The Heart Of Pacific Spirit Park Is On Life Support

ParksForPeopleInPerpetuity
RealP3Ville

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Triple O' Sauce Update ......Friday am......Board meets at 9:00am......Keep firing off Emails (link below).....I've been in those meetings and watched these fine folks constantly checking their Blackberries throughout....

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Double Secret Probation Update ....Welcome to the friends of my bigger kid, E. (pictured above, with littler e.).

We are writing local politicians.....Just click on the link, find the folks from Vancouver and send them a message that says 'Please Save Pacific Spirit Park!' with your name and your address (or just plain old 'Vancouver Resident' if you like). Thanks!

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Update: ....To all those arriving from Mary's, Stephen Rees' , West End Bob's, JJ's , Alison's and The Galloping Beaver...Welcome!
And Thanks! This will only take a moment of your time....
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I have ranted and ranted (and ranted some more) on the subject of the coming sell off of a chunk of Lotusland's jewel of a regional park called 'Pacific Spirit' to the Condo Kings.

Well, with everything accepted in principle at the Provincial level, it would appear that the only people now standing between the Condo Kings' chainsaws and the Trees are our local, civic politicians.

Specifically, the 'Metro Vancouver Board of Directors' who meet on Friday to discuss the issue 'in camera' (a.k.a. 'hidden from public view').

I've been to public events where a number of these folks have been very receptive to the idea of blocking the Park's soon to be scheduled cardiac arrest.

So.

If you have a moment and you live in the Lower Mainland and you think that parks should not be for sale, please find your local politician at the link immediately below and write them a very short Email saying something as simple as......

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Dear xxxxxx,

Please save all of Pacific Spirit Park for all the residents of Metro Vancouver.

Thank you very much,
Your name and address.

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Why is this NOT a waste of time?

Well, 1000 people protesting the 'Run of River' raping of Pinecone Burke Park in Pitt Meadows seems to have helped tremendously.

******

Again......

All you have to do is go to the MetroVancouver Director's site where all the contact info is located, including clickable links for their Email addresses.

Again, it's right here.

Please, please, do it.

It's really really easy - 34.5 seconds, tops, I promise.

OK?

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Oh, and if you live in Vancouver proper and you write to NPA mayoralty candidate Peter Ladner (who is running as a break away NPA candidate against Sir Spam-A-Lot) you might want to mention that taking such a stand could help him differentiate himself from the current proCondo King regime at 12th and Cambie.
Image at the top of the post is of my two daughters, littler e. and Bigger E., at a recent rally to try and save the Park.


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Is Pacific Spirit Park Really Out Of The Woods?

SaveTheRich
EatTheParkVille

So, in case you missed it, there's this tussle going on out here on the far Western edge of Lotusland........

It began back in the summer, and it involves whether the University Golf Course (read 'Fairways for a Fee') or a chunk of Pacific Spirit Park (read 'Forests for Free') should be given to the Musqueam Band.

Originally, it was to be the golf course.

Then the golfers got upset about the tyranny of a public that loves its parks and started making noises about how fairways are actually more important for future generations than forests.

We are not making this stuff up; here is out one of them said at the time:

"The government doesn't want to offend the greater community. It's easier for them to offend the rich golfers who play out at the university golf course."

Of course, in the beginning it all seemed somewhat laughable - and we said so:

A lot of folks with lots of money and lots and lots of connections are really upset that their beloved LINO's are contemplating giving the UBC Golf Course to the Musqueam Native Band.

And one of the most upset is a very fine fellow named Marty Zlotnik.

But Mr. Zlotnik has a solution.

A very, to say the least, bizarre solution:

....Mr. Zlotnik, who has been a fundraiser for the Premier in the past and organized annual leaders' dinners for Mr. Campbell, said he and his fellow activists will take their case to the Musqueam in a bid to save the 78-year-old club.

They are fine-tuning a pitch to encourage the 1,200-member Musqueam community to seek a 48-hectare piece of the Spirit Park in the University Endowment Lands instead of the 48-hectare course in Mr. Campbell's prosperous Vancouver-Point Grey riding.

And you want to hear something even more bizarre?

Mr. Zlotnik is also a Vancouver City Parks Board Member.

Which, based on the evidence now available, appears to be akin to putting David Hasselhoff in charge of Nuclear Physics at MIT.

Or even a hamburger stand.


Having said all that, we were extremely relieved when the Provincial government also said that this business of trading a golf course for a park was silly in the extreme.

Except it turned out that there was a caveat. Specifically, the leader of the provincial government, Mr. Gordon Campbell, also said that he would wait a few months before making his final decision.

Since then the golf course itself actually raised a whole bunch of money for Mr. Campbell and his governing party's coffers.

And the golfers, who also happen to be some of the same folks that helped the course raise all that money, have been off doing their thing, which includes, according to them, a newspaper advertising campaign of their own.

All of which still seems crazy, right?

Right?

Well, the only trouble is, as Rafe Mair once said:

"Six months is an eternity in politics."

Which means that we are now about half way from here to eternity.

And a couple of little birds have been whispering in our ears (or, at least in our Email boxes)......

And they are telling us that there just may be a deal in the works to disappear a chunk of the park.

If true, this is not a good development for those of us who love truly public spaces that have been set been aside for all of us.

Unless of course you are one of those who can afford to regularly pay for greens fees (and all the fertilizer that goes with them).

OK?


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For more info from the folks who don't have all the power and the bags full either clubs or money - check out the 'Friends of Pacific Spirit Park' website.


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This Just In!

AllTheClubsThatFit
CaddyshackVille


Well, well, well........

The NPA has decided that the very fine fellow who, based on his own words, appears to place more value on private golf courses than Vancouver's public parks, will indeed once again be running for Parks Board on what, rumours suggest, some members of the 'Friends of Pacific Spirit Park' may calling the Ted Baxter ticket.


