Vancouver Civic Election 2022

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

That's a problem in itself; we already had a possible attempt to buy votes for pro-CCP candidates in Richmond, and another to coerce the Indian immigrant community in Surrey. The consequences of anybody who's been here 5+ years being allowed to vote may be... unpleasant.

Allegations that never turned into criminal charges says a lot. I mean is it any worse then driving around and stealing election campaign signs of your opponents? Where's the Russian plots?

[Migrant_Coconut]

Maybe when the Russians and Chinese start flying new voters into BC? One's done it before (Ukraine), and the other very much wants to try.

Originally Posted by jollyburger

Allegations that never turned into criminal charges says a lot. I mean is it any worse then driving around and stealing election campaign signs of your opponents?

Heh, fair enough.

[Feathered Friend]

Sarah Kirby-Yung will seek re-election as a Vancouver city councillor
Her decision brings number of incumbents to 10 seeking another term at city hall
Mike Howell Mike Howell about 10 hours ago

Sarah Kirby-Yung will seek re-election this year as a city councillor.

Kirby-Yung's decision brings the total number of Vancouver council incumbents who plan to be on the ballot in October to 10.

Only COPE Coun. Jean Swanson is undecided whether she’ll seek a second term at city hall, although she has a "significant announcement" to make Thursday regarding the election, according to a news release Wednesday from COPE.

“I thought long and hard about it, but yes I am going to seek re-election,” Kirby-Yung said by telephone Monday (Jan. 10). “I still think that residents of Vancouver need a voice that’s willing to stand up and ask the tough questions and try to stand up for what I think residents want, and I think the balance is off in this city.”

The former park board commissioner said she hasn’t decided whether she’ll run as an independent or with a party. If it’s with a party, it won’t be with the NPA

https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/local...ouncillor-city-hall-october-2022-4948671

[Feathered Friend]

Justin McElroy@j_mcelroy

Vancouver councillor Jean Swanson has announced she would like to seek re-election this year, and has asked COPE to nominate her again.

COPE says their aim is to get a majority on council this election — a departure from 2018, when they only ran three candidates.
12:08 PM · Jan 13, 2022·TweetDeck

https://twitter.com/j_mcelroy/status/1481719859385810944?s=20

Justin McElroy @j_mcelroy

COPE says it will be up to their membership to decide how many council candidates to run, whether to run a mayoral candidate, and who they will be at a meeting in April.

Remains conceivable that there will be no major challenger to the left of Kennedy Stewart this election.
12:28 PM · Jan 13, 2022·TweetDeck

https://twitter.com/j_mcelroy/status/1481724864532680704?s=20

[Feathered Friend]

https://twitter.com/councillorwiebe/status/1481399344334970880?s=20

[Feathered Friend]

Opinion: 'Mayoral bros' can breathe easy - Jody Wilson-Raybould has no plans to run for Vancouver mayor

It's her most definitive answer yet on if she will run to be the City of Vancouver’s next mayor. But she still might wield influence over the 2022 civic election.
Mo Amir Mo Amir
about 5 hours ago

“I don’t have plans to be the next mayor of Vancouver,” said Jody Wilson-Raybould on the latest episode of This is VANCOLOUR on CHEK. This was her most definitive answer to date about a possible mayoral run that has been the source of rampant speculation ahead of the Oct. 15 municipal election.

“That’s not in the cards for me.”

https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/opini...plans-to-run-for-vancouver-mayor-4992262

[Aroundtheworld]

Hi everyone, I wanted to let you know that I am running for Vancouver City Council in the 2022 Civic Election.

As someone who wants this city to be the best it can be, I feel it is sliding into mediocrity. I also personally feel this is the time in my life to step up and be active and not just comment on the sidelines.

