Sadly, another year of hunting and gathering is over.
That means its time for my annual awards feast in which I pick the best, worst, oddest and most perplexing city hall tales I dined on or digested in 2011.
In no particular order, here they are:
Best mind-bending trip courtesy of a city councillor: COPE stalwart David Cadman, whose delivery of a so-called prayer to begin an April council meeting sent this scribe on one wild galaxy ride. Cadman actually didnt say a word. Instead, he projected a still image of a giant Mother Earth on a screen in a dimly lit council chambers. He accompanied the image with dreamy music in which the chanteuse repeated beautiful world, beautiful world for what seemed like an eternity.
Best survey by a non-profit that truly captures what Metro Vancouver has become: The Vancouver Foundation, which conducted a survey of community leaders and various stakeholders on what issues were top of mind. The consensus: the growing sense of isolation in Metro Vancouver.
The Rodney Dangerfield of neighbourhoods: The Downtown Eastside, which with its open air drug market, homelessness and mental illness issues, continues to be a blind spot for political parties at all levels of government and gets no respect. World-class city? Really?
Worst rationale by an agency for continuing the Vancouver Police Departments policy of simultaneously disclosing classified documents: That goes to the Vancouver Police Board which somehow thinks the commercial interests of reporters should take a back seat to the public interest when releasing documents. Last time I checked, I was working in the public interest and not simply driven by greed to bring in more cash for the company.
Most frugal civic election campaign: That goes to Green Party Coun. Adriane Carr, who says she spent a paltry $15,000 to get elected in November. By contrast, tabs for Vision Vancouver and the NPA will likely come in at $2 million each.
Best candidate who almost ran for mayor in the civic election: Developer Robert Macdonald, who was the NPAs chief fundraiser. Ever hear the guy speak? Sheesh. An articulate, no-B.S. agent of the right-of-centre crowd whose style would have surely resonated with many voters. Health issues and Suzanne Anton kept him off the ballot.
Most ambivalent political party on gambling: Vision Vancouver, which launched its election campaign by saying it wont expand gambling in the city. But, yes, it will accept donations from casino companies to fund its campaign. And, yes, some Vision councillors did allow slots in the city way back when.
Civic political party with amnesia: Hands down, COPE. The party blamed lack of media coverage for its loss at the polls. It also said it couldnt compete financially with the NPA or Vision, even though the party ran a coordinated campaign with Vision. Didnt hear any of this complaining in 2008 vote when the party rode the Vision train to victory.
Most ubiquitous developer during the civic election campaign: Concord Pacific head Terry Hui, who I saw at two fundraisers for Vision Vancouver and one for the NPA. Also saw him at the Board of Trades mayoral debate and at Visions victory party. Maybe one day hell actually agree to an interview and we can talk. People tell me hes a nice guy. Some peoplemy kids, actuallytell me Im a nice guy. Heres hoping two nice guys can chat in 2012.
Twitter: @Howelling