Ms. Bula has the details:

NPA park candidates: DeGenova, Shukla, Zlotnik
September 13th, 2008 · 3 Comments

It took a lot longer to count the votes than anyone expected, but finally the results came in at 2:24: Wai Sin was the candidate dropped from the four, losing to Marty Zlotnik by only eight votes. The results: Melissa DeGenova, 214; Naresh Shukla, 189; Marty Zlotnik, 15(6?)1; Wai Sin, 153......

What the heckfire am I babbling on about?

Well, it all comes back to an astroturf group set up by Mr. Zlotnik and friends that ran a nice bit of deflector spin that made the unthinkable first possible, then probable, and finally, a lock.

Or, to be more specific, made it possible for Gordon Campbell (for whom Mr. Zlotnik has also acted as a bag man/political fundraiser for in the past) to act unilaterally to solve a totally manufactured crisis by passing legislation in which the heart will be carved out of the very public Pacific Spirit Park so that it can ultimately be offered up to developers rather than a sliver of land along the edges of the very private University Golf Course.

Here, in his own words, is what Mr. Zlotnik had to say when the public finally started to cotton on to the scheme:

"The government doesn't want to offend the greater community. It's easier for them to offend the rich golfers who play out at the university golf course."

I don't know about you, but as a member of the 'greater community' who uses and loves Vancouver's public parks I feel very strongly that a person with such a stated bias against the 'greater community' and its desire to keep its urban parks intact in perpetuity should never, ever be allowed to make decisions regarding that community's public parks.

But, then again, what do I know - the voters will have to make that decision come election day later this fall. I just hope the media in this town links Mr. Zlotnik to the denuding of Pacific Spirit Park in every story they write and every segment they broadcast that involves any discussion of important Parks Board issues from now until then.

Because if they don't, in my opinion, they are not doing their job.

OK?

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In the beginning the Astroturfin' by the Ted Baxter Bund seemed laughable in the extreme, but in the end, I guess, one should never underestimate the power of a potential billion dollar windfall. As for the original webturf website? Well, it no longer exists and has been sucked up by an 'online meds consortium (ha!). But it can still be lassoed and hauled back in from the farflung fringes of the google cache.


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Now, for those who would say.....ya, but this is the only way to make everybody happy....given the land claims issue and everything, please read the following that I wrote a while back....

...Remember, this not a fight against First Nations land claims because there are alternatives that were fully in play before former Vancouver Point Grey fundraiser Marty Zlotnik and his band of Merry Pranksters started a deflector spin campaign last summer that made the previously unthinkable (ie. the loss of urban parkland to even more condos) a fait accompli. And what is the best alternative? Well in my opinion, they would include limited development along the edges of the golf course (ie. reshaping it without destroying it) right here, right now. The result?........ The Musqueam would get their money, UBC would get it's money, and the Public would get to keep it's Park. As for the Developers? Well, they'd likely make oodles of money too - just not quite as much. And why, given that they have absolutely no stake in this whatsoever, should the Developers be the big winners here? Huh?

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How Much Is Pacific Spirit Park's Bleeding Heart....

.....Worth?

BigMoneyInLotusland
LandjackVille


Yesterday, when I was writing about the possible worth of the Pacific Spirit Condo-Lands, I used Miro Cernetig's old numbers of ~$200 million. Then I doubled that again as far as estimate of what the profits for the Developer's Bund might turn out to be.

Well, what with late breaking of 'L'Affaire de Lesser' and all, I didn't actually read Mr. Cernetig's column from yesterday until today.

And it turns out he's revised his numbers.

Considerably.

.....In another massive public land deal, the public discovered the provincial government was handing over a big chunk of Pacific Spirit Park and the University of B.C. Golf Course to the Musqueam First Nation. There was no real public consultation, no details of who might be developing the lands or how much those lands would be worth once they are rezoned. A good bet is the land will soar in value by more than $1 billion and the real-estate development will be worth many times more.


Please read that last, bolded sentence above one more time.....

Done?

Good.

Now, ask yourself if it is even conceivable that the lush, green 'turf outfit that turned the previously unthinkable selling off of the park's heart into a compromise 'lock' was ever for real.

OK?

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Actually read Mr. Cernetig's column on his VSun Blog, which is almost, but not quite, as good as Absolutely FABula's.
PacSpiritParkPhotoCredit: Bucky Hermit (by way of Stephen Rees)....Do we really want to lose that beauty and tranquility forever?

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The Heart Of Pacific Spirit Park To Become Condos!

ForgetTheCodswallop
LookAtTheMapIIIVille


So, as we detailed below, the plan is to rip a second parcel of land out of the heart of Pacific Spirit Park.

And what will become of it?

Well, according to Musqueam Chief Ernie Campbell it will become condos, sometimes known euphemistically as 'multi-family housing'.

The Musqueam will receive title to a 13.8-hectare section of Pacific Spirit Park, south of Marine Drive adjacent to the Musqueam reserve, and to an 8.5-hectare parcel of land in the middle of the endowment lands adjacent to the university's own housing developments.

Musqueam Chief Ernie Campbell said the band plans to develop multi-family housing on that land similar to the mid-rise condos already in the area and manage 1.2 hectares of that parcel as park.

Remember when Premier Gordon Campbell apparently told members of his constituency that park land would not be sacrificed to save the Golf Course, a 'solution' that had been floated by one of his fundraisers who, by all accounts, also loves fairways?

Sheesh.

(with a side of outrage, of course)


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Update: And no, this is NOT a treaty.

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Is Metro Vancouver Helpless.....

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.....To Save Pacific Spirit Park?

Lotusland's civic politicians met today to discuss the Provincial government's legislation that will soon result in the heart being cut out of Pacific Spirit Regional Park without any compensation given whatsoever.

