John Zeger - Council Candidate

[Hombre]

I am interested in Mr. Zeger's postgraduate studies at U of A, actually. Kind of irrelevant, I know... I am just interested how these contribute to his background.

[fluffy]

I am interested in hearing a little more on Mr. Zeger's position that relocating the Gospel Mission and dispersing the social service organizations in that area is intrinsic to downtown redevelopment. On the surface the idea has some merit, but it could be a real kettle of fish. We are talking about services directed towards those of limited means, so accessability is an issue in choosing a suitable location.

[mechanic_virus]

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

[fluffy]

I suspect that when it comes to open discussion we will find that Mr. Zeger is reluctant to enter into any situation where he cannot directly control the outcome. Of his many websites, the only ones that lend themselves to any sort of reader interaction are heavily moderated and any dissenting opinions that do see the light of day are short lived. A strange stance from one who lists "participatory democracy" and "greater transparency" among his platform issues.

[fluffy]

At the urging of an internet acquaintance, I checked out Mr. Zeger's latest blog entry here:

http://johnzeger.wordpress.com/

...wherein an organization called "Citizens for a Livable Downtown" endorsed a number of candidates in the upcoming election, with Mr. Zeger at the top of the list. The concern that was raised is that the website of the organization has no information as to the number of members or who the leaders of the organization are, information which is rather important in assessing the strength and overall validity of the endorsement. I am told a comment was placed on the blog raising just these questions which was promptly removed unanswered.

Perhaps Mr. Zeger would do the electorate the simple courtesy of answering these concerns?

[Chmmr]

Given that Mr Zeger has had a past propensity for editing his posts after the fact, i will copy and paste the most recent one here as well> Take note Mr Zeger, the way to obtain votes (mine in particular but many others i am sure, is certainly not to tell those in a democratic society who NOT to vote for, particularly when you are one running.

http://johnzeger.wordpress.com/

Elect a new city council that opposes CD 21
November 9, 2008 by John Zeger
Citizens for a Livable Downtown is endorsing a group of candidates that we are supporting for the November 15 civic election. Our organization would like to see the downtown redeveloped with structures built to human-scale so as to preserve the present character of the downtown especially along the waterfront. We also would to see the Downtown Plan revised for the whole of the downtown prior to city council considering the CD Zone. Finally, we would like a public referendum on the issue so as to make this a community decision rather than a political one. These are only some of our many objections to this proposal.



The CD Zone has not yet received 4th and final reading which is expected to happen after the new city council takes office. There is still a possibility that this proposal could be defeated on 4th reading and be sent back to the drawing board. However, the nature of the modifications that are made to the plan could range from outright scrapping to minor changes depending on who gets elected.



Citizens for a Livable Downtown sent out a questionnaire to all candidates and we have also reviewed responses that the candidates made to questionnaires of other groups and organizations as well as statements made by the candidates themselves. We have used this information to make a list of those candidates that we can confidently recommend to the public as having a strong and multi-reasoned opposition to CD-21. These candidates listed in preferential order are:



Mayor

Sharon Shepherd



Councillor

John Zeger

Angela Reid

Matthew Reed

Andrew Powell

Gunnar Forsstrom

Bill Vaughn



We are also giving an honorable mention to some candidates who have expressed a more limited opposition to the downtown CD Zone. This group, listed in alphabetical order, includes:



Dorothee Birker

Kevin Craig

Janice Henry

Robert Hobson

Charlie Hodge

Mo Rajabally

Michelle Rule

I would also like to give my personal thumbs up to Donald Forbes.




Although Citizens for a Livable Downtown did not approve an “avoid list”, here is my list of candidates to DO NOT VOTE FOR:

Joe Gates

Brian Given

Mary-Ann Graham

Jerry Hlady

Graeme James

Perry Mack

Shelley Nicholl

Toby Pike

J. C. Rathwell

Jason Rock

Lisa Simone

Luke Stack

Mark Thomsen

Scott Yule

[Chmmr]

At the urging of an internet acquaintance, I checked out Mr. Zeger's latest blog entry here:

http://johnzeger.wordpress.com/

...wherein an organization called "Citizens for a Livable Downtown" endorsed a number of candidates in the upcoming election, with Mr. Zeger at the top of the list. The concern that was raised is that the website of the organization has no information as to the number of members or who the leaders of the organization are, information which is rather important in assessing the strength and overall validity of the endorsement. I am told a comment was placed on the blog raising just these questions which was promptly removed unanswered.

Perhaps Mr. Zeger would do the electorate the simple courtesy of answering these concerns?

According to an article by Ron Seymour in the Penticton Herald, Mr Zeger is indeed a member of the group (and obviously holds a high enough position in the group, to speak to the media on behalf of the entire group)
http://www.pentictonherald.ca/stories_l ... ?id=138293

Creation of the comprehensive development zone proposal has been a contentious issue, with critics fearing it will profoundly and negatively change the appeal of downtown Kelowna.
John Zeger, of the group Citizens for a Livable Downtown, has said the plan will “Vancouverize” Kelowna. He helped collect more than 1,500 names on a petition asking that council‘s consideration of the plan be deferred until after the Nov. 15 city election.

