left with the bad taste, after these touching speeches, of everything that was dysfunctional about this council as they battled over inquiries and investigations and who leaked what.
So, on that note, here’s my Christmas wish list of things I hope I do not see with the new council.
1. Councillors making weird faces when they don’t agree with what an opposing councillor is saying. Kim Capri was the worst offender in this category and she was in full force on Tuesday, eye-rolling, smirking and sneering as Vision councillors made their (admittedly weaselly sounding) arguments about how useless a public inquiry into the document leaker would be.
2. Councillors who try to get into arguments with staff, especially Judy Rogers, in a kind of backhanded way. Worst offender in this category: David Cadman. If you don’t like Judy, give her her half million and send her on her way but the quasi-judicial interrogations (”Oh, so you did talk to the police chief about this after all?”) are clumsy and boring.
3. Interruptions of speaking councillors, claiming alleged “points of order.” If you don’t like what your opponents have to say, get up and tell them that, but for heaven’s sake, no more people who act as though they know the rules and no one else does. Worst offenders: Almost a tie between Suzanne Anton and Raymond Louie, although I think Suzanne wins. I’m willing to have a vote among my rabid blog-readers, if they can stop arguing about where Gregor is.
4. Using the city clerk to make your council management decisions for you. Read your Robert’s Rules of Order and run the meeting, people. Don’t make the city clerks give rulings to shut down your opposition so that you don’t have to look as though you’re being the meanie. Worst offender: Sam Sullivan.
5. Having all of your party members stand up one after the other to make the same point or variations thereof. Worst offenders: Everyone except David Cadman, since he was his only party member.
Okay, that’s probably enough. I think I’m starting to sound like a cranky old lady.
Oh, and maybe one more rule. No more joke-telling, whispering, laughing, note-passing and other forms of misbehaviour among the reporters, especially me, Allen Garr and Stephen Quinn, the worst offenders. That should be easy because Stephen has gone off to CBC Host Heaven.
Any other suggestions from the gallery? And puh-leez, if we could not get into the predictable slugfest among you know who out there.
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