Here's the story, hot off the presses, from Glenn Bohn in the Vancouver Sun:

A provincial law that gives Victoria the power to expropriate chunks of Pacific Spirit regional park without any financial compensation to Metro Vancouver is unprecedented in B.C., a lawyer for the regional government says. And regional politicians say it's a question of the province "abusing" its legal authority.

Clearly, the haranguing of said civic Pols by their constituents, including constituents like us, did some good because they appeared to be hopping mad when they came out of their "in camera/in secret" session:

"We're asked to just lie down and play down," declared Gary Gibson, a director for the electoral area land includes the UBC area. "Is that what I'm going to tell my constituents?"

Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan said he is appalled by an expropriation law that doesn't offer compensation and doesn't allow a property owner to sue.

"That's a product of a guilty mind -- knowing that, if they were sued, they would lose," said Corrigan, who is a lawyer. he said. "It means any government, from now on, will feel justified in expropriating without compensation. It's a government abusing -- not exercising -- it's authority."

Vancouver Councillor Suzanne Anton agreed: "Any land that's owned by cities is vulnerable. We're capable of losing anything, anytime."

OK.

Good.

They're mad as heckfire and theyre' not gonna take it anymore.

Right?

Wrong.

....clauses in the (Provincial) legislation declare that "no compensation is payable to the Greater Vancouver Regional District," which now calls itself Metro Vancouver, and that "no legal proceedings for damages or compensation" can be filed against the B.C. government.

According to a Metro Vancouver report, the 22 hectares of land the regional government is losing are worth as much as $219 million*.

(Metro Vancouver's lawyer Sandra) Carter said the B.C. government probably has the constitutional power to enact the law.

So that's it?

We're losing parkland because our civic politicians, don't have the spine to stand up to the Provincial government's bullying?

Looks to me like only two things can possibly make a difference here:

#1 - The civic Pols have to hear from their constituents long and hard that they will pay, and pay dearly, at the ballot box if they just roll over and play dead on this one.**

#2 - The well-heeled folks of Vancouver Point Grey have to make it clear that if this goes through their current sitting MLA, who also just happens to the current Premier of the Province, Gordon Campbell, will pay dearly, not just at the ballot box, but also at the fundraising trough.


OK?

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*Those numbers for the value of the chainsaw ravaged land itself are pretty much what Miro Cernetig of the VSun came up with a few months ago. Me, I did my own calculations to come up with a number that is at least that much again that I'm guessing approximates how much 'The Developers' Bund' stands to make on top of all this.
**Remember, this not a fight against First Nations land claims because there are alternatives that were fully in play before former Vancouver Point Grey MLA fundraiser Marty Zlotnick and his band of Merry Pranksters started a deflector spin campaign last summer that made the previously unthinkable (ie. the loss of urban parkland to even more condos) a fait accompli. And what is the best alternative? Well in my opinion, they would include limited development along the edges of the golf course (ie. reshaping it without destroying it) right here, right now. The result?........ The Musqueam would get their money, UBC would get it's money, and the Public would get to keep it's Park. As for the Developers? Well, they'd likely make oodles of money too - just not quite as much. And why, given that they have absolutely no stake in this whatsoever, should the Developers be the big winners here? Huh?



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Are They Now Removing The Last Strips Of Astroturf From The Golf Course?

FairwaysWin/ParksLose

DevelopmentalHarmonyForAllVille

Last week I linked to a piece from Black Press' Jeff Nagel which made it clear that the heart of the GVRD's Pacific Spirit Park will now be ripped out, stomped on, and handed to developers.

This is a story that has garnered very little (i.e. essentially no) coverage in Lotuslandian's proMedia.

In fact, the only other Googleizable piece I have been able to find is from Carlito Pablo in the Georgia Straight.

Here's the very top of Mr. Nagel's lede:

"Metro Vancouver has lost a court battle against the provincial government over the expropriation of part of Pacific Spirit Regional Park that was handed over to the Musqueam Indian Band in 2008.

Twenty-two hectares (~50 acres) of the park in Vancouver near UBC – worth an estimated $200 million* – was taken from Metro without compensation and transferred to the Musqueam to settle a lengthy court dispute between the band and the province..."

But here's the thing.

Back in the fall of 2007 when Gordon Campbell was still running the province, and the riding of Point Grey where the Park is located, he apparently told his constituents that this would never happen according to a story by Ian Bailey in the Globe:

VANCOUVER — Premier Gordon Campbell says his government will take an extra three months to finalize a deal to cede the University Golf Club in his riding to the urban Musqueam band, according to a participant at the Premier's first meeting with community representatives on the issue.

The deal had been expected to conclude this month, but the Premier told participants at the Friday gathering in his constituency office that the government hopes to resolve it by the end of December.

"It looks like it's just a matter of working on the fine points, but it seems to me it's pretty much a done deal, that the ownership of the golf course is going to be transferred," said Bob Kasting, president of the University Endowment Lands Community Advisory Council, who attended the hour-long meeting at the Premier's invitation.

Mr. Kasting said two other community participants and former Vancouver-Quadra MP Stephen Owen, now an external relations vice-president at the University of British Columbia, were present.

The issue has spurred petitions, angry meetings and even a poll to counter the transfer of the 48-hectare course in Mr. Campbell's Vancouver-Point Grey riding.

Mr. Kasting also said Mr. Campbell flatly rejected the idea of preserving the golf course and giving the Musqueam land elsewhere such as in Pacific Spirit Park.

What's that you ask?

Initially, the Golf Course was supposed to go to the Musqueam for immediate development?

And now, instead, it's a chunk of the Park itself?

What was that all about?

Well....

In my opinion it was an elaborate misdirection play that, assisted by Astroturfing, made the unthinkable first possible, then probable, and finally, a lock.

