What, Exactly, Does The Chief Financial Officer Of The City Of Vancouver Do Everyday?

WillSheStayOrWillSheGo?
CFOVille

Depending on who's doing the talking, Ms. Estelle Lo either is, was, or again soon will be, the 'Chief Financial Officer' for the City of Vancouver.

Why all the confusion and interest in Ms. Lo these days?

Well, according to Gary Mason's original Millenium/Olympic Village/CondoKing/Bailout story from yesterday, it is because, as the City of Vancouver's CFO:

"Ms. Lo tendered her resignation recently after months of apparently expressing concerns the city might be assuming too much financial risk in an effort to meet its obligation to get the Olympic housing built on time."

And since then Ms. Lo has become the apple in Gregor Robertson's eye as well.

****

But just what was it, exactly, that Ms. Lo was doing for the City of Vancouver before she did, or did not, resign?

Was she a Palinesque-type figurehead?

.....Hardly.

Was she a low-level staffer who became disenchanted while pushing paper around her desk?

......Not at all.

Was she running a large and vitally important group within the City of Vancouver's elaborate bureaucracy?

......Bingo!

Not to put too fine a point on it, here is Ms. Lo's past, and still present (as of Nov 7/08), job description, straight from the City of Vancouver's website:

Estelle Lo is General Manager, Director of Finance and Chief Financial Officer. She has overall responsibility for service delivery of the following services.

• Information Technology
• Real Estate and Property Management
• Financial Operations (including Budget Services, Financial Services, Financial Planning and Treasury Services)
• Facilities Design and Management
• Business Support Services
• Risk Management Services

And here is the organizational chart of the fine folks at City Hall who work and/or used to work under Ms. Lo's direct supervision (click on image to enlarge):



My point in providing you with all of this information?

Well, if Ms. Lo was, indeed, voicing concerns about the financial risks of bailing out Millenium with our Millions for 'months' as Mr. Mason mentioned, this is no trivial matter.

Because, according the City's own website, this was THE person who was in the know about all of the financial aspects of the Olympic Village operation.

So, if Ms Lo's voice really was dissenting and really was ignored......

What, exactly, is that telling us about how this thing was really handled, 'In-Camera' or otherwise?

OK?


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I was going to tag this post at the top with the phrase 'Will She Stay Or Will She Blow?' (as in WhistleBLOW), but decided against it. After all, I am in not in any way attempting to be disrespectful of Ms. Lo here, especially given that, based on the evidence so far, it looks like she could very well turn out to be the people's hero on this one.


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Millenium's 'Enviable' SouthEast False Creek/Olympic Village 'Position'

AreWeBeingPlayedForSaps?
PonziVille


Yup.

Millenium, thanks to 100 million dollars of our money, is an 'enviable position' with it's Olympic Village/South East False Creek Condo Development.

And you don't have to take my word for it.

Why?

Because they are actually the words of Millenium's Mr. Shahram Malek as quoted by The Tyee's Monte Paulsen (in a very, very good round-up piece by the way):

Millennium Development Corporation director Shahram Malek told The Tyee Vancouver's taxpayers are not at risk (in the South East False Creek Development).

"Any money that may have been loaned is fully secured by the real estate and by other assets as well," Malek said in a brief telephone interview. "There is absolutely no exposure for the taxpayer. None."

Malek emphasized that the project is on schedule.

"I won't say there haven't been challenges. There have been a lot of challenges. But we've overcome them all," Malek said. "I have complete confidence the Olympic Village will be handed over to VANOC on or before Oct. 31, 2009.".........

{snippety doo-dah}

Malek said Millennium is in an "enviable position" at Southeast False Creek.

"We can take our time," he said. "We have the loans in place for the full project. Those loans are not contingent on pre-sales.... We have two to three years to sell the units. And those are our finest units, closest to the waterfront," he said.

So.......

Have you got all that?

First - it would appear, based not on what a candidate seeking an advantage in a mayoral race is saying, but instead based on what a Director for the Developer is saying, that we the people of Vancouver are laying out $100 million dollars to help keep said Developer in an 'enviable position' to sell luxury Condos that we, the great majority of the people layin' out the large, could never ourselves afford to buy into.

