The NPA AGAIN!? Not Only Signs of Life, But They Look Like They’re About to Walk Out of the Morgue–ALIVE!
I would be delighted to eat my words, when I predicted this seemingly directionless crew will go nowhere. IF (!) they can stop Suzanne Anton from killing their fundraising by telling the downtown gang that she’s considering running for Mayor; if they can attract more candidates like Michael Geller and Ian Robertson; if they can stick to the program that once made them great…IF (!) the NPA can then do three things and three things only…
1) Raise money. Go to your TRADITIONAL NPA list of people that have either given up on the radical socialists running the city or didn’t give you money because of your trip through the graveyard, and collect! They’re waiting. Trust me. Vision have lost a major contributor as of last week (because of Geoff Meggs uncontrollable mouth) and that donor is feverishly working the phones without telling you. Vision are in for a very rude awakening.
2) DEFINE YOUR OPPONENT. Go to the search bar of this website and citycaucus.com and type ‘Gregor Robertson’ or ‘Vision Vancouver’ or ‘Hollyhock’ or ‘Joel Solomon’ or ’Geoff Meggs’ or ‘Silly Hall disaster’. That’s enough for you to win the next election on. Get moving!
3) GET RID OF ANYONE ON IN CAUCUS, ON YOUR BOARD OR NEAR THE CONTROLS OF YOUR PARTY NOT CAPABLE OF ASSISTING OR DELIVERING ON NUMBERS ONE AND TWO!!!!!!!!!!! (And finally ditch the damn spy on your Board…he’s been sitting there for a couple of years now).
Below, behold, the NPA rising from their self-imposed coma, off the gurney and down the hallway with straight-jacket in tatters on the ground…
Well, let’s see if they can make it back to life worth living…Vancouver is DEPENDING ON IT!
Now, I can agree with you Alex on this post. But, I would also point out we have some real talent on the Board & more helping behind the scenes. There is also a lot of enthusiasm. More help & enthusiasm is also welcome.
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A pub crawl to one pub, and a rather anemic “look back to the glory days of Jack Volrich and Phillip Owen” (how we did things back then).
Wonder if VanderZalm will be there. He was a former Mayoralty candidate. (that was a fun campaign, even down to the noisy telephone calling system which used mechanical equipment to replay the recorded cassette taped messages).
One of the better campaigns and fun one was for Johnathon Baker,
and Phillip Owen’s aldermanic by-election. Was at City Hall for the count and Bruce Erickson was so pickled you could have used him
as a light.
Well, at least it is a start. A better way is to just have a BBQ at a park for the potential volunteers. That way, it would be way more fun, informal, and not in a room with stuffy people.
Best location would be Spanish Banks or the big area at Vanier Park
(after the fire danger has subsided of course).
Why spend $180 on dinner? You cna spend less at Anton’s and get a mountain of pasta, or go to one of the Italian places on The Drive and not spend $35.00 a person.
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Wait a minute…are you who I think you are?!?! I worked on all those campaigns!
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Alex, if you are planning on attending the pub night – I will pop by and introduce myself…
Cheers
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I doubt it. I really don’t do appearances like that. It creates too much of a fuss. But I’d be happy to meet an chat anytime.
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Alex,
Don’t sell short the NPA’s uncanny ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. The NPA until about ten years ago was successful because it tread a delicate balance between contradictory positions, namely, support for development on the one hand and preservation of neighbourhoods on the other. They did this in part by maintaining good relations with local tenants and ratepayers associations across the City. They also continued to some extent the programs implemented under TEAM of community participation in the planning process.
The along came Sam Sullivan and Peter Ladner with Eco Density which was a direct assault on Neighbourhoods The Density Lobby got religion through global warming and promoted the development of low density areas as a way of bringing back the glaciers.
The South West Side of the City has a high voter turnout and they decided to stick it to the NPA. Some people simply stayed home on election day and others voted VISION to punish the NPA. Only Anton survived the crushing defeat, probably because of her position in the alphabet. As to the rest of the NPA ticket Michael Geller revealed after the election that he had incorporated a company for laneway housing. Geller may be a prolific contributor to the op ed pages on his favourite topic– himself -but his nomination would not endear the party to neighbourhood groups.