Essentially, the 'turfing was initiated by Mr. Martin Zlotnik, a man with close longterm ties to the good Mr. Campbell who was also an NPA Parks Board member when he started up a 'grassroots' group called 'Save The Course' that wurlitzered up all kinds of media coverage that allowed him to get public traction with statements like the following:

"The government doesn't want to offend the greater community (by cutting a chunk of land out of the park). It's easier for them to offend the rich golfers who play out at the university golf course."

That zinger was also published in the Globe. The following link instead sends you back to my original post given that the BellGlobeEveryThingElseMedia's subscription wailing wall has been raised in the interim.

Regardless, do you see a pattern here about what gets covered when by the big proMedia boys 'round here?

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Now, if you go looking for evidence of the 'Save The Course' turfing out on the far outer edges of the Google cache you will find nothing.

But if you use the Wayback Machine the echos are still there. And this wee little bit, from the site's 'About Us' page is ringing in my ears:

"Save the Course is an informal grass roots organization formed in response to the BC Provincial Government's intention to give the UBC Golf course to the Musqueam First Nation as part of a land claim settlement.

The Provincial Government's plan was negotiated in secret with no community consultation on the part of either the members of the Musqueam First Nation, the residents of the GVRD, or the users of the UBC Golf course.

Our organization believes that there are far better ways to satisfy the Musqueam claim than to lose this precious community asset.

Within days of the proposed land deal leaking out, more than 2200 people had signed a petition protesting it, the issue had received national media coverage, and sufficient funds were donated to produce this web site and begin a newspaper advertising campaign.

The two spokespersons for Save the Course are Vancouver residents Marty Zlotnik and Dr. Bob Hindmarch."

Just two rootsy keepers of the grass, those two 'Vancouver residents'.

Sure are.

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There is one other thing worth mentioning here.

Which is the fact that lot of money was raised at that golf course for the good Mr. Campbell over the years. Here is Sean Holman's report of the take for the year in question, 2007:

"The provincial government's expected decision to cede the University of British Columbia Golf Course to the Musqueam First Nation has been a source of much controversy in the premier's riding. And Gordon Campbell will have an ideal opportunity to think about that controversy this coming Friday. After all, that's when the course will be playing host to the Liberal's annual Leader's Open Golf Tournament, which raised $262,520.62 for the Liberals last year...."

And it things were still going strong as late as this time last year.

So there is a lot of history for Gordon Campbell and the BC Liberal Party there.

Which takes us to the golf course's current, still active right now, 'History' webpage:

"The province operated University (Golf Course) from 1970-1985. From 1972 - 1977, the government spent 2 million redesigning and upgrading all or parts of 13 holes under the supervision of John Reimer, a Surrey golf course architect. In 1971, the government appointed Mr. Ron Willey as the Professional and the golf course was run more or less from Victoria.

In 1985 a group of Vancouver businessmen headed by Robin Lecky and late Shaughnessy Professional Jack McLaughlin was awarded a 25 year lease. Members of this group included sports commentator and promoter Greg Douglas and his partner Ron Gardner, UBC director of athletics Bob Hindmarch, Former Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club manager Bill Gillespie, engineer and developer Ivan Kraemer and chartered accountant Bill Humphries...."

Very finest of the fine Vancouver 'residents' on that list.

But here's one more, again from the course's 'History' page.

"The lease has since been controlled by David Ho...."

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So....

Above, I noted what gets covered, when, by the big proMedia in this town.

And what does not.

But what I'd really like to know is 'why'.

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*The 200 million dollar number was first floated, at least in the public prints, by he who now helps write government 'reports', Mr. Miro Cernetig.....But then he revised his numbers and came up with the 'b-word'...As in 'Billions'.....Again, I ask, why, exactly, is this story not being covered?

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Was The Heart Just Cut Out Of Pacific Spirit Park?

IgnoreTheCodswallop
LookAtTheMapVille


First, here is the entire press release from the British Columbia Government and Mr. Gordon Campbell's office, the MLA for Point Grey:

RECONCILIATION AGREEMENT REACHED WITH MUSQUEAM

VANCOUVER – The provincial government has negotiated an agreement with the Musqueam Indian Band that, once finalized, will resolve three court cases, provide a framework for economic development and lay the groundwork for reconciliation, announced Premier Gordon Campbell today.

“This agreement is a concrete example of how the Province is building a new relationship with the Musqueam,” said Campbell. “We are taking significant steps towards reconciling long-standing legal issues, creating certainty and ending generations of confrontation and litigation. This is a new chapter in our relations that aims to provide long-term benefits and improve the lives of the Musqueam people for future generations.”

Once finalized, the proposed Reconciliation, Settlement and Benefits Agreement will provide full and final settlement of outstanding litigation related to the 2003 sale of the University of British Columbia Golf Course lands; the relocation of the River Rock casino to Richmond’s Bridgepoint lands; and remediation for environmental damage to the Celtic Lands in South Vancouver.

“The Musqueam people welcome this landmark settlement agreement, negotiated in good faith and reflecting a new level of co-operation between the Band and the Province,” said Musqueam Indian Band chief Ernie Campbell. “The Supreme Court of Canada has recognised Musqueam’s legal right to be consulted and accommodated regarding the use of lands which fall within their traditional territory. The leadership of the Province should be applauded for respecting this ruling and working with the Band towards this fair and honourable negotiated settlement.”

The agreement includes a cash payment of $20.3 million and transfers the following lands:

• University Golf Course lands (59 hectares).
• Bridgepoint Casino lands (seven hectares).
• Two parcels currently in Pacific Spirit Regional Park:
• A 13.8 hectare parcel adjacent to the Musqueam reserve, known as the Triangle lands.
• An 8.5 hectare parcel located beyond the western end of the University Golf Course, known as Block F, with zoning similar to that on the adjacent property.

The existing leases on the UBC Golf Course and Bridgepoint will be honoured and transferred to the Musqueam under this agreement.

