Four Change makes their picks

[gordon_as]

I would have a problem with that too , but I don't think that can happen. I am not even sure that a city can expropriate land. I know that the Province did it when they built the coquihalla. If the city was building a giant park , or a bridge , or a major new road and there was 1 landowner who refused to sell at any price , and stopped the project dead , I could see the city trying to expropriate . I don't think they would get very far trying to expropriate a piece of property for the purpose of resale. Can any of you smarter than me folks confirm or debunk whether or not a city , or municipality , even has expropriation as a legal option.

[gordon_as]

Answer to my own question , sort of.
I guess there is a grey area in what would be deemed to be " in the public interest " . I would say that a major highway , or hospital , or hydro electric dam , or .......... would clearly be in the public interest. Sale to a big developer of condo's , probably not.

WHAT IS EXPROPRIATION
Expropriation occurs when a public agency (for example, the provincial government and its agencies, regional districts, municipalities, school boards and utilities) takes property for a purpose deemed to be in the public interest, even though the owner of the property may not be willing to sell it.

[grammafreddy]

Can any of you smarter than me folks confirm or debunk whether or not a city , or municipality , even has expropriation as a legal option.

Not saying I'm smarter just maybe a tad more experienced ... but the answer is yes, a municipality most assuredly can legally expropriate property from a private land owner.

[gordon_as]

......... for a purpose deemed to be in the public interest...... Who would decide that ?

[grammafreddy]

......... for a purpose deemed to be in the public interest...... Who would decide that ?

Chances are really good an expropriation would end up in the courts, so they would decide. Expropriation always sucks. Nobody really wins and there's always bad tastes left in people's mouths.

[I dunno]

The city doesn't necessarily have to use expropriation. Sometimes, if you want a property re-zoned, they will see it as an opportunity to grab some of your land for future use. And if you don't "donate" this land to the city, you don't get re-zoned and you are up the creek.

[grammafreddy]

I can see how that could happen. Do you have any particular instance of this having happened here in the past?

[plyrslite1951]

"I never could have supported Gran or Zimmerman as, for different reasons, I do not think they will make good councillors. Gran's past performance in terms of attendance and attitude speak for themselves. Zimmerman is there mainly for name recognition and I do not believe the skills required for command & control in emergency situations translate into good analysis and decision making at council: Gerry would be too 'load-fire-aim'".

Good insight on Gerry. I wonder why ex chief Blanleil got all the bad press last year, and yet Gerry never got any when he was led to the door a few years before he was ready to leave. I wonder what his buyout amounted to? As far as I am concerned, "strong" leadership only means that a person will do what they want and justify it, without input from the PUBLIC (the average citizen). I am for business, and I am also for the average tax payer. This city is my home, and it needs to be a city we can live in, not just be run by developers. We have had enough councils like that over the years.

I wonder why Walter started up a new radio station in a city that he feels is so anti-business? What was his actual track record from the years he was mayor? All of the "pro-business" people telling us that Kelowna needs to open up for business is just hollow rhetoric! If they feel that they can actually do this- tell us how they intend to do it. From 2003 to 2009, people actually began making liveable wages here. People actually had some disposeable income to frequent businesses.

There are a lot more dynamics to our society than just being open for business. A number of the "fourchange" people remind me of George W. Bush and his mentality.

[Takin it easy !]

"I never could have supported Gran or Zimmerman as, for different reasons, I do not think they will make good councillors. Gran's past performance in terms of attendance and attitude speak for themselves. Zimmerman is there mainly for name recognition and I do not believe the skills required for command & control in emergency situations translate into good analysis and decision making at council: Gerry would be too 'load-fire-aim'".

Good insight on Gerry. I wonder why ex chief Blanleil got all the bad press last year, and yet Gerry never got any when he was led to the door a few years before he was ready to leave. I wonder what his buyout amounted to? As far as I am concerned, "strong" leadership only means that a person will do what they want and justify it, without input from the PUBLIC (the average citizen). I am for business, and I am also for the average tax payer. This city is my home, and it needs to be a city we can live in, not just be run by developers. We have had enough councils like that over the years.

