Overview:
This year, and maybe because you can't help but become more politically aware in a time when the American empire seems to be crumbling,.. we decided to do more to educate ourselves about the candidates in this year's municipal election.
I want to share it in case you also are confused and a summary gives you more hints than wading through hundreds of articles and city council meetings. Know this, I am no expert, and I cherry pick what I like. In the past I tended to vote along party lines and focused on a few issues that are important to me but this year I've done more research and generally have more exposure to city workings through my job and my network than ever before.
Who am I politically? Before you bother to put any weight into my words, you should know where I stand generally (or what areas I tend to be more up on).. I've found that people I seem to get along with often surprise me with their political leaning,.. you might feel the same about me.
- I lean left - pretty far left. I'm prepared to pay more taxes to get the things I want implemented at the city level. I simply can't ignore that the pockets of the world that are more socialist have more of the stuff I like (Holland, Finland, even Portland!).
- I believe in evidence based research. I have a social sciences education background: critical thinking, statistics, etc. and I think systemically. I cannot stand isolated anecdotal claims that people use to justify a case for a policy opinion or people think that systemic changes happen overnight especially when a cultural shift is required. I respect academics, their methodology, and their potential contribution to policy..
- I love the science around city planning and how it impacts happiness and city health. I understand operations based concepts and have a mid level understanding of when tough choices are made for the good of a bigger system.
- I respect the history of my city. I am sad when businesses I care about close and their buildings torn down. On some level, I don't like change (but most specifically in that area).
- I am not as unhappy with the current city council as most people seem to be. I think most people have not done enough homework. I've read a little bit about how council issues were voted upon, I don't think most people have. Don't get me wrong, I'm not happy with much of what is going on in the city, but people are placing blame often in places where the control does not exist. I also have observed the different parties on council vote more similarly than one might think but Vision gets 100% of the blame for the controversial ones.
- I'm not a fan of the impact of cars on cities and communities but I drive one, and I'm not really an environmentalist,.. I just dislike noise, congestion and things that isolate people especially when totally unneeded and far less efficient. I believe in sustainable and active transportation as a solution to city congestion where the geography is challenging AND I work in that industry and study that topic locally and globally (especially cycling). Bike paths and Translink projects weigh heavily in my voting choices but more than I'd like. I think they are actually way overemphasized on a city budget level as a divisive tactic by populist politicians (and sometimes the media) to distract from bigger issues. To me the data is clear on these topics I've managed to dive deeply on. To me, the ignorance around the potential benefits of transit and active transportation infrastructure is verging on anti-vax and climate change denial. The real big ticket items really are housing and the decimation of our communities along with the opioid crisis.
Based on that, how to pick candidates to vote for?
Although I'm a data thinker, I'll admit right up front, a good portion of this is going to be emotional. If, for example, for years I've witnessed first hand, and heard 3rd hand, NPA councilor Melissa De Genova outright lie, distort, manipulate, and belittle others,.. I have a hard time looking past that and she also taints her own party (for me). That is not fully rational, but it is how I will act.
What I'm going to do is create a chart of traits/skills I want in a mayor and compare the known "realistic" candidates against that. I will put weight on:
- Academic credentials in one of these areas: public policy, city planning, sociology (or similar)
- Business experience (any size): I think that is valuable
- Not a total ass hat - yup,.. I need that (by that I mean, likable, honest, and not a self-serving narcissist)
- A proven history of leading groups and bridging the divide between mixed viewpoints
- Federal and/or Provincial level government connections or experience - HUGE (I'll elaborate more on that below).
- Past city council or similar experience - Also huge. Don't learn how this works on my dime!
(I'm not going to rate them, just put a yes, no, not sure/medium).
Most of the "problems" people criticize about the current city council are largely not solvable just on a local level. Homelessness for example has much to do with our climate in relation to the rest of the country,.. Vision made stupid claims about solving it but no city can solve that without Provincial or Federal help on a large scale so I'm looking for candidates that do more than run a local business,.. I want to see experience working with all levels of government. Similarly the related housing crisis is a global economy issue,.. I suspect the city has very few levers to pull to make in dent in that on their own,.. I'll be looking for oversimplified, uneducated claims to "fix" those (and critical of them).
I likely will focus mostly on the mayor candidates and then look at the councillors that stand out only (below).
Mayor
| Subject matter expertise: planning. public policy | Business experience | Not an ass-hat | Fed/Prov level govt. connections/experience | Past Council experience (or similar) |
| Sim | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Sylvester | Yes | not sure/medium | Yes | not sure/medium | Yes |
| Young | No | not sure/medium | No | Yes | Yes |
| Harding | No | Yes | not sure/medium | No | No |
| Stewart | Yes | not sure/medium | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Bremner | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
Some quick further colour commentary on the candidates for mayor.