Recognizing the significance of these lands to the public and area-residents, the agreement ensures that the UBC golf course area be used for golf course purposes for nearly eight decades until 2083. It would also establish 7.3 hectares of the UBC Golf Course lands as a park accessible to the public and maintain 1.2 hectares of Block F as a public park.

“Achieving mutually beneficial agreements with First Nations living within an urban context is challenging, particularly when those agreements involve land, which is in very limited supply,” said Michael de Jong, Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation.

“The substantial land component included within this agreement supports the long-term resolution of the land questions with the Musqueam.”

The agreement is expected to be finalized by the end of the calendar year.

-30-

Done?

All seems to pretty much as originally advertised, right?

And they've even managed to Save (most of) The Golf Course until 2083.

So, pretty good 'compromise' deal all around, right?

Except.....

Go back and focus on the following:

• Two parcels currently in Pacific Spirit Regional Park:
• A 13.8 hectare parcel adjacent to the Musqueam reserve, known as the Triangle lands.
• An 8.5 hectare parcel located beyond the western end of the University Golf Course, known as Block F, with zoning similar to that on the adjacent property.

Have you got that?

It is not just 14 hectares that doesn't affect the 'integrity' of the Park (ie. the triangle lands).

It's also includes block of 9 hectares just west of the Golf Course!!!!

And that block, Block F, is right smack in the heart of the Park.

Didn't hear anything about that during all the 'Save the Course' stuff and the codswalloping and the leaking that began a few days now did you?

Regardless, if you believe in Parks for the Public in Perpetuity*, there is nothing to feel at the moment but outrage.

Pure and simple.

OK?

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*Which are real P3's for everyone.
And I don't give a hoot-in-heckfire that there will be a 1.2 hectare set aside for a 'park' from Block F. We've seen that happen before out on the Western edge of Lotusland, and it means the end of a forest. Just check out the chunk of decreptitude that was left behind out by the latest highrise that was recently built next to Thunderbird Stadium on the rapidly disappearing UBC lands. Why are we destroying everything that makes Vancouver beautiful?



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How Many Golf Courses Does Lotusland Need Anyway?

PaveParadisePutUpACondo
Lots!Ville

Apparently, the rationale for cutting out the heart of Pacific Spirit Park is to allow the Musqueam to generate revenue right here right now while saving a private golf course from development for 75 years.

Sure thing.

Except,when you look at the image above, you've got to ask yourself.....

How many private golf courses does the creme de la creme of Point Grey need anyway?

Sheesh.

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Image courtesy the fine folks at the Pacific Spirit Park Society.
Next Up: How UBC Golf Course could be be 'selectively' developed right here, right now, without destroying either the private fairways or the public forests. After all, it's not as if golf courses have never been developed this way before.


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Is Something Strange Happening In Pacific Spirit Park?

AllTheLittlePeopleThatFit
MagicallyRealVille


This just in.......

Our reporter covering the Pacific Spirit Park beat, 'littler e.', has just filed a story about how she and her friend 'm.' discovered something more exciting than a million Jonas brothers living in the salal just off the Swordfern trail.

And we're not sure exactly how to put this but, well, littler e. and m. both insist that what they saw were.......

Faeries!

*****

The exact location of these magical wonders is not clear given that, apparently, the beat frequencies of faerie wings generate multi-focal post-dynamic Doppler deflector shields that block all signals of a GPS-type nature.

But that didn't stop littler e. and m. from snapping the photo above during a stakeout early this morning.

Forensic image experts at the last remaining laboratory in the soon to be dismantled NCE complex on nearby South Campus have refused to confirm the authenticity of the image. However, when we managed to reach head pixellation expert extraordinare Dr. Phillipa Derriere she seemed to have a scientifically rigorous and plausible explanation for the bizarre brightness of the object in question's brightness.

"Apparently, it was caused by the excitements of two nine year old girls seeing Les Faeries, up close and personal, for the first time ever," exclaimed a visibly moved Dr. Derriere.


Unfortunately, neither the MLA for West Point Grey, Mr. Gordon Campbell, or local Parks Board Commissioner and golfer, Mr. Marty Zlotnick, could be reached for comment.

Pity.


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How Much Is The Heart Of A Park Worth?

Condo-CrazyCrematorialBonfireOfTheInsanities
Lotuslandia

As we have been bleating for sometime now, it was the very public heart of Pacific Spirit Park that was served-up on a skewer as a sop to 'save' a very private golf course on the University Endowment Lands on the far Western edge of Lotuslandia.

But just how much is the heart of an urban forest worth these days anyway?

Well, Miro Cernetig of the Vancouver Sun takes a stab at figuring it out:

Let's forget the value of the university golf course, for now, which is generally the focus of what appears to be a $1-billion-plus land deal. Instead consider the potential worth of a few of the other, smaller packages of land the province will transfer to the Musqueam, likely by the new year. (Warning: there's a lot of numbers going forward, but it's worth the effort if you want to get a sense of what the province's "new relationship" with aboriginals is going to cost.)

First let's take a look at the 8.5 hectares that will be cut out of Pacific Spirit Park, just west of the UBC golf course, and transferred to the Musqueam as "fee simple" land, just like any other real estate owned by a private citizen or company. Under the agreement, 7.3 hectares of this land will be available for the same sort of multi-family developments in the surrounding neighbourhoods in the university's endowment lands.

This translates into the Musqueam being given 1.139 million square feet of what developers call "developable" land, enough space to build about 2,000 apartments.

Now, like any land developer, the Musqueam First Nation must open their chequebook, or secure financing, before they can capitalize on this real estate.

To prime the land for development, the Musqueam would have to cut down the old trees, grade the land and service it with roads, sewers and other infrastructure. That would likely cost between $15,000 to $30,000 per dwelling, "or door," estimate developers. So let's split the difference and say it would cost the Musqueam $25,000 per unit, or about $50 million to prepare the land for condos or housing.