Second - also based on what the Developer is saying, it would appear that this 'enviable position' could actually be achieved without our money, (ie. money that could have instead been used to build affordable housing on that South East False Creek site from the get-go) because the Developer could just go out and raise the money with 'pre-sales' like they usually do.

Which begs the question......

Why haven't they done so?

Raised all the money with pre-sales, I mean.

Could it be that they can't sell them?

****

You want my honest opinion?

I think, based on the available evidence so far, that we, the people of Vancouver, have been forced (without any knowledge of having done so) to pump liquidity into a Ponzi scheme for wealthy speculators that has already collapsed.

Because if had not, those luxury Condos would already be sold.

Which just might explain why the backers of Millenium's money-men, Fortress Investments, have already, apparently, bailed on the scheme.

OK?

_____
And everybody's favorite not-so crazy Uncle, not to mention Tennis Correspondent par excellence, Mr. David Berner, is hopping mad.....with very good reason. Furthermore, Mr. B., like me, also wonders why it was only Gary Mason, alone amongst local scribes, that jumped on this story.....

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Was Vancouver's Absent Director Of Finance The Millenium Whistler Blower?

AllTheSecrecyThatFits
OlympicVillageVille

Well, if she wasn't before, it looks like Gregor Robertson want's her to be so in the future.

As in next week.

It's all there in Mr. Robertson's open letter to his chief rival in Vancouver's mayoral race, Mr. Peter Ladner:

Friday, November 7, 2008
Open letter to Peter Ladner From Gregor Robertson

Dear Councillor Ladner,

When the campaign for mayor began, you and I both promised an open debate about ideas in the best interest of the people of Vancouver. In these tough financial times, and with serious issues like homelessness, affordable housing and crime facing our City, there must be an end to the secrecy that continues to surround the $100 million loan of taxpayer dollars to a private firm, the Millennium Development, to complete the Olympic Village project. This comes on the heels of a loan guarantee to Fortress Investments, a Millenium investor.

The overwhelming perception that important financial information is being covered up erodes public confidence and raises many questions. This must change and efforts to restore confidence must be made swiftly.

It is essential for Vancouver taxpayers that you immediately answer five key questions as a start:

1. Will you support Vision Vancouver’s proposal for an emergency, open council meeting next week to have a full public report on the financial situation?
2. Will you agree to invite Estelle Lo, the Director of Finance, to this meeting to provide her analysis on the financial implications for the City of Vancouver without prejudice to her position?
3. When did you learn that Estelle Lo, the Director of Finance, reportedly had serious concerns about a loan to Millennium Development and when were you intending to report those concerns to the public?
4. As Chair of Vancouver’s Finance and Budget Committee will you agree to an open and transparent process to look at the City’s financial security with regards to the Millennium Development project?
5. And lastly, will you support Vision Vancouver’s proposal that an independent auditor, with the confidence of all councillors, conduct a proper review of the financial situation and provide independent recommendations on a sound financial way forward for the City?

The citizens of Vancouver should expect no less than full and open disclosure of how every one of their tax dollars are spent - let alone $100 million of them. I look forward to your prompt reply to this letter.

Sincerely,

Gregor Robertson

And don't forget, during these the last days of the doomed administration of Smilin' Sammy Sullivan, councillor Ladner is also serving as the chair of the City of Vancouver's 'Finance Committee'.

Looks like somebody has a whole lot of 'xplainin' to do.

____
This morning CKNW was reporting that the absent Director of Finance is not actually in Lotusland, but instead is overseas in Hong Kong....

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Millenium On The Ropes On The Island Too....

SolidAsARock
OfSwissCheeseVille

Well, whaddya know.

It turns out that Millenium, the developer that the City of Vancouver is getting ready to hand $100 million dollars to, is also in trouble in Nanaimo.

Andrew Macleod of The Tyee has that story:

Millennium Development is under contract to build a 170-room hotel in Nanaimo as part of a complex public-private partnership that includes a conference centre, two arenas and a museum. Nanaimo city manager Jerry Berry said the company has “missed a variety” of starting deadlines for the hotel.

“It would have been our aspiration the hotel was well under construction [by now] and nearing completion,” said Berry. Representatives of the company were at a design panel meeting last night, he said, and still say the hotel will be finished by the 2010 deadline set in the contract with the city. “That's getting to be seen to be difficult if they don't start soon.”

