Castanet

Well I advised readers that Vassilaki wasn’t the best choice to be Penticton’s Mayor......and .....He screwed up his inagural decision and 1st time Chairing a Council Meeting. Wow , new all time record !!! . He is infamous after his 1st meeting as Mayor.
He accidentally read out his own instructions in front of him to the crowd. He stated he was nervous. He stumbled over his words to many times...it was painful. He needed help from his Council mates on several occasions on process and procedures 200:

Then he created a tense situation around his first decision ( with a kindergarten level Agenda/ Subject matter ) when he decided in his amazing uniformed way to appoint Councillors with the most votes in the election to the RDOS ( what ? ) and not those that had experience and appointeed himself to the RDOS in a “learning role” ie. training wheels . Judy Sentes was not happy and put forward an alternative motion designed for her participation on the RDOS. The Herald wrote it created a “tense disagreement between Council “. This happens in the first meeting without so much as a real agenda and issues.
This Mayor is going to be a beauty.
Will is soon be referenced as the Mayor Vassilaki Gong Show?

Act 1 complete. More acts to follow.... ie. a minimum of 95 Council Meetings, Budget Meetings ,etc etc.

Chessman wrote:Well I advised readers that Vassilaki wasn’t the best choice to be Penticton’s Mayor......and .....He screwed up his inagural decision and 1st time Chairing a Council Meeting. Wow , new all time record !!! . He is infamous after his 1st meeting as Mayor.
He accidentally read out his own instructions in front of him to the crowd. He stated he was nervous. He stumbled over his words to many times...it was painful. He needed help from his Council mates on several occasions on process and procedures 200:

Then he created a tense situation around his first decision ( with a kindergarten level Agenda/ Subject matter ) when he decided in his amazing uniformed way to appoint Councillors with the most votes in the election to the RDOS ( what ? ) and not those that had experience and appointeed himself to the RDOS in a “learning role” ie. training wheels . Judy Sentes was not happy and put forward an alternative motion designed for her participation on the RDOS. The Herald wrote it created a “tense disagreement between Council “. This happens in the first meeting without so much as a real agenda and issues.
This Mayor is going to be a beauty.
Will is soon be referenced as the Mayor Vassilaki Gong Show?

Act 1 complete. More acts to follow.... ie. a minimum of 95 Council Meetings, Budget Meetings ,etc etc.

Hey, great move by Vass re the appointments to the RDOS board; it was a fair way of doing so. After all, Sentes was LAST place in the election of those elected. Had Cox run for councillor, she would not even be on council now.

Chessman wrote:Well I advised readers that Vassilaki wasn’t the best choice to be Penticton’s Mayor......and .....He screwed up his inagural decision and 1st time Chairing a Council Meeting. Wow , new all time record !!! . He is infamous after his 1st meeting as Mayor.
He accidentally read out his own instructions in front of him to the crowd. He stated he was nervous. He stumbled over his words to many times...it was painful. He needed help from his Council mates on several occasions on process and procedures 200:

Then he created a tense situation around his first decision ( with a kindergarten level Agenda/ Subject matter ) when he decided in his amazing uniformed way to appoint Councillors with the most votes in the election to the RDOS ( what ? ) and not those that had experience and appointeed himself to the RDOS in a “learning role” ie. training wheels . Judy Sentes was not happy and put forward an alternative motion designed for her participation on the RDOS. The Herald wrote it created a “tense disagreement between Council “. This happens in the first meeting without so much as a real agenda and issues.
This Mayor is going to be a beauty.
Will is soon be referenced as the Mayor Vassilaki Gong Show?

Act 1 complete. More acts to follow.... ie. a minimum of 95 Council Meetings, Budget Meetings ,etc etc.

Well, nobody is perfect.

I was thrilled that he put Sentes in her place lol. Not sure what your issue is here.

Sentes got what she deserved. Her record of "hoy-tee/toy-tee" and "I am above everyone else" has finally brought Karma into play. I never voted for her and never will.

It will be interesting to watch as Mr. Vassilaki's term progresses. The question of his advanced years and the possibility that he has "lost his edge" was raised by more than one after the mayoralty debate, it will bear watching to see if those comments were just sour grapes or valid grounds for concern. If in fact he does have performance issues, the first to see it will be the council members themselves, and dissent could grow within the ranks affecting their ability to function as a group. Or it could just be sour grapes, not like that would be anything new around here.

Hey in no way am I supporter of Judy,Judy,Judy. She deserved to not be re elected and she got pushed to the side by what was voted on, I get it. She and Robinson are correct on one very important point. Appointments to the RDOS are not about “fairness” but about representatives that can ably look after the interests of Penticton on that Board. Ideally Watt should have been on the RDOS Board but he said no because he is a part timer( only attending Council Meetings) waiting for the next election to run for Mayor. Watch out Vas,Judy would be the only one working against you.
Frank, Vas (self admittedly RDOS rep on training wheels ) and JB are neophytes when it comes to ably representing Penticton at the RDOS Board table( yes ,”Jake the snake” has experience )... enough about that.
Vas is ill prepared to be Mayor. While he was a Councillor for several terms he was never in roles to lead and Chair. Given his first performance he looks like he is clueless at Chairing . He needs to go on a quick course just to be minimumly acceptable as Chair. Time will tell, if I was a gambler and Vegas had odds on his future performance at Chairing the Council successfully , I would put some $ on him being unsuccessful in that role.

