Van City Mayoral Race - November, 2014

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by dreambrother808

I agree in this instance. It displays a high degree of ineptitude and poor preparation.

No, actually it shows that operating on a casual part-time basis the NPA can still consistently rely on 40% of the vote against Vision Vancouver's political machine which is well-funded by developers and American "environmentalists".

This election shows that to get any further, they'll have to build a full time party to counter Vision.

[theKB]

Was the NPA not founded and frankly up until the last decade municipal politics were not a big money game and I feel like VV changed that taking on the operations of a larger less localized political organizations.

Vision has some very powerful money behind them and unless the NPA can get that sort of clout behind them Vision will continue to be the powerhouse that they are.

I am glad that Vision is no longer sitting basically unopposed but it would have been better if it was even more balanced.

[WarrenC12]

So all of the NPA moves into high powered positions in the BC Liberal party over the years are just random chance?

[dreambrother808]

VV strikes the balance that resonates most clearly with the majority of Vancouverites. If you think it's just about money, you aren't much help to the NPA in terms of finding their own "vision".

[csbvan]

Originally Posted by theKB

Was the NPA not founded and frankly up until the last decade municipal politics were not a big money game and I feel like VV changed that taking on the operations of a larger less localized political organizations.

Vision has some very powerful money behind them and unless the NPA can get that sort of clout behind them Vision will continue to be the powerhouse that they are.

I am glad that Vision is no longer sitting basically unopposed but it would have been better if it was even more balanced.

The money was certainly not the issue this election. The NPA raised $2.1 million to Vision's $2.25 million. Fundraising was neck and neck.

[memememe76]

I wonder if it's just the case where a lot of the animosity towards Robertson (or Moonbeam--I still don't get the nickname) came from those who don't actually live in Vancouver--and thus can't vote.

Can a person from, say, Burnaby, donate to a Vancouver political party? Do things like affordability really matter to Vancouver residents? I mean, they live there already. I suppose there are some residents who are knee-deep in mortgage debt, but there are also really rich people and/or old people who bought long, long ago and benefit from the increasing equity. As a Surrey resident who would love to live in Vancouver, yeah, affordability matters to me. But it's not like I can vote for Vancouver's mayor.

[Stingray2004]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

So all of the NPA moves into high powered positions in the BC Liberal party over the years are just random chance?

Warren, I know many BC Liberal provincial operatives involved in VV and their campaign. As an aside, 6 prominent federal Liberal operatives also signed Gregor's nomination papers this time (red Liberals though). Albeit not relevant IMHO.

In any event, this tidbit from LaPointe's interview yesterday is quite revealing:

When we crept to within the margin of error in polls (our OVERNIGHT POLLS had me up a couple of times), they [VV] would find another gear in the last few days and we would not.

The NPA utilized Maple Leaf Strategies as its pollster. The same guys that the BC Libs utilized during the May, 2013 BC election campaign. And on the Friday before following e-day on Tuesday, their internal numbers confirmed 50 BC Lib seats. Basically bang on.

Problem with the NPA, this time, was that they did not have a good strategy team, which would have resulted in different ads during the last week of the campaign. As an aside, I completed a detailed paper on Mike Harcourt's win back in 1980 (over incumbent Volrich) in a UBC muni poli sci class many years after the fact. Had the NPA followed those same steps, likely a different outcome for mayor of Van City. In any event, what's done is done.

IMHO, the best council Van City ever had was TEAM back in the '70's - very centrist and comprised both blue and red liberals inclusive of Mike Harcourt.

VV is not TEAM and today lack that important element from TEAM - blue liberals.

Furthermore, Van City's best mayor was likely TEAM's Art Phillips (later Vancouver Centre fed Liberal MP). A blue Liberal.

And the two top councillors elected in Van City to date IMHO: May Brown (TEAM) and Carole Taylor (NPA/Ind.). Including Art Phillips, all 3 are blue liberals and would definitely run with the NPA banner over the VV today. Dianne Watts material here.

VV's candidates are mostly "minor league" hockey types IMHO. Not major league NHL types from a poli perspective. Unfortunate that Meggs won out narrowly over the NPA's Ian Robertson for council. Robertson was former PB chair and was quite well-liked, knowledgable, respected and worked well across all party lines. Good calibre candidate. Now ya get Meggs back!

As a further aside, most folk do not know how politicized Van City hall has become and, as a result, the negative consequences of same affecting the public interest.

To wit, a good friend of mine and former UBC alma mater, was appointed the head of a major Van City dept. Never received much media attention. A very bright young guy, affable, well-liked and works very well with others. And he knew his stuff!

He bailed a few years ago. Why? Got fed up with the internal negative poli environment foisted upon him. And I don't blame him. Van City lost a very good civil servant as a result. And others have left, due to same, as well.

Again, too bad few know what transpires within city hall these days.

Finally, VV has been spanked. Quite bad on PB and SB and council as well when one considers who took top spots vis-a-vis 2011. And life goes on.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Stingray2004

Warren, I know many BC Liberal provincial operatives involved in VV and their campaign. As an aside, 6 prominent federal Liberal operatives also signed Gregor's nomination papers this time (red Liberals though). Albeit not relevant IMHO.

Oh I know, my comment was in relation to those who cling to the idea that the NPA is some loose, temporary organization of individuals who don't have any party allegiances and only get together to run elections. It's just an excuse that they lost, not based on any objective reality.