But then the Musqueam could sell the land to developers for about $200 a square foot, or about $225 million. That would be a profit of about $175 million.

Yes, you read that right - $175 million!

Now, it's important to point out that Mr. Cernetig actually leads with the following, about who will make all the money of this hunk of precious forest-lined myocardium:

If you want to see the people who now stand to make it rich in Vancouver's real estate development, don't look for the usual wheeler-dealers in expensive suits and flashy cars. These days you should check out the men, women and children of the Musqueam First Nation, long a pocket of poverty smack in the heart of one of the city's richest neighbourhoods.

Which is at least half true, I suppose, as far as it goes.

And I do not begrudge the Musqueam a penny of it.

What I find particularly infuriating, however, is that all of that money could have just as easily been generated from a strip along the edge of the (non-public, non-park, fully-private) golf course right here, right now.

And then there is something else to consider in the 'wheeler-dealer/suit/flash' department as well.

Which is the fact that developers are currently getting $600 a square foot (or more) for condos on the UEL and the surrounding (also formerly public) UBC lands as well.

So, from that, here's a little simple math....... $600 - $200 (purchase price) - $200 (development costs) = $200 potential profit for each and everyone of those buildable square feet that Mr. Cernetig describes above.

Thus, it might also be worth considering which provincial political party is a favorite of those very same wheeler-dealers in the suits with the flash who are likely to make just as much green, if not more, than the Musqueam for absolutely no good reason, historical or otherwise, at all.

OK?

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Image is a stand of maturing second growth cedar deep within the wounded heart of the Park on a recent sunny Saturday afternoon.

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Vancouver Sun Says Municipal & Provincial Govts Should Negotiate....

....Over Expropriation of Pacific Spirit Park's Heart

From the VSun's somewhat schizophrenic Friday Apr 25th, 2008 editorial titled 'Musqueam Land Transfer Lawsuit Is A Waste Of Taxpayers' Money':

First they lay out the facts:

Metro Vancouver has decided to launch a constitutional challenge against the backroom deal Premier Gordon Campbell negotiated last November to hand over large tracts of land to settle lawsuits brought by the Musqueam First Nation.

Under the agreement, the Musqueam band was given two parcels of land in Pacific Spirit Park as well as the University Golf Course lands and the site of the River Rock Casino in Richmond -- in all, about 88 hectares -- along with $20.3 million in cash. In exchange, the Musqueam agreed to drop its three lawsuits and allow the golf course to operate until 2083.

Within days of the disclosure of the plan, Metro Vancouver's parks committee raised objections to the park-lands portion of the transaction, 22 hectares worth more than $200 million, citing the importance of preserving parks for the public.

Then they tell us how the Provincial government did it, and the egregious steps they took to make sure that the Municipal Governments involved wouldn't be able to do anything to stop it.

When the provincial government passed the Musqueam Reconciliation, Settlement and Benefits Agreement Implementation Act, the die was cast for confrontation. The legislation gave the province the authority to seize the land, adding that "no compensation is payable to the Greater Vancouver Regional District . . . and no legal proceedings for damages or compensation" can be filed against the B.C. government.

Then they tell us how the Municipal governments are responding.

Metro Vancouver's board of directors said on Monday that it will ask the court to decide whether the province has the constitutional authority to expropriate land, specifically regional government assets, to settle aboriginal title and lands claims which, it argues, fall under federal jurisdiction.

Then they tell us that the Municipal government has good reason to be upset, particularly given the precedent this expropriation sets and because the Provincial government has said one thing and done the exact opposite on this issue:

It's easy to sympathize with Metro Vancouver's position. After all, when it took office, the government assured municipal authorities that regional parkland was not on the table for settlement. Now it appears that it is, and that should raise concerns in every municipality in British Columbia.

Then, after telling us at some length how badly the Provincial government has treated the Municipal governments on this and a host of other issues, the VSun finishes up with the following :

What is needed to resolve this impasse is not a court ruling, but rather a political accommodation. The only way to reach one is for the parties to sit down together and work it out.

But here's the thing......

Why would anyone (ie. the Municipal Gov'ts) in their right mind sit down and 'work things out' with someone (ie. the Provincial Gov't) that has already proven that they will act with duplicity.

After all, anything 'worked out' with someone who can't be trusted to do what they say they will do is worth less than zero.

Way less.

OK?

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Pacific Spirit Park Development Decision

AllTheRootsThatDon'tQuiteFit

GrassVille

Here's the lede from Jeff Nagle of Black Press:

"Metro Vancouver has lost a court battle against the provincial government over the expropriation of part of Pacific Spirit Regional Park that was handed over to the Musqueam Indian Band in 2008.

Twenty-two hectares of the park in Vancouver near UBC – worth an estimated $200 million – was taken from Metro without compensation and transferred to the Musqueam to settle a lengthy court dispute between the band and the province.

Mayors from Metro's member cities feared the land raid set a possible precedent for the province to confiscate other regional or civic parks or public lands to satisfy aboriginal demands or to negotiate future treaties.

Metro lawyers had argued the province violated the Local Government Act when it expropriated the park land without adequately notifying or consulting the regional district.

The B.C. Supreme Court previously rejected Metro's court challenge, finding there is no legal force behind principles contained in the act that require notice and consultation for provincial actions directly affecting regional district interests...."

Which, of course, means that once again the Astroturf Layers have won.

In this case one of those that did much of the carpet laying turns out be a former bagman for Gordon Campbell and, get this, a former (ie. defeated) Vancouver Park Commissioner.

I've written a lot about this previously. A good place to start, if you are interested in the backstory, is here.

The only way you can find any actual online trace of the original fake grass, however, is through the Wayback Machine, as all signs of it, even at the outer edges of the Google cache have been, apparently, scrubbed.

Sheesh.