Laneway housing during the election was promoted by Ladner and Geller. A recent poll, however, by the Dunbar Residents Association revealed that a large percentage of people living in close proximity to laneway houses hate them.
No one expected that VISION would simply adopt Sullivan’s disastrous policies any more than they expected Campbell to bring in the HST or for that matter Obama to continue the two wars. Now the tables have turned and the people in the community who bring out the vote will support anyone but Mayor Moonbeam and his merry band of dwarfs.
When the party in power is about to fall, the opposition simply has to get out of the way. In this case the NPA has to do a little more: it must regain the support that it has lost from community organizations. It must also offer developers some regulatory certainty and assure them that when land is zoned for a use the permits will be expedited.
It does not need developers on the Board or even on Council but simply competent people from all walks of life who appear to be truly non partisan and fair minded.
Jonathan Baker
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I COMPLETELY agree with you. Philip was our last good Mayor, but his last term sowed the seeds of the demise: Gordon Price (as much as I love the guy), and his philosophical brother, Peter Ladner, really pulled the eco-BS lever all the way down. Couple that with Lady Macbeth and the deed was done. OF course, the worst damage to the NPA was by Sam, without question. And by the time Peter had a bit of an epiphany and realized the city was not made up of cycling gardeners, it was too late.
Frankly, the NPA are MINDLESS to have candidate selection so early (end of this year, round one). Vision is comprised liars and manipulators. They will take the backgrounds of the people running and drill them new derrieres with propaganda and spin. The NPA should show up candidates in September of 2011. At this point, they should just press a good Mayoral candidate to come out for a twirl in 2011, and let him (or her) corral a good team. They’re doing it backwards.
But that there are some signs of life only shows you that the city is leaning towards getting rid of Vision. It’s palpable. Then again, the NPA see this but do the currents hierarchs understand how to get rid of them? Of course not.
Let’s see what happens. Always a pleasure to have you around.
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The Thought of The Day
“NPA…alive, maybe. But not quite kicking.”
How can I put it, it’s more like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xos2MnVxe-c
On the other hand I have to agree with you Alex. And with the previous commentators, especially Jonathan Baker. If I’ll ever go to one of NPA’s gatherings I’ll have to bring a poking stick and a mirror with me. You know, for pocking limbs and for observing slow breathing. Don’t kid yourself, Vision is not far behind,
After so many Bullshit Dinners they are in dire need of a ‘Heimlich Maneuver’.
But I’m not going to do it for them. Nope, I’m a Non Practising Buddhist on this, I’ll let nature take it’s course. Chocking on their own, that is.
As for the candidate Geller, that you are suggesting is capable of taking this party forward I have this to say, if I’ll ever need a trustworthy pencil pusher with no clear opinion on anything, with more training in Syrtaki diatribe then I have in horse riding, to represent me in Council, then yes I’ll think of him..
So, there. My two freshly depreciated Canadian cents.
We live in Vancouver and this keeps us busy.
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I have more faith in Geller than this. He is truly turning the corner. I’m not sure he can win as Mayor. He’d make a superb councillor. And yes, he’s made many messaging mistakes, but I he;s a very likable candidate. He would be a fabulous counter to Meggs, who comes across like a bottle of ammonia.
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Hi Alex,
I know that Vision/Cope=NDP.
Do the Liberals=NPA?
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No, not necessarily.
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Could be worse one supposes. Is COPE still in business, or did they all jump to Vision? Just read that ex-Mayor Larry Campbell of same, along with criminologist Neil Boyd and Sun reporter Lori Culbert have been shortlisted (though short-sheeted would be more appropriate) for a book they co-wrote called (deep breath!) A Thousand Dreams: Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and the Fight for Its Future. (Gasp) Do you know that he of the fedora and great coat and B.S. political theories, must now be called “Honourable”?
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Yes, I’m aware. They’re all of the belief that legalizing marijuana is the be all and end all of our problems on the DTES. That’s pure rubbish.
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