My main areas of focus will be:

• Housing: I don't think speeding up permits and nibbling at the edges in permitting more housing is enough. I think a fundamental shift in how rezoning and development is done is needed. I find Japan's zoning model to be particularly inspiring.
• Transportation: This is a passion of mine. I want to look at ways we can get improvements built faster whether they be transit lines or bike lanes. I also want to see more pedestrian areas in the city. I support tolling but I think it should be revenue-neutral.
• Charter Reform: The city's inability to raise taxes other than property taxes means that it struggles to provide basic services or it needs to beg to higher levels of government to get anything done - a time-consuming process. I will push the BC Government to reform the city's charter so it can raise other forms of taxation that grow with the economy.

I look forward to hearing your questions and comments. Please tell me what matters to you. Also, if you are interested in helping out, I would be delighted.

Cheers,
Lee

[s211]

"Mayoral bros" ?

Where to start.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by Aroundtheworld

Hi everyone, I wanted to let you know that I am running for Vancouver City Council in the 2022 Civic Election.

As someone who wants this city to be the best it can be, I feel it is sliding into mediocrity. I also personally feel this is the time in my life to step up and be active and not just comment on the sidelines.

My main areas of focus will be:

• Housing: I don't think speeding up permits and nibbling at the edges in permitting more housing is enough. I think a fundamental shift in how rezoning and development is done is needed. I find Japan's zoning model to be particularly inspiring.
• Transportation: This is a passion of mine. I want to look at ways we can get improvements built faster whether they be transit lines or bike lanes. I also want to see more pedestrian areas in the city. I support tolling but I think it should be revenue-neutral.
• Charter Reform: The city's inability to raise taxes other than property taxes means that it struggles to provide basic services or it needs to beg to higher levels of government to get anything done - a time-consuming process. I will push the BC Government to reform the city's charter so it can raise other forms of taxation that grow with the economy.

I look forward to hearing your questions and comments. Please tell me what matters to you. Also, if you are interested in helping out, I would be delighted.

Cheers,
Lee

Hi Lee,

Glad to know someone from SSP is running. Love your take on Housing & transportation, and the advocation on more high density rezoning throughout the city. However, how would you tackle the rampant disorderliness, homelessness and addiction issues of this city, particularly at the Downtown Eastside? Do you also have a platform to start attracting businesses including manufacturing back into this city?

[Migrant_Coconut]

Best of luck, man - I think you're going to need it as an independent.

[Aroundtheworld]

Originally Posted by Vin

Hi Lee,

Glad to know someone from SSP is running. Love your take on Housing & transportation, and the advocation on more high-density rezoning throughout the city. However, how would you tackle the rampant disorderliness, homelessness and addiction issues of this city, particularly at the Downtown Eastside? Do you also have a platform to start attracting businesses including manufacturing back into this city?

These are all good questions. I've done a bit of research into the issue of homelessness in the past. It's the result of many things coming together from the high cost of housing, lack of services and laws for dealing with people who have addictions and mental health issues to drug prohibition.

The biggest thing we can do to address the issue is to provide enough Supportive Housing i.e. housing the homeless and providing enough social workers to support them. Studies have shown that this may be a net savings when factoring in reduced housing and police expenses. We are building some but not nearly enough. I remember doing a back-of-the-envelope calculation a while ago and I believe if we raised a 0.5% sales tax for 5 years, we would have enough funds to pay for the housing and a fund to support them long-term. The city without additional taxing power doesn't have the resources to do this, which means the province needs to fund it (usually delayed and not nearly enough). In the end, it all comes down to political will and courage which has been lacking.

For attracting businesses and manufacturing back into the city, I admit I need to do more research on this. One of the problems in Vancouver is it leans on commercial property taxes far higher than residential taxes, which does discourage business to an extent. (It might be tricky redressing this imbalance though) Also, we have a shortage of industrial land in the region.

On the other hand, I don't believe it is all doom and gloom. We have a very low office vacancy rate, even with the pandemic, a sign that companies are choosing to locate here. I think having zoning that permits more low-scale commercial and industrial could also help, though I admit I haven't analyzed this in-depth.