I wonder why Walter started up a new radio station in a city that he feels is so anti-business? What was his actual track record from the years he was mayor? All of the "pro-business" people telling us that Kelowna needs to open up for business is just hollow rhetoric! If they feel that they can actually do this- tell us how they intend to do it. From 2003 to 2009, people actually began making liveable wages here. People actually had some disposeable income to frequent businesses.

There are a lot more dynamics to our society than just being open for business. A number of the "fourchange" people remind me of George W. Bush and his mentality.

George W Bush with a little Richard Nixon in the mix !

[fedup]

LETS NOT FORGET THAT ZIMMERMANN MANAGED, OPERATED, AND JUSTIFIED A MUTI MILLION DOLLAR BUDGET FOR THE FIRE DEPT EVERY YEAR FOR HOW EVER MANY YEARS HE WAS A CHIEF. ALSO HE KNOWS THE INNER WORKINGS OF OUR CITY. THE FIRE DEPT I BELIEVE ALSO WORKS WITH ALL BRANCH'S OF THE CITY WHICH HE'LL ALSO HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF.THE OKANAGAN MOUNTAIN PARK FIRE WAS JUST A ONCE IN A LIFE TIME INCIDENT THAT REQUIRED A CHIEFS LEADERSHIP IN AN UNTHINKABLE TIME. ALL THIS ADDS UP TO SOMEONE I WANT RUNNING MY CITY.

[plyrslite1951]

LETS NOT FORGET THAT ZIMMERMANN MANAGED, OPERATED, AND JUSTIFIED A MUTI MILLION DOLLAR BUDGET FOR THE FIRE DEPT EVERY YEAR FOR HOW EVER MANY YEARS HE WAS A CHIEF. ALSO HE KNOWS THE INNER WORKINGS OF OUR CITY. THE FIRE DEPT I BELIEVE ALSO WORKS WITH ALL BRANCH'S OF THE CITY WHICH HE'LL ALSO HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF.THE OKANAGAN MOUNTAIN PARK FIRE WAS JUST A ONCE IN A LIFE TIME INCIDENT THAT REQUIRED A CHIEFS LEADERSHIP IN AN UNTHINKABLE TIME. ALL THIS ADDS UP TO SOMEONE I WANT RUNNING MY CITY.

Why was he ushered out of his position early by the city, not that long after the fire? He was all the things you stated- a leader, a manager and city insider, but how well he actually was at those seems answered by the city in letting him go a few years earlier than he had planned for. The chief that followed him did all of those thing as well- managed, lead and knew the inner workings of the city, including a leadership role in the 2003 fire, and they let him go early as well.

[thefacts]

LETS NOT FORGET THAT ZIMMERMANN MANAGED, OPERATED, AND JUSTIFIED A MUTI MILLION DOLLAR BUDGET FOR THE FIRE DEPT EVERY YEAR FOR HOW EVER MANY YEARS HE WAS A CHIEF. ALSO HE KNOWS THE INNER WORKINGS OF OUR CITY. THE FIRE DEPT I BELIEVE ALSO WORKS WITH ALL BRANCH'S OF THE CITY WHICH HE'LL ALSO HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF.THE OKANAGAN MOUNTAIN PARK FIRE WAS JUST A ONCE IN A LIFE TIME INCIDENT THAT REQUIRED A CHIEFS LEADERSHIP IN AN UNTHINKABLE TIME. ALL THIS ADDS UP TO SOMEONE I WANT RUNNING MY CITY.

Why was he ushered out of his position early by the city, not that long after the fire? He was all the things you stated- a leader, a manager and city insider, but how well he actually was at those seems answered by the city in letting him go a few years earlier than he had planned for. The chief that followed him did all of those thing as well- managed, lead and knew the inner workings of the city, including a leadership role in the 2003 fire, and they let him go early as well.

Perhaps there are issues withing the fire department we need to know about.... or perhaps some people within. Zimmerman was Very good at his job in my opinion. I also know that Gray and Zimmerman worked very well together!! It will be nice to see them doing that again.

[rutland1]

Sorry but having 237 homes burning down is not good managment in my books.

[Fancy]

Sorry but having 237 homes burning down is not good managment in my books.

Whaaattt???? What part did you play during that time to be able to make such a judgment?