There are plenty of alternatives to incumbent Vision Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Mayor Gregor Robertson, his NPA challenger Coun. Suzanne Anton and their parties in Vancouvers Nov. 19 civic election.
Robertson and Anton are two of the dozen people who registered their candidacy for the mayoralty. Among those who filed by the Oct. 14 deadline are Dubgee, Darrell Saxmaniac Zimmerman and leaders of two new electoral organizations, Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Citizens Voices Gerry McGuire and Randy Helten of Neighbourhoods for a Sustainable Vancouver. Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»has some fundamental problems in the direction its going and we have problems the way democracy is functioning, said Helten, an ex-Vision Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»member who wants more neighbourhood control over development.
Were at a fork in the road, if either NPA or Vision Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»get majority at council, we will see the EcoDensity doctrine put on steroids and the rights and opinions of citizens and neighbourhoods will be further ignored for years.
McGuire, the owner and operator of a limousine service, wants a partial ward system, a surtax on empty housing units, an ombudsman for the homeless and licensing of cyclists. Its actually in their own interest, said McGuire. If a cyclist gets hit and run, theyre screwed.
McGuire called the bylaw ticket adjudication system enacted under Vision Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»the next best thing to a feudal system, there is no recourse.
Forty-one people are running for the 10 seats on city council. NSV is fielding four, while three are in the contest under the De-Growth Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»banner, including Olympic critic Chris Shaw. Adriane Carr unsuccessfully ran for the Green Party federally and provincially and is her partys only candidate for council. Anti-gambling expansion campaigner Sandy Garossino may be the best-known independent, while Amy Evil Genius Fox may have the best nickname of the bunch.
Flamboyant former NPA member Jamie Lee Hamilton of the Independent Democratic Electors Alliance, 90-year-old park board watchdog Eleanor Hadley and 19 others are vying for the seven park board seats. Twenty people are contesting the nine school board seats, including independent city council candidate Bang Nguyen.
Voters will also be asked to authorize borrowing $179.8 million for community facilities and parks, transportation and public safety and civic facilities. The list of 94 candidates exceeds the 86 who ran in 2008, but it is nowhere as long as the 1996 record of 170. Thats when the NPAs Philip Owen beat 57 challengers to win his second mayoralty. Many of the wannabe mayors were fringe candidates taking advantage of the lack of filing fees or legal name requirements, including Zippy the Circus Chimp (264 votes), Lupo the Butcher (69), Mr. X (68) and L. Ron Moonbeam (25).
Voting is open to Canadian citizens 18 or older as of Nov. 19 who have lived in B.C. for the last six months and have been a Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»resident or property owner for at least 30 days before voter registration.
