Hey, Vancouver, you may have heard your political neighbour to the northwest has a problem with Mayor Gregor Robertson and the majority of the region’s mayors wanting you to vote yes in the spring plebiscite to support a 0.5 per cent sales tax hike for transportation and transit upgrades.
That neighbour is West Vancouver mayor Michael Smith.
He made it clear at a vote in December of the mayors’ regional council on transportation that he didn’t support the plebiscite and elaborated on his reasons this week in an opinion piece he wrote for the No TransLink Tax campaign.
“At the heart of my objection to this proposed tax is my belief that government does not have the right to ask citizens to pay more in taxes unless they can assure them that their money will be well spent,” Smith wrote. “This is not the case. TransLink does not have the reputation of being a well-managed corporation delivering excellent value. This cannot be blamed entirely on management, although it is entirely reasonable to question the number of well-paid executives that run what is essentially a monopoly organization.”
Before I go any further, I should remind readers that none of the region’s mayors wanted a plebiscite from the get-go. The mayors expressed that to the provincial government in June 2013. But with no choice on the matter, Robertson and the majority of mayors — minus Smith and the mayors of Burnaby and Maple Ridge —reluctantly decided to campaign for a yes vote.
At stake, Robertson and company say, is the future of the region and the need for a subway along Broadway, light rail in Surrey, a new Pattullo Bridge, more buses, more frequent SeaBus and HandyDart service and upgrades to roads and cycling infrastructure. Otherwise, they say, congestion will only get worse.
Smith doesn’t deny that and wants alternatives to the automobile, too.
But in an interview this week, Smith said he has a real problem with the fact that mayors have no power to govern, which means there’s no guarantee any new money raised to help pay for the mayors’ $7.5 billion, 10-year transit and transportation plan will actually be used for the plan. Also, he said, the plan relies heavily on big money coming from the province and the feds.
“We could provide free busing right now [in West Vancouver] with the money that we give to TransLink,” he said, accusing mayors of “doing a Neville Chamberlain” on pushing a yes vote, a reference to the former British leader appeasing Hitler back in 1938 by ceding parts of Czechoslovakia. “It should be clear I am not opposed to more revenue for transit but the decisions have to be made locally.”
Interesting, right?
But so is West Vancouver’s Official Community Plan, or OCP.
And I quote: “[The plan] seeks to reduce auto dependency by developing a comprehensive transit, transportation and land use plan that incorporates convenient and workable alternatives to the single-occupant car.”
It goes on to recommend “increased transit service between major activity centres, enhanced rail connections, a comprehensive and accessible walking and cycling networks, the design of new roads….”
You get the picture.
So how do you get all that, if you vote against the plan?
Smith said none of West Van’s OCP recommendations are connected to the mayors’ plan, saying “a community plan is basically a wish list. You almost have somebody playing a violin while you’re writing it.”
So then, how will West Van pay for any or all of its OCP recommendations?
”We’ll pay as we go. We have no debt. As transportation needs arise, we’ll address them,” he said, noting the municipality will continue to apply for infrastructure funding from the feds.
I thought there might be something more to Smith’s “vote no” position once I read his bio. It says he has operated his own petroleum products business for more than 30 years and once worked as a territory manager for "a major oil company."
His response: “How I made a living is not really relevant to the issue.”
Mail-in ballots for the plebiscite are expected to begin arriving at Metro Vancouver homes in mid-March.
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