Ken Sim: I struggle with NPA's past but feel he seems like a nice guy. I also get the feeling like he is a responsible business owner. The city has a big budget to run, so his business experience should not be ignored though I think it is small potatoes by comparison. A few interviews I've seen and read of his make me feel NPA is avoiding communicating any meaningful plans and that he also is just not the right person for the job in general due to political inexperience. In debates, he does not seem to shine against the other candidates. I feel like he isn't NPA's leader, but their puppet and often thrust in front of the camera,.. not really prepared to defend policy. Although I'm told by friends more knowledgable than me on the topic that many great infrastructure things have been built under NPA times, they usually were driven and proposed by non-NPA council members, but that still does speak their past ability to co-operate. Of note, Sim was game to join Stephen Quinn on the "election cycle" piece, but unlike Sylvester and Stewart that rode commuters,.. he rode a cruiser (I'm just not sure what to make of that! Maybe he sees bikes as less a form of transportation and more like a toy? I think I'm ok with that.). Lastly, I find it hard to look past some of the people NPA allows to wear their name: eg. De Genova. If Sim were to scour his party of people like her,.. I'd be more likely to vote for him.
Shauna Sylvester: I doubt she is the strategic vote but going through this process, she feels most like my choice. She has it all and on top of that, people I trust have seen her handle opposing crowds (Young's supporters) handily. I do fear the vote split... I wish she didn't have to forego running as a councilor to attempt the mayor run. She is a proven relationship builder (said over and over again by people exposed to her on various councils), and has credentials specifically in the areas that will be needed to solve some of these tough issues. I feel her focus on co-ops as a partial housing crisis solution is something I like,... but sounds thin as a "bold policy" and fear that her real life experience in this area led her to a "reality based" solution and not as impressive a grand vision people will gravitate towards and vote for. Sylvester also is very clear on her opinions, almost to a fault (bike paths for example - she has studied them abroad and has no bones about it..). I think her opponents avoid clarity and unfortunately this works against people in elections. Her past ties to Vision will be leveraged against her despite the fact she essentially parted from them long ago (unlike Bremner who was NPA last week!) IMO, she would bring the council together more than anyone else and I like her for her intestinal fortitude to take the arrows that would be inevitable.
Wai Young: People are going to think I dislike Wai Young due to her populist tactics of taking the divisiveness of bike paths and blowing them into an actual issue when,.. they aren't (bike paths carry more workers in and out of the city per square metre of allocation than they take up, second only to buses and skytrains) but I digress. I dislike her because she is a Trump-style kook that probably even made Harper cringe with her shenanigans when working for the federal Conservatives (yes, under Harper). I cannot deny she meets my higher level govt. and business experience criteria but look how she uses it! She is nothing but a tool that will do and say anything to get in and she clearly is pandering to the rich elite types in Shaunessy. I do not care for the rich elites. The deeper on dug on her I did find she has a heart, and might know a thing or 2 about the opiod crisis and was shocked to discover she was a social worker! That said, that is not what she puts forward at all showing just how 2 faced she is: one policy she means, the other just to drive votes. She actually is campaigning on working
against other council members and not co-operation (Trump anyone?). I'm told she whipped up a crowd to boo Shauna Sylvester who hadn't even answered a question yet in townhall in Kerrisdale. Just do a quick search about her in any other province,.. it is both comical and dangerous. Judge for yourself. As I said: ass-hat. If you feel an urge to vote for her,.. you may aswell stop reading this.
Fred Harding: I don't know much about this candidate but a few things about him rub me the wrong way despite clear business experience and probably a good understanding of law enforcement. First off, he called himself a libertarian. That title does not conjure good images for me. Second, I grew up in West Van, and never felt the police there were a force of good like I feel the VPD are. I was a teenager so I'll let that slide though I do wonder if he'd tinker too much with one piece that we seem ok in here (VPD) compared to the broken RCMP and similar organizations. His policies seem heavy handed and punitive,.. not educational. That said, he has glommed onto a few specific housing related levers that are maybe over simplified but he believes them and they exist in a real world, unlike the vague YES, and NPA statements on the same topic. I think my big objection to this guy isn't about him, but rather he is politically opposite to me. I do wonder if he might have insight (no pun intended) to opiod solutions in the DTES but I've not heard him say that. I have, however, heard him talk about
seasonal bike paths which shows his complete lack of understanding for what is going on there in year over year growth. Update: His party has taken an anti-SOGI stance on the schoolboard that doesn't just sound like a "I wish it was handled better" issue... but rather bigotry. Related article
here. That does not sit right with me.
