lotusland goes potusland, fails to comment on much of anything

so, civic election, eh?  ive been reading a bit about it on the internets, but it's hard to focus on vancouver when one is lounging around watching (and recording everything humanly possible on) tivo in an idyllic, snow-dusted massachusetts town.  american thanksgiving is on a thursday, which means the japanese restaurant is closed, which means im eating more of those trader joes flaxseed nacho chips and kalamata olive hummus today.  trader joes and sushi in the boonies - this is why new england rules.  yeah, throwing a pseudo-hippie cloak over my rampant capitalism is not a lifestyle id be comfortable pursuing, but for a one-week vacation, it is pretty fun in a 'what happens in vegas stays in vegas' kind of way.

firstly, id like to express major disappointment that andrea reimer lost her school board seat.  she has a lot of ambition and a real community focus, which is obvious if you know her history of activism and involvement in one of those pamphlets i might have stuck in your house if you live in kitsilano.  she had a lot of goals she wanted to fulfil and i hope she gets another crack at making it happen.  also, i hope the new school board doesnt negate all the effort andrea's crew put in during the campbell (larry, bien sur) tenure.

you dont have to be totally conspiratorial to think that this low-turnout election was basically decided by the npa machine.  i once worked on a campaign that drew on many of the same westside right/centrist assets, and i can vouch for their organizational (and financial) prowess.  its not the most organic thing, and it reeks of a patrician vancouver i never knew beyond my parents' stories about racism/sexism in the 1970-80s. 

the vancouver i know is not a city of white, rich, nimby, westsiders.  oddly enough, the  vancouver i know doesnt stand up to be counted on civic election day.

also, how did "james green" get enough votes to drive sam sullivan over the top?  why was sam sullivan helping him with his rent dispute?   i think the opinion of this man, who has actually worked with the data, ought to be given a fair bit of clout:

But University of B.C. political-science PhD student Scott Matthews says a statistical analysis of the individual poll results showed James Green's proportion of the votes showed a direct correlation with the proportion of Jim Green votes across the city, indicating the likelihood that people voted for James Green by mistake was very high.

"There really is no other plausible explanation of those results," said Matthews. "Any other theory strains credulity. I think it's really unlikely that it didn't affect the election outcome."

burnaby had a pretty exciting vote as well.  team surrey, er, burnaby's barbara spitz won her council spot by one vote.  a right-wing burnabite told me she didnt end up voting, supplying some lame ass excuse like "i have kids and i have to buy groceries and work out and go to church and eat and maybe take a dump that day" ...  one vote does make a difference, kids.

Comments

[aija]

dude. I know that NE is great, but we miss you. We will celebrate your return in advance tomorrow, with green stuff, avant-garde art, and european films here in vancouver. We'll celebrate again when you get home...be ready.

[ainge]

dude, i love you. ive been trading in my steady diet of leafy greens for herbes de provence from williams and sonoma... and lets just say im not ready to sell out and get old just yet.

[BZA]

Yeah, I was sorry to hear about Miss Reimer as well. Seriously, I would have voted for her. COPE didn't run a full slate.

But take it in stride, two Greens won city council seats on the island. A high water mark for the Greens?

I was sad BCAer Sav Dhaliwal lost by one vote! Damn, whatever two people I know who didn't vote.

[Candace]

Do yourself a favor & go to the nearest store & buy ALL the Stacy's Pita Chips (pick a flavor, any flavor) you can find. They are currently only shipping the "Naked" version to Costco in Canada.

A true addiction. Those things are dynamite. I've tried to make them at home (close, but no cigar). Serious food. And relatively healthy as junk food goes.

[Phil]

yeah, I voted for Reimer, and was suprised by how badly she lost. There's always 2008. The Green Party will be represented one day.

As for James Green, Jim Green's party was under his own. I credit people not double checking their answers rather than conspiracy theories for "costing" Jim Green the election - if people did indeed vote for the wrong guy. Also, Vision Vancouver had plenty of time to preemptive strike that shit by holding a press conference and informing people to make sure they vote for the "right guy." But they were too chickenshit to do that b/c they thought it would give publicity to James Green.

As for the voter turnout, I don't blame the westside/NPA...if people want to vote, all they have to do is head to the polls and give the poltical machine the finger. People didn't show up to vote because, apart from Austin Spencer, there wasn't a candidate that fired up the electorate to give a shit.