After the November 15 municipal election, he said, the new city council will have to decide whether or not to find Millennium in default on its contract.......

Sure sounds like a group I would want my City Councillors to make a secret deal with so that they could fork over the cash to help them keep building Condos instead of rebuilding six or eight Trout Lake Community Centers.

How about you?

_____
And don't forget, Millenium has been financed in large part by a very fine group called Fortress Investments which itself very nearly went belly-up recently in Whistler when they over-extended themselves after buying everybody's favorite ski hill ponzifier Intrawest. So, again, I ask you.....is this a group we want to be giving secret eight figure deals to, 'in camera' or otherwise?

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It's all In The Camera....

Dancin'InTheDark
VancouverVille

Peter Ladner on with The Watercarrier Fri morning....

The secrets behind the 100 million dollar Millenium bailout are a secret.

Why?

Because they were made 'in camera' (ie. behind closed doors)

And why why were they made behind closed doors?

Because they are a secret.

Oh.

And one other thing.

Secrecy protects the public.

And one other, other thing, at least according to Mr. Ladner.....Gregor Robertson raised money for his leadership campaign; therefore he is evil....or some such thing....

_____
Oh, and just to clarify..... Mr. Good -a secret deal for an eight figure bailout of a bankrupt developer who was given a sweetheart deal by the adminstration of which the person you are allegedly 'grilling' is an integral member is NOT the same thing as the City negotiating to buy 3 acres of land in Kerrisdale. OK?
Oh, and one other, other, other thing Mr. Good and Mr. Baldrey.....The 100 million dollars that we are on the hook for actually matters to Vancouverites....the $173 TransLink fine does not....So stop the false equivalency crap, OK?....This is a mess....That is why we are mad....Ask the absent CFO... What, exactly are we on the hook for?
Oh, and one last other, other, other thing....re: the massive $400 million dollar Convention Center overrun....Who oversaw that bit of content consulting (and was actually, gasp!, fired for it)?....and who, pre-content consulting, hired the present City Manager who 'allegedly' has had some problems with the currently absent City CFO? We have questions, real questions for all of these very fine folks about how this deal was set up, which is where the consulting should occur OUT IN THE OPEN BEFORE they go behind closed doors to make the deal...so why the heckfire don't you ask them! The questions, I mean. I mean, is it any wonder that Gary Mason is the ONLY MSM guy that gets any scoops in this town (and in saying that I'm putting Mr. Holman in a different town)?


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Sammy Screams Leak!

ThePublic'sRightToNOTKnow
SullivanVille


And not only that but, according to CKNW's 11pm Thursday newscast at least, the Smilin' One is reportedly saying that the 'leak' of the story of the super-secret $100 million bailout of the Fa(s)t Cats building the Olymypic Village by the City of Vancouver will 'harm the public'.

Yes.

You read that right.

It's the 'leak', not the $100 million bailout itself using taxpayers' money , that is the problem.

Which can only make one wonder if, perhaps, Mr. Sullivan has been sipping from the War Chest's massive absinthe supply again.

Alternatively, maybe the mayor has been filling his snout at that old stand-by, the KnoWards Blow-Hole.

Sheesh.

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The Beauty of Pure Joy

HeyYouKids!
GetOnMyLawn!Ville

A discussion of 'pure' vs. 'sanctioned' joy broke out over at Mr. Beer'NHockey's recently and 'stephanie from vcr' linked up to this.....




It's the streets of Seattle just after the announcement of Obama going all 270 on the Rovians' collective derriere (which, of course, some believe is actually freedom-french for 'Karl').

Pretty much says it all don't you think?

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Vancouver's Olympic Village: A Modest Proposal

ThePeople'sLeverage
PropertyFundVille


First, the background from FABula:

Vancouver lends $100 million to keep Olympic village going

November 6th, 2008 · No Comments

That’s the story from my Globe colleague Gary Mason this morning, plus more little bombshells, like the apparent news that finance director Estelle Lo has tendered her resignation.

Now.....

Here is my proposal:

Make The Bastards Pay!

More specifically, if the CondoKings want to be bailed out by OUR property fund*, make them pay by giving us back the 33-and-a-third split all round (market/affordable/subsidized housing mix) that was originally planned by the Campbell/Green team but was later canned by Smilin' Sammy and his Minions because it was gonna cost, gasp!, about half of what this bailout is going to cost.