[Hombre]

Citizens for a Livable Downtown, Citizens for Responsible Community Planning, Save Paradise, Action for a Sustainable Kelowna...aren't these all his creations? I suspect they are. I wouldn't be surprised if they all consist of the same few members. They look like an effort by Mr. Zeger to make it seem as though there exists some grassroots support for his cause, though it’s really likely the product of one man and his computer.

Zeger’s arguments suffer from serious confirmation bias. He cherry-picks the support for his arguments to the point where it has become a house of cards – you pull one card out and his argument is gone...and he jealously protects his little card house. He doesn't seem like a man interested in having a debate, as posts incongruent with his cause are immediately removed from his site.

…and yes, I am self-interested. I want a condo downtown. I want to sell my car and be able to walk to work/walk to get groceries. I don’t want to live by the mall and its many parking lots, thanks.

It’s so tempting to vent on more issues, but really its just giving him more attention, which means I have to flip past his cornball letters to editor when I open the paper. In any event, I don’t think he wins a spot on council. Even if he does, his credibility among the vast majority of the population is dreadfully low, I suspect the his fellow Councillors’ eyes will collectively glaze over when they see he’s about to start in with one of his lectures.

[fluffy]

I'm sorry, members of the Castanet forum, but I will not be answering your questions relating to the 2008 municipal election there. I have been treated with considerable rudeness and disrespect by many members of that forum in the past and having recently checked it out, I don't think that anything has changed. You have no one but yourselves to blame. Good luck with your ongoing hate campaign. Intelligent people can tell the difference between well-reasoned criticism and outright hate and your credibility is further weakened with each additional malicious remark.

Now why doesn't this come as a surprise? A legitimate concern has been raised, a concern that the "Citizens for a Livable Downtown" has very few (if not just one) active members which calls the validity of the recent candidacy endorsement into serious question. The concern is compounded by the likelihood that Mr. Zeger is in a position of authority at this organization and has machinated the whole endorsement thing himself which questions his personal ethics. Rather than address these concerns directly he chooses to post the cop-out quoted above, giving rudeness and disrespect at the hands of Castanet members as his reason. As I have stated before, if he thinks gaining a seat on council is going to make him immune to public criticism, especially when he claims to champion a number of controversial causes, then he's living in a dream world. Not to mention that hiding from adversity tends to go against this statement gleaned from his election site:

Although I am not at heart a confrontational person, I also will not roll over and play dead when I run into an obstacle.

Yes John, there are intelligent people in the voting public, and they can tell a cop-out when they see one. Hate campaign? You flatter yourself. Much like the "Do Not Vote For" list you recently published in your blog, I am of the opinion that you would be a monumentally poor choice for council and simply seek to make the electorate aware of that opinion.

If you would care to speak to the concerns voiced in this thread, please feel free to do so on your own forum.

[Hombre]

lol...

he calls people on this site "cowardly", "bag(s) of hot air", "airheads"... then claims the level of discourse here isn't up to his high standards...once again, lol.

[Chmmr]

Ah it's all clear now. It's not ok if we tell people they shouldn't vote for him, but if he says not to vote for someone (as he did on his site and as quoted above), then that's ok? Double Standard. Got it!


Mr Zeger, i don't know you from a hole in the wall, and have no need to start a hate campaign against you as i don't hate you. I do seriously question your ethics, and morals, as well as the behaviour you are exhibiting on a variety of forums. If you get elected, rest assured i will make it my new job to come to council meetings and make sure that you do the job that is expected of you, and if you don't will be calling you out on it. Your arrogance is mind boggling.

[shortstuff86]

I have never met John personally, but he took the time to meet one-on-one with my boyfriend on Sunday over coffee, and anyone who takes the time to do this and get to know the citizens of our community is getting my vote! GO JOHN!

[mechanic_virus]

I have never met John personally, but he took the time to meet one-on-one with my boyfriend on Sunday over coffee, and anyone who takes the time to do this and get to know the citizens of our community is getting my vote! GO JOHN!

It's campaign time. I'm sure if you checked it out, you could add another 35 names to your list of council candidates to vote for. Showing up for a face-to-face meeting a week before the election date is a good campaign tactic, but says nothing about that individual's policies.

[damngrumpy]

I agree with the avoid list but I for one will never tell people who or who not to vote for.
I won't support developers or their friends this time around as the city council has been infested with them in the past few years

[fluffy]

I can't really speak against the avoid list either, that would be hypocritical of me since I am being so vociferous in my contention that Mr. Zeger is a poor choice for council. But that being said, he is a candidate and I am not, and I've always felt that candidates who have sufficient confidence in the strength of their own platform shouldn't have to spend time on negative campaigning.