Westside Mayoral - General Discussion

[brightstar]

Wow, such little discussion about our Mayoral candidates....what's going on? So, what's the feeling out in the community? Are people fed up with Findlater's bs and ready to vote in Haslock? Tell me!

[inquisitive]

I would hope they are fed up!
As Mr. Haslock said the other night, "It's time for change", and I believe he is the man to bring it about. I could add - "Yes We Can", if I might be excused from borrowing a well and truly tried slogan. It worked then and we can make it work once again to our direct benefit.
It is obvious from Mr. Findlaters publicity that he is "in it" for the glory, and the voting public has to be made aware of that.
This underdog has no glory to bask in, only a desire to effectively represent his constituency at the head of a council table that should reflect the legacy of the old guard by their absence and bring a light to bear on the new faces that you, and you, and you, and I could support after accomplishing a voting record to be proud of.

[angusog]

Most people would agree that to have a Mayor who will represent us all is improvement enough and to replace a learner with another is a step sideways.

[occasional thoughts]

Rosalind and Heather were on the outside looking in for a very good reason; they ran on a platform of reversing the governance decision and dismantling our municipality through legal machinations. So no problem there. However, over time, it seemed to me, and I sat in on almost of the council meetings until a couple of weeks ago, that the balance of council OCCASIONALLY acted somewhat bloody-mindedly towards them long after the threat of them doing damage was past. Other times, the council majority opposed what Neis and Pilling were up to for what I'll call ideological reasons. That is, N & P took some awfully right-wing stances on some issues such as taxation.

There is no doubt in my mind that BOTH sides have to learn to work together better for our overall betterment and development.

[sellpro 46]

Wow, such little discussion about our Mayoral candidates....what's going on? So, what's the feeling out in the community? Are people fed up with Findlater's bs and ready to vote in Haslock? Tell me!

I certainly wish I knew and I too am surprised at the lack of discussion about the mayoralty candidates, of which I am one, but I will say that with the support of more people like you, I have a chance and I will not let you down.

[parachute]

rturner: I am not an expert on either right-wing or left-wing policy matters and I did not realize that those descriptions applied to municipal politics. As I have read about what Neis has done during the last year it seems that she has tried to keep taxes low for everyone (not just the rich) and she has often sided with the opinions of the residents vis-a-vis large development applications.

I note that recently the per residence cost for sewer installation was initially set about $12,500 and Neis wanted to use the Provincial grant to reduce this to about $8,500. Council did not agree. In spite of my lack of expertise regarding “right-wing” or “left-wing” I would guess that which descriptive term should be applied to this one issue would depend on the economic strata of the recipients (residents) of this cost. If Neis was promoting this reduction for her very rich friends then I guess she would be right-wing. If, however, Neis was promoting this reduction for the average wage-earning resident then I guess she would be left-wing. Am I right or am I wrong?

My question to you (for my own edification) is: what were some of the issues upon which you think that N & P took awfully right-wing stances?

[Darren Schlamp]

My question to you (for my own edification) is: what were some of the issues upon which you think that N & P took awfully right-wing stances?

I definitely cannot speak for rturner, but the position taken by Neis and Pilling on property taxation was reminiscent of the Community Charge, a poll tax which was introduced by Margaret Thatcher. I'm guessing that might be the type of thing to which rturner was referring.

Progressive taxes are commonly associated with left wing ideology - people with the most income pay the most taxes. Regressive taxes and flat taxes result in everyone paying closer to the same amount of tax, so that taxes paid more closely match benefits received. It also means that the poorest people in our society end up paying a much, much higher percentage of their income in taxes.

I recall that Neis and Pilling wanted to see a tax model for residential property taxes that was somewhat like Thatcher's Community Charge. It comes down to the type of society that we want to live in. It is fair to pay for the services that you receive. It is also fair for those with the greatest ability to pay in our society to pay the most. The first type of fair leads to a poll-style property tax like that preferred by Neis. The second type of fair is more common in Canada, and is similar to our existing property tax system, which is based on a mill rate.

[Ranger66]

“Most people would agree that to have a Mayor who will represent us all is improvement enough and to replace a learner with another is a step sideways”

So we have to wait for the next election to get a better Mayor?

[sellpro 46]

“Most people would agree that to have a Mayor who will represent us all is improvement enough and to replace a learner with another is a step sideways”

So we have to wait for the next election to get a better Mayor?

Depends on who you ask.

[Bestside]

rturner: I am not an expert on either right-wing or left-wing policy matters and I did not realize that those descriptions applied to municipal politics. As I have read about what Neis has done during the last year it seems that she has tried to keep taxes low for everyone (not just the rich) and she has often sided with the opinions of the residents vis-a-vis large development applications.

I note that recently the per residence cost for sewer installation was initially set about $12,500 and Neis wanted to use the Provincial grant to reduce this to about $8,500. Council did not agree. In spite of my lack of expertise regarding “right-wing” or “left-wing” I would guess that which descriptive term should be applied to this one issue would depend on the economic strata of the recipients (residents) of this cost. If Neis was promoting this reduction for her very rich friends then I guess she would be right-wing. If, however, Neis was promoting this reduction for the average wage-earning resident then I guess she would be left-wing. Am I right or am I wrong?

My question to you (for my own edification) is: what were some of the issues upon which you think that N & P took awfully right-wing stances?

But you have good marks on common sense...
Neis has a great handle on finance 101 pocket book issues... she can run a household... and she can translate that to municipal policy.