Future Act’s to follow it will be interesting if not funny to witness.

Chessman wrote:...
She and Robinson are correct on one very important point. Appointments to the RDOS are not about “fairness” but about representatives that can ably look after the interests of Penticton on that Board.
...
While he was a Councillor for several terms he was never in roles to lead and Chair.
...

Important points indeed, Chessman.

Had Vassilaki never taken the opportunity to sit as acting chair while on council? If so, one would have thought he would be reasonably well prepared to chair, yet that seems not to have been the case. And if not, why not?

We certainly live in interesting times. I hope this council is able to prioritize working together for what's best for Penticton.

Now this is purely speculation on my part, and wholly driven by my cynicism for politicians in general (given that those reading this can make the distinction between an elected representative and an elected politician) but how much plotting and scheming goes on in the shadows around this town? What if Mr. Vassilaki was pushed into running by others, those more concerned with deposing Mr. Jakubeit than actually electing a capable Mayor? Seriously, of all the contenders, which one had the best appearance as a viable replacement for the incumbent? It occurs to me that whenever a contentious issue arises in Penticton that there is usually one or more of our local collection of seasoned political hacks in the background.

(Sorry, one cup of coffee too many in the morning and the conspiracy theories flow freely)

fluffy wrote:Now this is purely speculation on my part, and wholly driven by my cynicism for politicians in general (given that those reading this can make the distinction between an elected representative and an elected politician) but how much plotting and scheming goes on in the shadows around this town? What if Mr. Vassilaki was pushed into running by others, those more concerned with deposing Mr. Jakubeit than actually electing a capable Mayor? Seriously, of all the contenders, which one had the best appearance as a viable replacement for the incumbent? It occurs to me that whenever a contentious issue arises in Penticton that there is usually one or more of our local collection of seasoned political hacks in the background.

(Sorry, one cup of coffee too many in the morning and the conspiracy theories flow freely)

Very valid possibility, Fluffy. Makes one wonder if Bloomfield had run for mayor, then who would have won? He learned his lesson the last time though; (Cox did not) baby steps; councillor first then mayor maybe next time.

Let's hope this is just a small hiccup on John being in a new position. One must remember Mayor and Council have a large resource team at city hall. You can be sure Mr. Weeber and company will be all over that little burp and coaching will be in place before the next meeting.

fluffy wrote:Now this is purely speculation on my part, and wholly driven by my cynicism for politicians in general (given that those reading this can make the distinction between an elected representative and an elected politician) but how much plotting and scheming goes on in the shadows around this town? What if Mr. Vassilaki was pushed into running by others, those more concerned with deposing Mr. Jakubeit than actually electing a capable Mayor? Seriously, of all the contenders, which one had the best appearance as a viable replacement for the incumbent? It occurs to me that whenever a contentious issue arises in Penticton that there is usually one or more of our local collection of seasoned political hacks in the background.

(Sorry, one cup of coffee too many in the morning and the conspiracy theories flow freely)

No need to be sorry....valid observation. While I am absolutely and unequivocally not disappointed at Jak's departure, I take some solace in that I am on the record here as being seriously concerned about Vaz's "chit the bed debate performance".
I have no doubt about Vaz's sincerity.....I do have doubts about his faculties that will be unlikely to improve over the next 4 yrs.
Cox should have been given that 4 yr mandate.
I'll actually go out on a limb here and suggest we might actually have two of our elected Councillors "age out" "and bow out" prior to the end of the 4 yr term.

Agree that 2 could age out. We might also see 1 resign out of frustration from not getting her way in an old boys club

southy wrote:Agree that 2 could age out. We might also see 1 resign out of frustration from not getting her way in an old boys club

What would Martha (Stewart) have to say about that? "It's a good thing".

So I just watched the City of Penticton Committee of the Whole and the first portion of the November 20th Penticton Council Meeting.
I watched it online while at my office and I did pay particular attention to the new Mayor.
He still has a very very very long way to go to earn his $64,000 annual salary ( plus expenses) as Mayor. My question as I watched him Chair the Council Meeting as he constantly works thru his piles of notes around what to do in the meeting is ...does he have the capacity to ever get the handle around Chairing the Council ? He sat in on several terms ( let’s say years ) of Council meetings as a Councillor watching past Mayors Chair the Council but was he not paying any attention? Why does it seem so foreign for him ?
What do others think ? Does he look Clumsy or Uncertain? When on camera does he look a deer in the headlights of an oncoming car ? Is it as painful for others to watch him stumble along ?
On one item ,The Mayor recused himself from the discussion and vote and “Jake the Snake” stepped in to Chair the item. I know Jake is a former multi term Mayor but it was so easy for him to lead the item. Let’s hope Mayor Vassilaki can figure it out or it will really be a painful 4 year term.
At least I have to go out for dinner tonight and get an excuse not to watch anymore.