FifteenPercentTurnoutIsHigh?
WhoKnewVille
There was a by-election in the City of Vancouver on Saturday for two vacated councillor seats.
The results were very clearly progressive as Sean Orr of COPE and Lucy Maloney of One City won going away, garnering twice as many votes as the next candidate on the ladder, Colleen Hardwick of TEAM.
Of course, this is being viewed as a repudiation of Mr. Sims and his ABC colleagues by the CorpMedia coverage, such as it is.
Doubly interestingly, it looks like it was actually tenants flexing their muscle as the rights of those folks were a big part of both Mr. Orr's and Ms. Maloney's campaign.
Interestingly, it does not appear to have been a vote against the Broadway plan because, if it had been, Ms. Hardwick and her running mate from Team, Mr. Abbott would have done much better.
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The turnout was higher than expected which resulted in long lines at polling stations across the city...In our family of four everyone, all of whom voted separately at different stations, had to wait more than an hour...The underestimation of the number of polling stations and polling staff required led to a public apology from the city manager...Despite all that, I'm happy to report that the staff at the Kensington Community Ctr. processed us very quickly, efficiently and good-naturedly late in the afternoon on Saturday, nine hours into the process (which, given the volume meant they must have been absolutely exhausted when the polls finally closed at 8 pm).
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WhoKnewVille
There was a by-election in the City of Vancouver on Saturday for two vacated councillor seats.
The results were very clearly progressive as Sean Orr of COPE and Lucy Maloney of One City won going away, garnering twice as many votes as the next candidate on the ladder, Colleen Hardwick of TEAM.
Of course, this is being viewed as a repudiation of Mr. Sims and his ABC colleagues by the CorpMedia coverage, such as it is.
Doubly interestingly, it looks like it was actually tenants flexing their muscle as the rights of those folks were a big part of both Mr. Orr's and Ms. Maloney's campaign.
Interestingly, it does not appear to have been a vote against the Broadway plan because, if it had been, Ms. Hardwick and her running mate from Team, Mr. Abbott would have done much better.
______
The turnout was higher than expected which resulted in long lines at polling stations across the city...In our family of four everyone, all of whom voted separately at different stations, had to wait more than an hour...The underestimation of the number of polling stations and polling staff required led to a public apology from the city manager...Despite all that, I'm happy to report that the staff at the Kensington Community Ctr. processed us very quickly, efficiently and good-naturedly late in the afternoon on Saturday, nine hours into the process (which, given the volume meant they must have been absolutely exhausted when the polls finally closed at 8 pm).
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5 comments:
Sadly, something was just not right with this election and an investigation is needed as the long line ups suggest American style voter suppression took place.
That being said, the two people elected will have little impact on city council, despite what is being said.
Those running under the ABC banner, certainly fared poorly, which is testament to opposition of the Broadway plan.
Like all municipal elections, follow the money.
I can understand why TEAM didn't do so well. They are still seen as the remnant of the old NPA, and their platform appears to have been drafted by the Kitsilano Coalition. Those of us in East Van have very little sympathy for them.
GF--
The whiff of the NIMBY, no?
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More like a Reek?
Two people might not have too much of an impact on voting when council meets but its a start. Two active and organized politicans can do a lot of work to attract more votes in the next election. Don't forget, COPE back in the day had one Councillor, Harry Ranking, and slowly but surely more were elected. We may see a shift once again. If I recall correctly Bruce Erikson was the second COPE member to be elected to city council. Eventually Libby Davis, Jim Green, ...................oh to see an interesting group like them on council once more before I exit stage left. it was entertaining........
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