Neis said she has a lot to learn, she listens, she gets a lot of things right...
In addition to the Sewer line development matter, a case in point is the DDCs... Pilling stood alone on trying to get them lower for her Developer friends. Neis led the agenda to get them higher.
That was a 101 financial exercise..
Where Neis is a lightweight is on finance 301 (OK pick one...)

Neis needs to get a handle on who to listen to in respect to the blue sky issues, and who to listen to in respect to a financial study where the writer is being less than straight forward.
Listening to people like Mandarino and Pilling is not a good idea.
People are saying they are sorry Pilling is gone because she knew so much...
I am saying I am glad she is gone because of her conflicts of interest that she could use her knowledge for...
(Hey Rob, I guess it is not nice to Pillage once they are gone? )

For the people who intend to vote for Mandarino... don't expect another terrific council member like Neis... With Mandarino expect gridlock.

[occasional thoughts]

Bestside, your dead-on accuracy and historical perspective on Westside affairs usually amazes me. But you've been caught off ... Neis definitely did not lead the charge for higher DCCs; she and HP were both calling for lower, because they agreed that existing property owners should pay more of the load for long-overdue road improvements. And that's one of the "ideological" issues I referred to in my earlier post.

I've voted in Wednesday's advance poll, I voted for Rosalind, and I'm betting she'll top the councillor polls. And I think she deserves to (with Duane Ophus and Carol Zanon right behind). But she's not perfect ... yet.

Darren has pretty well summarized the right-wing ideological leanings of Rosalind and Heather on the property tax thing. At the same time, Rosalind and Heather often voted against each other on development issues, with the mayor often anti and Heather, of course, pro. I was very impressed with Rosalind's integrity and tenacity on development issues. When our departing mayor finally finds her political home, I believe she'll be centre-left without much doubt. IMHO.

[hereiamagain]

I would hope they are fed up!
As Mr. Haslock said the other night, "It's time for change", and I believe he is the man to bring it about. I could add - "Yes We Can", if I might be excused from borrowing a well and truly tried slogan. It worked then and we can make it work once again to our direct benefit.
It is obvious from Mr. Findlaters publicity that he is "in it" for the glory, and the voting public has to be made aware of that.
This underdog has no glory to bask in, only a desire to effectively represent his constituency at the head of a council table that should reflect the legacy of the old guard by their absence and bring a light to bear on the new faces that you, and you, and you, and I could support after accomplishing a voting record to be proud of.

Excellent post inquisitive, and I whole heartedly agree with you. Especially this part -

This underdog has no glory to bask in, only a desire to effectively represent his constituency at the head of a council table that should reflect the legacy of the old guard by their absence and bring a light to bear on the new faces that you, and you, and you, and I could support after accomplishing a voting record to be proud of.

[hereiamagain]

wouldnt it be funny (and karmic) if the council was again split 5-2 with 2 being the old guard and the five being the new guard....

but you know, I bet the 5 of the new guard would not treat the 2 of the old guard in the same manner as happened this year. I think they would be much more honourable.

[Urbane]

wouldnt it be funny (and karmic) if the council was again split 5-2 with 2 being the old guard and the five being the new guard....

but you know, I bet the 5 of the new guard would not treat the 2 of the old guard in the same manner as happened this year. I think they would be much more honourable.

Some of you keep trying to divide people up and I don't understand how that helps the community. I'm voting for incumbents and for those not currently on council. I'm voting for at least one candidate (Bryden Winsby) who has said that he favours West Kelowna because I think he will make an excellent councillor. I hate to see the divisiveness continue - we need to get beyond all of that. Like you, hereiamagain, I voted for joining Kelowna but it's time to get over that and work together for our new community.

[parachute]

On February 10, 2008, it was reported in our local newspaper that Findlater (by himself) sent out the following information in what the newspaper described as a “mass emailing”. This mass email blurb came from Findlater not the municipal district nor the Mayor nor other council members and I personally viewed this as essentially a subtle presentation describing how self important Mr. Findlater thought he was! He must have sent out this “mass email” not only to his friends but he must have sent a copy to the news media.

Westside documents now on web site
February 10, 2008

To Westsiders and friends of Westside:

No announcement has been made, but I note now that the District of Westside has the employee staffing and technical capacity to post council meeting agendas and supporting documents.

Some have been asking for this information for some time.

The Feb. 12 information (council agenda) is at:

http://www.districtofwestside.ca/docs.aspx.

The District of Westside link is: http://www.districtofwestside.ca.

Things are evolving with council selecting excellent candidates for the top three management positions, and now we build down.

What’s exciting is that we are hearing from people who are very positive about building a new organization and we are selecting the best.

Westside is going to be a great success—just give us a little time.

Doug Findlater,
Westside municipal councilor

Does anyone (other than me) believe that Findlater has a very unique view of what professionalism and ethical behaviour of an elected official really means? Perhaps this “mass email” was vetted through the Mayor’s office but I doubt that because of the way he addressed it to “friends of Westside” and signed it as a personal email.

Normally the lack of credit being given to the Mayor or to other councilors would not be much of an issue but the previous two months (December 2007 and January 2008) of continual dispute within council by Findlater and his group of four against N&P can not be dismissed. As early as February 10, 2008 Findlater was doing his own subtle self-promotion. Good for him but perhaps all the rest of us poor citizens should recognize his activities and make our own judgment about the unifying (or otherwise) nature of his advertizing.