Andrew Powell - Council Candidate

[Jo]

A thread for Andrew Powell, council candidate.

[debbyhelf]

Andrew Powell is young, bright, honest and with an unbiased view of the issues. He definitely has my vote. He'd make an excellent addition to Council.
Debby Helf

[parabol]

*personal attack removed/Jo*

We have enough of these character flaws in most politicians whether it be at the municipal, provincial or federal levels. Lets not add any more.

[Timi]

What happened to you Andrew? At the forum I attended, you opened the door for us, and handed us your literature, but then you did not speak at the forum. Were you ok? Any reason why you decided not to stick around and answer a question or two?

[happyfish]

Apparently Andrew doesn't care enough to post a campaign statement??? Is he even taking this seriously or is he running as a joke?

[nellietheelephant]

Apparently Andrew doesn't care enough to post a campaign statement??? Is he even taking this seriously or is he running as a joke?

In the note that he posted which stated that his campaign statement was available by email or telephone, he signed it Mr Powell. His email address is also Mr Powell.

Anyone else find that odd?

Nellie

[Tew359]

Andrew Powell is a great man. He has been my brothers friend for over 4 years now I think. He has helped my brother through great times. He is a quite man but sometimes the smartest and the more intelligent people don't speak up. He is a great guy and you would be stupid not to vote for him. In his literature he proves that he will try to conserve this vally as much as he can. Right now in the area of kelowna housing is going up and transit is a problem. He is willing to bring this change to an end and conserve the "Affordable" housing once again as it used to be. But he cannot do all this without your help kelowna. He is an honest man and a hard working man. You would be stupid not to take his offer.

- Ryan

[Snickerdoodle]

Not to sound snotty, but Ryan maybe you should mention to Andrew that he might have a better chance at this if he had a website, or some sort of outline or something more then he has here that people could access.
As a working single parent, me getting away to a meeting or forum is going to be next to impossible and I need to focus on getting my candidate information online.
I'm all for the "average joe" sitting on council, but so far I don't know anything about this person other then one person on here says he's a nice guy.
Just a suggestion.

[Mr.Powell]

I'll just try to address threaded issues here.

To Timi:
During our first forum, on homelessness I found that I am still quite lacking in regards to my ability to maintain composure and speak fluidly in front of a microphone, I plainly don't come across well in the format. With the forums I only get some 5 odd minutes to speak (unless I'm particularly aggressive, which I'm not) for about 5 hours commitment between preparation, travel, and the event itself. However I am confident on the door step, so with forums I arrive early, politely pass out literature, and then use the forum duration to knock doors in the area. The short answer is a mix of shy confidence, and the plain campaign strategy of playing to my strengths.

Happyfish:
I have sent castanet a copy of my platform to put in place of that very simple statement they presently have posted, I appreciate your bringing the fact that it hasn't been posted to my attention despite the tone of the comments.

Nellie:
The "Mr.Powell" bit is a weird mix of a high-school gag, and a matter of respect, I'll explain. My parents have had me addressing folks by their last names since I was a very small child, and it's a habit which stuck hard, I even refer to my closest friends as Mr.Jack, or Ms.Fisher, let alone people I've just met, Mr.Forsstrom, or Ms.Simone. Beyond the fact that I like address people formally by their last names, in grade 11 I just one day started signing my papers "Mr.Powell" and then it became my signature (a relief given the quality of my penmanship), and now most of my peers address me as I address them. I'll admit it's a bit juvenile, and my mother told me to use anything but, but I'm not sure how to express it, that title, for what it is, is one I hold dear, and I'll bare the flak for the sake of keeping it.

Snickerdoodle:
A website lies outside the budget of a campaign that even to this point can't afford to field signs, thought the suggestion has come by a great many times. I will however contact Castanet in regards to seeing the statement there replaced by my platform as I've just stated. It can also be found on Facebook in the "Elect Andrew Powell to city council" group I just threw up in the mean time.

Ms.Helf and Ryan:
I of course appreciate the kind words, they certainly keep me rolling from door to door.