OK?

____
*9:00am CBC Radio One newscast reported that using the Property Fund was Peter Ladner's solution to 'protect' Vancouver taxpayers.


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Africa? A Continent? Who Knew?

BlameItOnTheAnimalDoctors
FauxEverythingVille


Apparently, the 'Empress of The Stoopid' doesn't.

And as for NAFTA, well, if she and her Paymaster Flashes had won, Canuckistan needn't have worried because, apparently, Ms. Palin doesn't know which countries are in our continent either.

North America, I mean.....





And isn't it rich that the FOX News AnchorThingy and the PsuedoCorrespondent think the real reason the public didn't know of all the Stoopiderness BEFORE the election is because the Republicans didn't have gooder enough Veterinarians to get all that very important 'vetting' done bestest.

As for the role that a tenaciously free and unfettered press should play in informing the public of such trivial matters that could influence the course of world events before the event at hand....well......

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Barawwwwk Lobster Wrap!

CommandeeringTheFlyingFortress
B-52'sVille


Two great wrap-ups on 2008's Obamathon....

First, from a new Mediaista who is making inroads into the old media, Ms. Hamsher:

It was an amazing night last night. I was on the BBC all night from Time Square, with CNN on the jumbo tron over my shoulder. When Obama went over 270 electoral votes, we were shouting and cheering. The Bush era was over, and the possibilities that now exist for people of color in this country made it an incredibly emotional moment. Obama had an extraordinarily well-run campaign which showed that brilliance and determination could triumph over a campaign that placed a losing bet on the the entrenchment of bigotry. ......


Second, from an old newsprint guy who is making new space for himself in the Toobz, Mr. Willcocks:

I was 15 when the photo appeared, in Life magazine, I think.

Barack Obama was six.

It was a black and white shot of a Mississippi sheriff named Lawrence Rainey. He was beefy, bald guy in uniform, something between a grin and smirk over his long chin. Black cowboy boots, with short socks, so you saw a patch of white hairy shin, as he sprawled with one leg crossed over the other, his right hand dipping into a pouch of Red Man tobacco, a chaw in his cheek.

He was sitting in a courtroom. Around him were grinning co-defendants, all charged in the murder of three young civil rights workers.

The picture showed the men believed they had done nothing wrong. And that they would get away with murder.

And the two sheriffs and gang of Ku Klux Klansmen who killed the three men were almost right.

The state wouldn't charge them. It took three years for the federal government to bring charges of violating the dead men's civil rights, by killing them.

Only seven of 18 men charged were convicted. No one served more than six years in jail.
The photo was one of those defining images - of hate and power and a place where the most basic rule of law was unknown. Where you could be killed by the police for talking about human rights.

That was 1967, not long ago really.

And now Americans have elected a black president.....


Now.

There is sure to be a huge dissection to follow of the Obama Machine and how it worked on a mechanics/nuts & bolt level to get him over the top (eg., see: Turnout, New Voter).

And some of it will, no doubt, turn out to be true.

But I don't think we should ever forget the Branch Rickey Effect.

And how much it foreshadowed Mr. Obama's ability to exude grace under pressure.

Which, in the end, clearly mattered for a whole lot of other voters who may not have been so new, young, or open-minded.

OK?


_____
Here is a link over at John Simkin's history project site to the story and the photo that Mr. Willcocks describes. I remember the story from when I was a kid because it seemed like 'To Kill A Mockingbird', only worse.

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The Slick, The Sublime, and The Boss - Barawk Lobster!

AreYouInABand?
GoodBand,BadBand,Doesn'tMatterAsLongAsIt'sMusicVille


First, The Slick:





Then, The Sublime (It's all good, but the Barawwkin' starts at 3:10')






And Finally, The Boss (With A Little Help Woody) In Cleveland Yesterday.....




America, as Mr. Springsteen has been saying for some time now, the time has come to go get your country back...... tomorrow......


OK?


_____
And here's a beautiful rendition of that most plaintive of Bruce songs sung solo at the Cleveland rally, Thunder Road.....


