Politicians and the City

I wrote to some of the contestants in the Vancouver-Burrard byelection (Arthur Griffith, Spencer Herbert and Ian McLeod.) We shall see who responds. They want my vote, but can they or will they do anything for a citizen who has serious issues with the City?

The more I deal with this matter, the more I have come to realize that all these elections are almost worthless for us the taxpayers. We don't often come into contact with the Mayors office or the various councillers. However, we need to deal with City Hall, and thats where the problem lies. These people are not elected, they don't really have strong oversight and they are not accountable to anyone.

Update: The only one to respond was Spencer Herbert, so I thouugh I generally vote Conservative, he got my vote!

Vancouver Police

A few months ago I filed to have the police investigate the actions of their officers on October 20th 2007 when they broke down the door to my unit in Yaletown. I met with an investigating officer. Though he was cordial, it seemed that he already considered their actions appropriate.

I am not expecting an unbiased and transparent investigation. I get a monthly report on the investigation, though this months report was exactly the same as last months. Are they holding on till the last minute of the 6 months deadline for completing this investigation?

I don't forget for a minute that the VPD is employed by the City of Vancouver, and that Judy Rogers runs that operation.

This is taken from the Letter to Citizens by Judy Rogers in City of Vancovuer 2007 Annual Report. Obviously, this part is a load of crap!

She told me not to contact the city, and they refuse to provide me with evidence or documentation behind their decisions. So much for accessible and accountable!


Letter from the City Manager
The work we do everyday at the City of
Vancouver is focussed on common goals.
While we often talk generally about building
and maintaining a livable city, how we achieve
this depends on channelling our work through
our basic objectives. We work to: establish an
accessible and accountable city;

Judy Rogers
City Manager

In that same report, with the picture of the City Council, the Values are stated as follows:


Responsiveness: To listen to all the people
we work with and serve and to act in a timely
and sensitive way. (Nope)
Excellence: To strive for the best results.
Fairness: To apply unbiased judgement and
sensitivity. (Nope)
Integrity: To be open and honest and to
honour our commitments. (Nope)
Leadership: To set examples that others
will choose to follow.
Learning: To increase knowledge and
understanding in the workplace and in
the community and to grow through our
successes and our mistakes.

Other than Raymond Louie contacting me once regarding this matter, none of the other Council members have responded or taken any action.

So Peter Ladner is running for Mayor?

I wrote to Peter Ladner a few days ago about my experiences with the city and the problems I had. I always thought highly of him, as I had seen what a great job he did with Business in Vancouver.

I never did get a response. I think I know why. If he is elected Mayor, he is going to have to kowtow to Judy Rogers, just like all the other Mayors do, so he does not want to get involved in anything that might upset her. If this means that a citizens rights get thrown under the bus, so be it.

Who oversees the City Manager of Vancouver?

You know its interesting, the media and the taxpayers of Vancouver often talk about whether our Mayor is doing a good job or not. No one ever asks how the City Manager, Judy Rogers, who makes a lot more money than the mayor is doing. Who oversees her performance? Who reviews her actions? It seems to me that no one does and thats very dangerous.

Is Vancouver the Taser Capital of Canada?

You have to wonder whats up with the VPD, taser incidents happening almost daily. I fault their employer, the City of Vancouver who seems to have fostered an us against them mentality in respect to the citizens of Vancouver.

You call someone in the city, they don't call you back. What were you thinking, that people who "work" for the city would actually call you back? They got better things to do, I'm sure.

What, no call from Judy Rogers?

As expected, Judy Rogers did not return my call. What was I thinking, a highly paid employee of the city would call a taxpayer? They however seem to think that it makes perfect sense for a taxpayer who had their door broken down by the police to just meekly walk away and not call or write them because they asked me not to.

Its no longer just about the money. Its very much about that you can't screw over a citizen and expect that they will just fold. Ms. Rogers and company, I have not yet begun to fight!