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And, while this was set up to make it impossible to argue about in most of the mainstream proMedia given the aboriginal connection, there was in my opinion, a middle ground that could have saved this invaluable chunk of the park....Only trouble was, again in my opinion, the developers who will get the biggest windfall in all of this may have made a little less money....

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Is Pacific Spirit Park Really Safe?

TimeTimeTimeTimeTimeTimeTickin'InGord'sHead
He'sNoOrdinaryJoeVille


Apparently, according to someone who was there, British Columbia's Premier Gordon Campbell will not swap parkland for fairways on the Vancouver's far-western edge.

It's all detailed in this very solid yet succinct piece by Ian Bailey in yesterday's Globe and Mail:

VANCOUVER — Premier Gordon Campbell says his government will take an extra three months to finalize a deal to cede the University Golf Club in his riding to the urban Musqueam band, according to a participant at the Premier's first meeting with community representatives on the issue.

The deal had been expected to conclude this month, but the Premier told participants at the Friday gathering in his constituency office that the government hopes to resolve it by the end of December.

"It looks like it's just a matter of working on the fine points, but it seems to me it's pretty much a done deal, that the ownership of the golf course is going to be transferred," said Bob Kasting, president of the University Endowment Lands Community Advisory Council, who attended the hour-long meeting at the Premier's invitation.

Mr. Kasting said two other community participants and former Vancouver-Quadra MP Stephen Owen, now an external relations vice-president at the University of British Columbia, were present.

The issue has spurred petitions, angry meetings and even a poll to counter the transfer of the 48-hectare course in Mr. Campbell's Vancouver-Point Grey riding.

Mr. Kasting also said Mr. Campbell flatly rejected the idea of preserving the golf course and giving the Musqueam land elsewhere such as in Pacific Spirit Park.

Now assuming that Mr. Kasting's comments accurately reflect the Premier's statements, and we have no reason to believe that they do not, it is still important to remember that, as Rafe Mair likes to say, six months is an eternity in politics.

Which means that three months is at least a lifetime.

Or, put another way, if you have the time, the money and the juice, you can play a whole lotta golf and do whole lotta political wheeling' and dealing in ninety days.

Which is just the way Mr. Marty Zlotnik, who is one of the very fine folks Westside folks with a love of golf and considerable juice, views Mr. Campbell's sudden 'delay':

Mr. Zlotnik said earlier this week that the delay in resolving the issue could be good news for opponents of the plan.

"Any kind of delay gives the Save the Course group a tremendous opportunity to build public support," he said, adding that a groundswell of opposition could make Mr. Campbell reconsider the alternative site.

"Maybe public pressure will make [this option] available," he said.

Public pressure?

To destroy a park to save a golf course?

Well, maybe in the grey poupon and creme-filled world that is Point Grey.

But in the rest of the real world, well, we're not so sure.


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Has COPE Given In To The Creme Swingers?

CompromiseSchmompromise
PrecedentVille


Apparently, even a COPE (read "progressive") Parks Board Commissioner here in Lotusland has fallen under the spell of the Fairway Mafia on the Pacific Spirit Park give away issue .

Vancouver park board commissioner Loretta Woodcock says the deal is a compromise for all involved, but says it is better than what had been proposed by the 'save the course' committee which wanted to give the musqueam 120 acres of pacific spirit park.

While a third of that is still purportedly included in the deal, Woodcock is hopeful future land claims will exclude precious green space in urban areas.

Look.

I know Ms. Woodcock has fought the good fight on many issues.

But this time around, I think it is important to ask - Why?

Why would Ms. Woodcock be 'hopeful' of such an outcome in the future given the precedent that is being set here?


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Is Any Park In This Province Safe?

Forests(Not)Forever
TheLawOf(Un?)IntendedConsequencesVille



Well.

Apparently a deal has been struck.

And it looks like the good Mr. Campbell is giving up University Golf Course AND a chunk of the Park.

A deal has been reached that will see the Musqueam First Nation Band given the University Golf Course, millions of dollars and a portion of Pacific Spirit Park, CBC News has learned.

The deal includes the 50-hectare University Golf Course, located on University of British Columbia endowment lands, 14 hectares of land from Pacific Spirit Park, which is adjacent to the current Musqueam location, plus millions in cash, sources said Wednesday night.

In return, the Musqueam have agreed to keep the course open for up to 40 years.


Funny, don't you think, how no one is talking about whether or not the Park will get a grace period from the Developers' chainsaws.

And even more importantly - does not this set a very dangerous precedent?

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Sorry to be so cynical (again), but the old olfactory system is sending signals, perhaps truly odiferous, perhaps phantom, in nature. As a result we seem to be catching a whiff of deflector spin in the air that may or may not be emanating from the swingers of the creme.


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Coolin' Up Everybody...

AllTheYoungDudes
HereIsSomeNewsVille

In the past, we've called this feature 'Coolin' Up The Old Guy', in which we try to impart some of the musical hippness factor gleaned from the recommendations of the young kids in the lab and elsewhere.

All of which has resulted in finds like 'Sons and Daughters', 'Magnetic Fields' and even 'Julia Nunes'.

But here's 'the thing'.

Which is that, no matter what, and no matter how good the goods, if you are of a certain age of middleness you will almost invariably receive raised quizzical/ironical/condescending eyebrows from those very same kids when you try to take stuff back to them that you think they just might actually, you know, well, hopefully, like.

So, in the spirit of all things timeless, we bring you the antidote for all of that from one of our old, and Bigger E's current, favorites - Jill Sobule (the second verse is the best one to soothe a soul in crisis, real or imagined):





Now there are all kinds of great things about Ms. Sobule, and tons of it can be found at her website.

Here are just two of those things that we really, really like....

First, a recent live show from Joe's Pub that can be downloaded for free (if you want) in any format you like (the song in question, 'Nothin' To Prove', is track 3).

