I sorta, kinda feel guilty about something.
I missed a Vancouver Police Board meeting two weeks ago.
I know, I know, the horror, the horror.
But this, ladies and gentlemen, is rare for me.
Unfortunately (fortunately?), the NPA called a press conference around the same time to introduce more of its council candidates. I flipped a coin and ended up outside the Roundhouse community centre in Yaletown to meet the political wannabees.
As a result, I didn’t get a chance to meet the five new police board members. But I did send our resident shutterbug, Dan Toulgoet, to the meeting to take photos; good guy that Toulgoet.
Police board meetings, thankfully, are now live-streamed, which I’ve told you about before. So I’m about to watch and will get back to you when I’m done with all the names of the new board members.
Here I go…
…and I’m back.
I should tell you although the live-stream is helpful and cool and all that, it’s not the same as being there; can’t really interview the chief or mayor from my desk or follow up with speakers — or ask why one of the new board members was on crutches.
Anyway, the new board members are:
· Caroline Askew, a longtime lawyer who has operated a private practice for almost 40 years and was once chairperson of The Horse Racing Commission. She is also Vision Vancouver’s former chairperson and the city’s only appointee to the board.
· Claire Marshall, the former manager of aboriginal relations for the B.C. Transmission Corporation and is a director with the Lu’ma Native Housing Society.
· Peter Wong, a physician and businessman. Wong is vice-chairperson of the Yue Shan society and is a founding member and director of the West Point Grey Academy.
· Mark James, founder of the Mark James Group, which operates several craft brewery restaurants, including Yaletown Brewing Co. and The Flying Beaver in Richmond. He was the one using crutches.
· Sherri Magee, an independent cancer researcher with a PhD. Magee spent four years researching the process of recovery once treatment for cancer is finished. She co-authored Picking up the pieces: Moving forward after cancer, which was published in 2006. (For those of you wondering, Magee is no relation to Mayor Gregor Robertson’s chief of staff, Mike Magee.)
The five new members join Thomas Tam, Daljit Sidhu and Mary Collins. Robertson doubles as chairperson of the board for a total of nine people providing civilian oversight over the police department.
“We were certainly challenged by workload and this is just a great opportunity to have more links to community and more expertise around the table,” said Robertson, noting the bigger size of the board. “So I’m looking forward to working together in the months and years to come.”
The police board doesn’t meet again until September. I’ll see if I can make it.
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