Kennedy Stewart: In my table above, Kennedy Stewart comes out on top. The fact is he has the chops and has "other layer political connections" to tackle the housing thing as much as anyone else. Other places pay to consult on these topics (maybe not the opioids), to me than means something - he is an expert. His knowledge of Provincial and Federal politics and connections there appear to me like assets. I find him likable, but not salesy and like his ability to casually convey complex ideas and make them understandable. In many ways, I feel he is kind of like me - a renter, and pragmatic, but somehow I still like Sylvester more. The reason I feel my vote may go to him is my fear of vote splitting and he obviously is perceived as the biggest risk to the right given the smearing dollars being aimed mostly at him.
Hector Bremner: Let's not forget that just a few months ago Bremner would have happily led the NPAs, and before that worked for Christie Clark. Instead, he lost that vote and starts a new party overnight like a self-entitled child, and honestly, I think that might be his base: iphone using millennial types that will look at window dressing over substance. Sure the guy's suits fit well, but he isn't selling me a Hootsuite license, he wants to run the city. I just don't feel it. To me he embodies the worst of the ghost of Gregor Robinson combined with a non-policy which I'm sure is more NPA than we'd all be led to believe. I do not see any real actionable policy in what I've read that can compare to the experience the other candidates. He's not in it for us,.. he's in it for his ego and probably a more right of centre world than I can back.
Notables Running for Council
Adriane Carr and Pete Fry: I wish one of these 2 were running for Mayor but the fact that they are not says something. My take is the Carr at least is seen as a very collaborative and well respected member of council by many inside and outside the Green party. When I look at Green voting history they tend to reflect my beliefs, sort of, especially when they differ from the Vision people. Their platform
here, covers much of the same ground as all parties this election but I feel like their track record shows it is not a significant deviation from their main concerns all along (Colin Stein from Pricetags
disagrees and indeed, many think the Greens are less left than they used to be). Speeding up permitting and adding parking to FSR totals to reduce building costs speak to changes that were opposing Vision on and ones I support. I will be voting heavily Green despite the perception by some that they have moved more to center on transportation and even affordable housing.
Melissa De Genova: Be clear, putting her in this section is NOT an endorsement. There may be other candidates in other parties that go to Twitter and misrepresent facts to stir up support, but she is the only one I've seen do it first hand. Although it has been enjoyable to see her get owned in social media by experts and educated citizens, she scares the shit out of me. How people continually vote for her eludes me.
Michael Wiebe: On Mt. Pleasant BIA, small business owner, respects Vancouver history and diversity, supports multi-modal transportation, evidence based, into creating usable city space: I'm in. He was also a past Parks Board chair so knows the system.
Jean Swanson: Sort of understated this time around, this Order of Canada recipient HAS to be on anyone's list that wants to address poverty. That doesn't mean DTES only,.. that means all of our rents, and fighting estate speculation etc. When I envision a well rounded council, I see someone like her ensuring we have balance in that important and specific area.
Heather Deal: If you have a hate on for Vision, this will not resonate with you. I simply cannot deny that she seems to be the more pure part of their "vision" and I feel she has been a positive force for the environment, the arts, and tricky issues like reconciliation. Over many terms as a councilor she has proven worthy of my vote and I do want some past councilors on-board (and not Bremner..) just to ensure the city workers themselves don't get munched and lose momentum because a council takes too hard a right turn without knowing how certain decisions were made and why.
Anyone in the Coaltion party: Aside from associating with Wai Young, these people should be put nowhere near city council. More than once I've found a candidate that interested me and been let down. Ken Charko for example: champion of the arts and owner/manager of one of the last standing independent movie theatres: the Dunbar. Do not be fooled though, listen to his spam phone calls or texts and he is more Wai Young, and less a champion of the working class than he might want you to believe.
Notables for School Board
My sister is a teacher and I do think teachers know more about who is doing what for the benefit of the board (or not). Their union gives them a list of people to consider and why and my own research (though limited) hit on some of the same people.
Estrellita Gonzalez: I had the pleasure of speaking directly to this woman and my parting impression was "I could work with her" (as in at my job). She comes across as collaborative and when I tried to dig up some dirt and ask what parties she felt she could work with, she cited an array of people from many parties (including NPA). She was unwilling to dish dirt, but did subtly give me a hint that I felt was worth applying to my research. That hint was to take a look at the initiatives put forward. Some School Board members have done very little, but she is not one of them. I like the fact that she is a small business owner and has a background in Business Administration.