Second, the fact that Jill and her friends have said F.U., bigtime, to the record industry and raised enough money so that she can both record AND promote her next record all on her own.

Now that is cool, no matter how you slice, dice, or age it.

OK?


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Coming soon.....Fairies?....... In Pacific Spirit Park?!.......

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Did Shane Simpson Slip On The Codswallop?

ForgetTheCodswallop
LookAtTheMapPartIIVille

OK........

There is an interesting passage in the British Columbia government's press release regarding the Pacific Park Developer-Jacking that took place today as an adjunct to the land claims settlement made with the Musqueam Nation.

And it goes like this:

Recognizing the significance of these lands to the public and area-residents, the agreement ensures that the UBC golf course area be used for golf course purposes for nearly eight decades until 2083. It would also establish 7.3 hectares of the UBC Golf Course lands as a park accessible to the public and maintain 1.2 hectares of Block F as a public park.


Now, we figure that it was this bit of 'zero-sum hectarage endgame jujitsu' that led Opposition member Shane Simpson to reportedly make the following statement:

The NDP's Shane Simpson is happy the public doesn't lose parkland over all. "It looks like that piece of parkland that's been earmarked for development will be replaced with an equivalent piece of parkland." Simpson, however, is upset the government hasn't said if other public parks are part of treaty negotiations that are underway. The Musqueam also become the new landlords for the River Rock Casino.


Which is fair enough, as far as it goes.

But have a look at the map above.

The red arrow points to the chunk of parkland that will be turned into condos.

It is in the heart of Pacific Spirit Park. Additionally, there are trails that run through that isthmus of forest that is sandwiched between UBC's family housing, U-Hill High School, and the Golf Course that are the ONLY connection between the much larger Northern and Southern segments of the park.

And once that forest is gone - well?

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There's something else to consider here also - The Developer-Jacked Land directly abuts Acadia Rd as far as we can tell....so the infrastructure is already there, ready to be tapped into as soon as, if not before, the trees come down (which is what happened to a development on the adjacent , and much smaller, Block G which was originally designed by the former government that Mr. Simpson was a part of to be affordable housing, but which morphed into something else entirely under the jujitsu-hand of Mr. Campbell's government (ie. there's precedent for this sort of thing already).


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This Day In Harperland...The Great Coast Guard Base Swindle (ctd)...

TheCostOfEverything
TheValueOfNothingVille


In which an un-bylined Province 'Staff Reporter' rewrites Jas Johal's copy.

And I thought the HuffPo was bad.

Now....

If this selling of all the land thing is for real there is likely, as Chris Montgomery speculated (see comments here), a 'bundling' component to it.

Which means that the First Nations may be part of the play. In fact, there is actually a whiff of that in the original Johal/Meiszner story as well as the Province's (allegedly) purloined piece.

Which might sound crazy given the rumours that the Harperlandians keep a copy of the Flanagan Rules on their bedside tables at all times.

But the thing is, making First Nations an offer they can't refuse to facilitate a billion dollar condo-jacking has happened in Lotusland before.

In fact it is happening right now.

OK?


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I'll have more on the cutting out of Pacific Spirit Park's heart up soon....Why?....Because it looks to me like they are getting ready to unleash the bulldozers (or at the very least, the surveyors)...Gosh...Wonder what the big hurry is.

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The CBGB Theory Of City Planning...In Lotusland?

AllTheKids

ThatFitVille


I've got to admit that I find what Josh Feit, writing in PubliCola, the hyperlocal Seattle journal of politics and culture, has to say about what might be the best way for that town's downtown core to revitalize itself pretty appealing.

And, get this, it has nothing to do with new building and/or new housing starts, at least at first:

...The first step to reviving (Seattle's) downtown isn’t new housing, it starts with embracing the grim commercial real estate market, where vacancies recently increased from 22 percent to 24 percent...

 {snip}

...And as rents drop, the weirdos, rather than the big employers, move in. And by weirdos, I mean: creative-class, art-centric, small-scale retail...

{snip}

...Call it the CBGB theory of city planning. During the sluggish mid-to-late 1970s, New York City’s famously abandoned and spent Lower East Side neighborhood, where CBGB set up shop on Bowery, attracted waves of bohemians who turned the neighborhood into the epicenter of an urban shock wave that would change cities into magnetic destinations for brains, youth, talent, and commerce...

But what about here in Lotusland?

Could something like that, which certainly seemed to have happened in Kitsilano fifty plus years ago, happen here, in the here and now?

Somehow, I doubt it given that land is worth so much that there doesn't seem to be any room, either financial or three dimensional, for the weirdo first step to take hold before big money-backed gentrification stomps down, hard, on any and all Vancouver neighbourhoods.

Case in point....We live near a strip of Fraser in the 20's that went from dilapidated to glittering seemingly overnight.

And if we have no room for the weirdos and the kids, what the heck will we do then?


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And then, of course, there is the bizarre situation out on the pointiest of the grey points out on our western-most edge where sizeable chunks of land ready-made for the stomping have suddenly been made available...This includes the Jericho Lands and what was once the heart of Pacific Spirit Park...But another chunk of terra firms that you may not have thought about recently is what used to be old Safeway site on 10th Avenue just east of the Gates of The West...The City Duo folks reported on the latest public meeting about the coming development of that site recently...Here.

And speaking of the lazy, crazy, relatively short-lived, endless summer days of Kitsilano's spin as Haight Ashbury, North...Eve Lazarus, whose blog is new to the Crawl over on the left side of the page for non-palm-based device users, recently had a post on the 'Peace House' on Pt. Grey Road where the likes of the Grateful Dead once hung out...What's really crazy about all that is, though it seems, in retrospect, like they are hugely separated in every way imaginable, including across time, the Peace House's most famous days took place only a decade before all that became infamous at the punk house located cross-townish at Gore and Union.

Buried ear worm in the end of post round-ups?...You bet!

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