Splitsville
I'm a bit surprised by some of the park board election results after Saturday's civic vote.
I was convinced COPE's Brent Granby would win a seat on the board. The Courier has been writing about Granby and his efforts as a dedicated volunteer, organizer and activist largely in the West End, but more lately across the city for the past 10 years.
I have to wonder if it was because COPE teamed up with Vision Vancouver to run a joint slate of candidates for park board, council and school board that lost him votes. Staunch Vision supporters could have seen a vote for COPE as a vote for the NPA and so to avoid splitting the vote went straight Vision.
GONE GREEN
As for the Green Party's incumbent Stuart Mackinnon, I thought he'd win a second term on park board, but no go.
I've appreciated Mackinnon's efforts in the past three years as the lone Green Party politician in Vancouver.
When it came to the park board, Mackinnon almost played the role of protective middle child, treading a fine line between his domineering older siblings and less powerful kin.
And as he told me Saturday night at the Green Party's gathering, the issue around public washrooms in parks might not be the sexiest of election platforms, but it's an important one.
Mackinnon also said he's honoured to have served the people of Vancouver and his biggest regret is not having enough power to stop the Vision Vancouverdominated board from introducing fees for toddlers at park board attractions.
TOPPING THE CHARTS
Vision's Constance Barnes received the highest number of votes of any park board candidate Saturday night and I doubt it had anything to do with her last name starting with a B.
Barnes got off to a rough start at the beginning of her political career with an impaired driving conviction that had the opposition demanding her resignation. But today, she is active in dozens of community causes and organizations and is dedicated to getting childcare included, as least partly, within the park board's mandate once again.
AT ISSUE
I see the agenda of the Nov. 28 park board meeting, the final before the new board is sworn in Dec. 5, is far less controversial than last time around.
Prior to the 2008 election, one of the last issues voted on was the fate of the historic marginal wharf at Jericho Beach. The vote was deferred until after that election, which meant it became a problem of the current park board. Discussions about what should become of the wharf, which is now almost entirely demolished, lasted almost three years. I've always suspected the issue was purposely deferred by the previous board because those commissioners were convinced it was a lose-lose situation.
Possibly taking a lesson from that controversy, the last item this park board will vote on is whether a stone sculpture that includes an engraved fish soup recipe "representing harmony amongst cultures" should be installed along the pathway in Seaforth Park located on the south side of the Burrard Street Bridge. For more on who's in and who's out on park board, see my story on page 12 or visit vancourier.com.
Twitter: @sthomas10