Allan Wong: Long standing and well respected Vision trustee. This is probably the only Vision person I can stand behind at this point - his history stands alone from his party (which again, I don't have big problems with but the brand has been made toxic).
Pratpal Kaur Gill: She is from Vancouver 1st which I have concerns about but there is buzz about her. She is really pushing the financial and technical literacy in schools and personally I feel that is lacking from what I hear. I see others I know mentioning her and they also would likely favour her party so I feel that says something and bears further investigation. Update: See my anti-SOGI comment above under Fred Harding,.. I do not know at this time where she stands on this.
Carrie Bercic: In addition to wanting to increase childcare spaces and the usual stuff she has championed a push button topic for me while on council... putting a stop to public funds going to elite private schools. That alone gets my vote and reflects well on the OneCity party.
Yes party in general: Like the Christie Clark Provincial Liberals they come from, Yes supports public funds going to private schools (not only that - but disguised in the mixed bag of "more chioice"_. NO.
Onecity in general: If your big issue is affordability,.. Onecity candidates seem to be really pushing the increase of childcare spaces,.. that seems like an interesting way for the school board to help with that issue and I support it.
Notables for Parks Board
Although for the first time in my life I spent time IN the parks board office in Stanley Park this year (awesome building!),.. I know very little about how it works and what the dynamics are there. In my work, we've found them to generally not be open to cycling related initiatives despite being chaired by a Green person. There is probably more to it but if you read profiles of Parks Board people, they sound very similar regardless of party. I love parks and want more,... I feel I should know more.
My high level observations reading profile and other slate speculators:
- COPE has some people that speak my language here. In particular they want more pocket parks and want to protect parks from other uses (I do suspect they may not share my views on the Cornwall bike lane issue - I don't want to see a bikelane in Kits beach but I think that strip of grass on Cornwall is bettert han routing through a busy parking lot!), I will be voting for Irwin and Giesbrecht none-the-less.
- Coaltiton candidates focus on doubling cleaning crews due to needles,.. I'd rather they focus on the reason needles are found in parks...#populistpandering!
- The Greens seem to be fielding people with some relevant skillsets like horticulture and urban farming - which I think we need but I do not know if that makes them able to juggle a budget..
- Many of the IDEA candidates and independents seem to focus on single issues (eg. Nelson Park),.. I won't vote for that.
- I feel the reduction of pay parking to be a pandering kind of tactic. How about increasing bike parking, and access for multi-modal transportation? (I'm looking at you Vancouver 1st party!)
- I'm not so anti-NPA in this area. At least on paper, their candidates seem to have good ideas and good resumes for the job at hand.
- When we are talking about parks, we are talking about land. I feel indigenous interests seem very unrepresented in an area where I'd expect them to be. I was pleased to see some candidates mention reconciliation policies. Even better, some candidates themselves have indigenous ties and could bring their perspectives directly to the board.
My picks:
MAYOR
Shauna Sylvester (I still fear I might regret the vote split though...)
COUNCIL (choose up to 10)
Christine Boyle - OneCity
Pete Fry - Green
Adriane Carr - Green
Heather Deal - Vision
Jean Swanson - COPE
Micheal Wiebe - Green
Sarah Blythe - Independent
Brandon Yan - OneCity
Derrick O'keefe - COPE
Tanya Paz - Vision
SCHOOL BOARD (choose up to 9)
Jennifer Reddy – OneCity
Carrie Bercic – OneCity
Estrellita Gonzalez – Green
Erica Jaaf – OneCity
Allan Wong – Vision
Erin Arnold – Vision
Barb Parot - COPE
<undecided>
<undecided>
*Noone from Yes
PARKS BOARD (choose up to 7)
Dave Demers – Green
Cameron Zubko – Vision
Gwen Giesbrecht – COPE
John Irwin – COPE
Camil Dumont – Green
MacKinnon, Stuart – Green
Matthew Kagis - Work Less Party
Other resources of interest:
Seriously, this is the best segment,.. you get a sense for the human and policy,.. it made me like Young slightly more (not hard), Bremner less, and question Ken Sim's knowledge. Syslvester and Stewart didn't change my opinion, but I liked them to start with.
Other articles:
Vancouver 1st VSB candidate quits over anti-SOGI video
Wai Young goes on Trump-style attack of journalist
Too many Vancouver candidates promising more than they can deliver
HUB's candidate survey on cycling
Price Tags Editor Slate
CoV How to Plan your vote