Philosophically, I think the best way to grow an economy is to provide an environment with low amounts of red tape with predictable and supportive institutions and infrastructure instead of intervening and trying to favour one industry over another. I see the future of Vancouver's economy being based on
Trade, Technology and Tourism and I think there are missed opportunities in all of them.

[cov]

Originally Posted by Aroundtheworld

These are all good questions. I've done a bit of research into the issue of homelessness in the past. It's the result of many things coming together from the high cost of housing, lack of services and laws for dealing with people who have addictions and mental health issues to drug prohibition.

The biggest thing we can do to address the issue is to provide enough Supportive Housing i.e. housing the homeless and providing enough social workers to support them. Studies have shown that this may be a net savings when factoring in reduced housing and police expenses. We are building some but not nearly enough. I remember doing a back-of-the-envelope calculation a while ago and I believe if we raised a 0.5% sales tax for 5 years, we would have enough funds to pay for the housing and a fund to support them long-term. The city without additional taxing power doesn't have the resources to do this, which means the province needs to fund it (usually delayed and not nearly enough). In the end, it all comes down to political will and courage which has been lacking.

For attracting businesses and manufacturing back into the city, I admit I need to do more research on this. One of the problems in Vancouver is it leans on commercial property taxes far higher than residential taxes, which does discourage business to an extent. (It might be tricky redressing this imbalance though) Also, we have a shortage of industrial land in the region.

On the other hand, I don't believe it is all doom and gloom. We have a very low office vacancy rate, even with the pandemic, a sign that companies are choosing to locate here. I think having zoning that permits more low-scale commercial and industrial could also help, though I admit I haven't analyzed this in-depth.

Philosophically, I think the best way to grow an economy is to provide an environment with low amounts of red tape with predictable and supportive institutions and infrastructure instead of intervening and trying to favour one industry over another. I see the future of Vancouver's economy being based on
Trade, Technology and Tourism and I think there are missed opportunities in all of them.

have you thought about running with another party? particularly one-city because I feel your campaigns are almost identical. Running with an established party has the added benefit of grouping and sharing resources to punch above your weight.

Many of us here share your views, but we also have to consider the electability of prospective candidates so as to not waste our votes. Running as an independent in a gridlocked municipal election doesn't exactly inspire the kind of confidence required for a serious run for office.

[Aroundtheworld]

Originally Posted by cov

have you thought about running with another party? particularly one-city because I feel your campaigns are almost identical. Running with an established party has the added benefit of grouping and sharing resources to punch above your weight.

Many of us here share your views, but we also have to consider the electability of prospective candidates so as to not waste our votes. Running as an independent in a gridlocked municipal election doesn't exactly inspire the kind of confidence required for a serious run for office.

I should have mentioned this earlier: I am applying to run for A Better City. They are a new party and why I chose to apply to run for them is their focus on policy. I also like the opportunity to shape the discourse from the beginning somewhere. I have looked at OneCity's plans and policies and I think there is a lot of great stuff there, though there are some things I disagree with (such as moving to a ward system).

[cov]

Originally Posted by Aroundtheworld

I should have mentioned this earlier: I am applying to run for A Better City. They are a new party and why I chose to apply to run for them is their focus on policy. I also like the opportunity to shape the discourse from the beginning somewhere. I have looked at OneCity's plans and policies and I think there is a lot of great stuff there, though there are some things I disagree with (such as moving to a ward system).

Onecity is no longer dedicated to the ward system. But isn't ken-sim also running on a ward system? Didn't he run for mayor with the NPA who are basically a nimby voting block? Unless you feel the clout of ken sim alone can pull a victory, or you are super dedicated to building a stand-alone infrastructure for A better city over the next decade, this just isn't a viable political path.