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What A Difference Four Years Might Make

OptimismRising
WhiskeyBarVille

Last time around, back in the days of Swiftboating and All-The-Propaganda-That-Could-Possibly-Be-Catapaulted, Billmon pretty much went to ground:

"What I finally had to confront was the fact that truth alone is impotent in the face of modern propaganda techniques – as developed, field tested, refined and deployed by Madison Avenue, the Pentagon, the think tanks, the marketing departments of major corporations, the communications departments of major research universities, etc. To paraphrase Hannah Arendt, the peculiar vulnerability of historical truth (which means political truth) is that it isn’t inherently more plausible than outright lies, since the facts could always have been otherwise."

Then he pretty much disappeared, finally resurfacing sporadically recently, back where he began at the DailyKos.

And now?

Well......

Believe it or not, Billmon's on a 'Landslide Watch' of a generational, wooden stake in the heart of the unholy Atwater/Ailes/Rove Zombie, kind:

The final 2008 Gallup Poll is out, and it is showing a last minute surge towards Obama and the Democrats.

• billmon's diary :: ::
• 
  

The numbers:

Obama: 53%
McCain: 42%

However, when Gallup allocates undecided voters (based on what methodology I don't know) Obama's share climbs to 55%, giving him an 11-point spread over McCain's 44%.

These are blowout numbers. By comparison, in 1988 (the last time one of the two major parties posted a decisive win, without a significant third-party candidate in the race) George Bush Sr. won 53.4% to Michael Dukakis's 45.7%.

In other words, if Gallup's final poll is roughly right, John McCain may very well end up underperforming Mike Dukakis.

And even more to the point, what seems to be amazing Mr. Mon most is the fact that the slime of the McCain campaign will not stick.

Quite amazing, really if you think about it.

And, as I pointed out at the time, it also demonstrates that all the Netroots pushback didn't sink the Dems in 2004, but instead almost helped them win the thing.

And this time it is even more of a force.

However,in the coming months it will have to switch it's focus towards, as Roosevelt once said paraphrasically to his left flank....

'Get out there and force us (ie. Obama et al.) to do the right thing'

OK?

______
Greg Palast, on the other hand, still worries about the attempts of the electoral anoerexics and their binge and purge mentality.


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Hey Jane Taber! Just Who Is This Mr. S. Say Anyway?

GossipIsTheNewMackenzieKingmaker
Globe(andnolongerEmpire)MailVille

_________

Update: On the reputed visual reach of Mr. S. Say at bottom of post
Double Secret Probation Update: Mr Willcocks weighs in on known knowns in the pro-media biz regarding what is/is not codswallop at the far uber-bottom of the post
__________

So.

Apparently a certain Mr. "S. Say" does not agree with Kady O'Malley who, after listening to Stephen Harper answer a direct question put to him by David Akin, offered up the opinion that Gary Lunn was demoted to 'Minister In Charge Of Hockey Rinks' because rookie Lisa Raitt, who was given Lunn's old job as the new 'Minister in Charge of Pipelines and Oil Sands', had just beaten Garth Turner and thus had won this month's Conniverous Lottery grand prize.

How do we know this?

That Mr. Say does not agree with Ms. O'Malley, I mean.

Well, apparently he told The Globe and Mail's Gossip Columist-In-Chief, Jane Taber, something quite different*:

"...Mr Lunn was knocked down to junior minister, some say as a result of his handling (mishandling?) of the Chalk River/medical isotopes crisis this year."


Sure thing Ms. Taber.

After all, we all know that Mr. Harper runs a loosey-goosey cabinet in which anything goes, especially decisions that are sure to hit the national media.

Right?

And now that we think of it, just who is this Mr. 'Some Say' anyway?

****

If I could just remove my cloak-of-many-snarkness-colours for a moment and digress...... gossip columnist or not, this is nothing but cheap-jack, evils-of- access journalism. If Ms Taber has a source she should name said source. Or, if she doesn't want to/or can't name the source, at the very least Taber should make it clear that such a leading conclusory statement is her own opinion instead of just pawning it off on Mr. Some Say so that she can later deny that it was her idea when she has to go, cap-in-hand, to ask whoever it is who is now the flack-hack in charge of high level press poodle access to the Prime Minister for a fireside chat at, oh say, Christmas time**.

OK?


_____
*Please note: We do not link to gossip, especially Some Say-sourced gossip.
**Which is, in my opinion, a distinct possibility based on past performance.
Update: Apparently, based on my conversation with Bob in the comment threads, some now say that the infamous Mr. S. Say can see Brussels and/or The Langevin Block from his house (and yes, the source of the linked jpeg is purposeful).