I hope I haven't come off as arrogant as I always fear when I write something but rather that my responses make some sense and alleviate some concerns.

Thank-you for your time and consideration,
Mr.Powell

[nellietheelephant]

While I do really like you, your admission that you cannot speak well in front of a microphone,
and this "Mr Powell" thing, really does exclude you in my mind this time around.

Hopefully we'll see you back in 2012 - whewn you are over these drawbacks.

Nellie

[mechanic_virus]

Please list 5 of your top priorities, and how you would deal with each issue if it were completely up to you.

[damngrumpy]

This is a problem for me, if you can't speak into a microphone in a public format, how do you get
your point across, City council meetings require speaking into a microphone in a public format.
Either you can speak up or you can't.
And I do wish that people running for council were realistic, the current downtown developement issue is passed, and that won't be reversed. low cost housing or housing assistance by municipal government is a pipe dream, and that is about all.
Lets hear about environmental issue, agricultural land use issues, roads and transit trends, and
changing the social image of this community from a no fun zone to something that has a positive future.
Voting for someone who admits they can't communicate is a problem for me, never get into politics until you are ready.

[Mr.Powell]

Top five priorities eh?

I could only say that I have three priorities, I generally prefer to take things as they come, and would like to think that I could enter council with a relatively open mind, but there are three issues I'm a bit stuck on.

I'd like to defeat the CD-21 zone proposal, that'll be an easy one to accomplish being as I only need to vote against it on its fourth reading. The more challenging aspect will be to replace it with something, I hope to be able to take some time in putting together a worthwhile and more comprehensive downtown plan, hopefully something that raises much more gradually from the water and that would do more to support downtown Kelowna as a tourism/commercial centre rather than a business/residential tower centre.

I'd like to see an end to homelessness. It's not every The Nationals top story is about Kelowna, but I can remember the distinct shame when we were front and center for our initiative to take shopping carts away from our homeless, dispossessing the dispossessed. I'd prefer to see both a more compassionate and effective campaign like that taken in Portland, Oregon and now beginning to be mimicked in Victoria. A housing first initiative where we first getting our homeless of the streets and out of in front of businesses and into a place where they can sleep securely. If we want to have any hope of rehabilitating someone and having them once again participating in our community they need this most basic necessity.

Lastly, being a student and one with an environmental conscience, I'd care to see the buses and bike paths expanded, the former being simpler: smaller buses, more frequently, on more far reaching routes, the latter requiring much more planning and research, I can't say exactly how I'd expand our bike paths but it's plainly a priority.

Thank-you for your time and consideration,
Mr.Powell

[Mr.Powell]

damngrumpy:

I didn't say I couldn't speak into a microphone, I performed only slightly below the average at that first forum, and I'm by large margins my greatest critic. What I said was "I am still quite lacking in regards to my ability to maintain composure and speak fluidly in front of a microphone", which means to say I get terrible nerves and that I come across much more effectively one-to-one such as on the doorstep. In fact, the fact that I come across so well on the doorstep will be more conducive to my duties as a councilor as work within the city's halls is less a series of lectures and more a collection of conversations, or at least that's how I see it.

There is nothing unrealistic about my defeating the CD-21 zone on its fourth reading. Whether this a circumstance of reality you like or not has nothing to say about the fact that the electorate will have the opportunity to weigh the future council on this matter, and if elected this far from "passed" proposal never will be.

A housing authority is anything but a pipe dream, we wouldn't be the first, nor will we be the last, and believe it or not this is a rather clear gateway to affordable housing.

If you'd care to be more specific than the broad issues of "environment" or "agricultural land" I'd be happy to answer your questions.

I'm sorry that you've found Kelowna void of fun, I believe that Kelowna's offered me plenty to do, but I will guarantee you my efforts re-gentrify the downtown core with a plan that respects the tourism oriented city we have here rather than a series of towers that will do anything but promote fun.

Hopefully this demonstration of communication got my point across,
Mr.Powell

[mechanic_virus]

Thank you for your response, Andrew ("Mr. Powell"?)