I'm not being pessimistic. This is the game theory inevitable. If you want grassroots change, you gotta first build infrastructure. If you wanna win now, you need to play the power broker role, in which case you need to be rich/politically connected/deeply rooted.

what's your plan? more importantly what's ken sim's plan if he doesn't win? If he isn't dedicated to A Better City as a lasting political party then you are just wasting your time.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Yeah, "Ken Sim" and "progressive" are two mutually-exclusive terms; he spent most of the 2018 campaign courting West Side reactionaries (e.g. we need more consultation, UBC SkyTrain is bad, etc etc).

[Klazu]

Interesting news, yet not surprising at all, in City of Vancouver having last year lost people for the first time in 45 years. Sure, you can blame some of it on remote work, but the truth is that the city with its crazy policies has lost all its appeal to crazy housing prices and high crime rates. Urban flight for the neighboring cities won't end and Surrey will take over as the most populous city in the region still this decade. While Vancouver lost almost 7K (!) people in a year, Surrey gained 13K - in a single year!!

https://www.livabl.com/2022/01/vancouver-population-dips-first-time-45-years.html

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by Klazu

Interesting news, yet not surprising at all, in City of Vancouver having last year lost people for the first time in 45 years. Sure, you can blame some of it on remote work, but the truth is that the city with its crazy policies has lost all its appeal to crazy housing prices and high crime rates. Urban flight for the neighboring cities won't end and Surrey will take over as the most populous city in the region still this decade. While Vancouver lost almost 7K (!) people in a year, Surrey gained 13K - in a single year!!

https://www.livabl.com/2022/01/vancouver-population-dips-first-time-45-years.html

Wow! The estimates say Vancouver lost 7,000 people in year, and you think that's because of crazy housing prices and high crime rates? The house prices and crime must be terrible in Montreal - that lost 45,000 people in a year in the estimates, and Toronto lost over 16,000. And they didn't all 'fly' to Mississauga, because that lost 2,900 too. And Windsor too.

Strange that the population loss is in all those places that immigrants usually arrive (but didn't last year), and all those Europeans on work visas find jobs in restaurants and bars (but not last year), and all those foreign students generally live to attend university. But I'm sure it's the house prices. And the crime. So that should mean that if people are leaving because house prices had risen so much that they moved away, then the prices fell in Vancouver last year?

[Feathered Friend]

It seems One City has won the endorsement of the VDLC to run four candidates for council this year. That said with nine people seeking the nomination, some are going to be leaving empty handed.

The nine individuals hoping to secure one of the four spots are :
Christine Boyle (incumbent)
Ian Cromwell
Iona Bonamis
Dan Rothwell
Bobo Eyrich
Constance Barnes
Rakshin Kandola
Matthew Norris
Nick Lauga

https://nominate.onecityvancouver.ca/city_council

[s211]

Originally Posted by Feathered Friend

It seems One City has won the endorsement of the VDLC to run four candidates for council this year.
https://nominate.onecityvancouver.ca/city_council

I think I just won buzzword bingo.

[rofina]

Originally Posted by Changing City

Wow! The estimates say Vancouver lost 7,000 people in year, and you think that's because of crazy housing prices and high crime rates? The house prices and crime must be terrible in Montreal - that lost 45,000 people in a year in the estimates, and Toronto lost over 16,000. And they didn't all 'fly' to Mississauga, because that lost 2,900 too. And Windsor too.

Strange that the population loss is in all those places that immigrants usually arrive (but didn't last year), and all those Europeans on work visas find jobs in restaurants and bars (but not last year), and all those foreign students generally live to attend university. But I'm sure it's the house prices. And the crime. So that should mean that if people are leaving because house prices had risen so much that they moved away, then the prices fell in Vancouver last year?

You know both of you can be right? Right?

Ill add 1 statistic to the count; myself. I specifically sold all my Vancouver proper condos precisely because of the issues Klazu mentions. I want as few of my own resources and money going to Vancouver coffers if it will continue to govern itself the way it has.

I'm not a particularly special person, I cant be the only one.