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Uber-bottoms-up Double-Secret Probation Update:

Mr. Willcocks , who knows a thing or seven about the newspaper business, weighs in from the comments (and we thank him for it)......

There is a journalism joke that periodically goes around offering translations of pseudo-attributions...

"Some say" would mean "I think, maybe."

"Observers say" means the reporter at the next desk.

"Those close to the campaign" means the reporter at the next desk and the communications staffer I bumped into in the hall.

And so on...

The other practice that has reached ridiculous levels is crediting everything to political sources who don't want to be named, even when they are uttering banalities. As in a Globe story Saturday on the Harper government's direction. "'We want to protect people for the future. We want to emerge stronger from the crisis … and keep the country's economic fundamentals strong,' a Conservative official said yesterday."

First, it's mush. Second, without knowing which Conservative official, it's mush-lite. And finally, it just makes no sense to play along with this foolishness.

It would be nice if reporters and editors only used unnamed sources when necessary, and provided a basic explanation of why it's necessary.

And it might help if readers griped about the ludicrous extent of the practice.

We will also be sure to take Mr. Willcocks last sentence to heart (which is something our good friend BC Mary does often, to great effect).
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Grosse Pointe (Really, Really, Really) Blank

SayAnything
MeanBabyMeanVille


No, we're not talking about the fantastic George Armitage movie with John Cusack.

Instead, we are talking about the location.

Grosse Pointe Michigan, to be more precise.

Which is a Detroit suburb where a McCain supporter decided to berate trick or treaters and then deny them candy if she could establish that their parents were not going to vote for her candidate.



Please note the sadness hidden in the pretty face of the young woman @ 1:05' tucked in behind the McAgent Provocateur in the vestibule*....

But never mind all that.

Because the train, a train that, presumably, passed through even Grosse Point 45 years ago, will finally reach its final destination on Tuesday night........

OK?

____
Update: Turns out that Lady Mean, Ms. Shirley Nagel, is a retired teacher who was a seated seated delegate at this fall's RNC who waited, with baited breath, for the entrance of 'The Empress of the Stoopidness' at the recent Minneapolis convention. Imagine that!
*And while it sounds like it, 'vestibule' is not entirely french. However, it is a word that is used to describe a group of funny fellows from Quebec who are most definitely NOT masked avengers pretending to be Nico Sarkozy.

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Say Bye-Bye To The WPA.....

...Studs Terkel, dead at 96.

AlphabetSoup
RaconteurVille


Now, I do not know Chicago well at all.

But I do know some of it, despite the fact that I never spent any significant time there.

And the biggest reason for that is the work of Mr. Terkel who, in my opinion at least, could almost always pull people's stories of pathos out of the darkness and plunk them down on the sunnier side of Division Street while another favorite of mine, Nelson Algren, who was also born of the WPA Writers' Project, often did just the opposite.

And every once in a while Studs would head out with his tape recorder to chase down a story that was much bigger than even Chicago's broad shoulders.

Stories like this.....

Among hundreds of thousands who joined Martin Luther King, Jr. for a 1963 march on Washington D.C for civil rights were some 800 Chicagoans who traveled there by train. Chicago writer and now-legend Studs Terkel went with them. He brought his tape recorder and turned the sounds and voices of his fellow travelers into a documentary he called "This Train." The journey culminated in Washington with King's now-famous "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered 45 years ago today. From Studs Terkel's archives, here's the first part of that documentary, as the travelers head toward Washington on the train.


So.

Here's hopin' that Studs left his tape recorder running when he went because I have a feeling that the train he hopped on 45 years ago is finally going to pull into the station for good on Tuesday night.

OK?


_____
You can read testimonials from Chicagoans immortalizing the man who immortalized their stories here.
That's some photo at the top of the post, eh? Terkel with Gregory Corso and Alan Ginsberg and Peter Orlovsky from 1960. Incredibly, by then Ti Jean was already pretty much done with Big Sur and, maybe, the sadness of Desolation Angels the only things of significance still to come (and while my personal almost favorite, Lonesome Traveler, was published in the year of JFK, most of that stuff was written considerably earlier).

.