Up close and personal with Sam
Thursday, May 1, 2008 by David Eby
Had a chance, thanks to an invitation from a friend of a friend, to attend a Q and A session with the Mayor in a private residence in the West End last night. The night was a little surreal, with the Mayor showing up with two support staff to take questions from a room of about 10 people, including me.
On showing up, I had figured I was walking into the lion's den, imagining that I'm not especially popular with the Mayor's supporters due to continually dogging him about stupid things like the City failing to enforce standards in housing to the point that the roof fell in on a low-income building this winter, his canceling of affordable and low-income housing at the Olympic Village, his hiring of private security guards to move the homeless out of Business Improvement Areas, and his belief that his main, and apparently sole, role is "fundraiser" in a "weak mayor" system in Vancouver.
What actually happened was that the room wasn't exactly a friendly one for the Mayor. I didn't even have to ask a question, as the residents who were there were plenty fired up, mostly about issues of homelessness, drug use and poverty, that they say has gotten worse in the west end since the Mayor took over. While some of the comments were over the top, "Let's send them all back where they came from," some were thoughtful and obviously well informed.
The lowlight was the Mayor claiming over 3,000 units of new housing built on his watch, a number that has been widely analyzed and discredited, and it's annoying to hear him still use it.
The highlight was the Mayor referring to his invitation only Collaboration for Change event, and then turning to me and asking "Were you there Dave?"
Um, no Mr. Mayor, I was not there.
On showing up, I had figured I was walking into the lion's den, imagining that I'm not especially popular with the Mayor's supporters due to continually dogging him about stupid things like the City failing to enforce standards in housing to the point that the roof fell in on a low-income building this winter, his canceling of affordable and low-income housing at the Olympic Village, his hiring of private security guards to move the homeless out of Business Improvement Areas, and his belief that his main, and apparently sole, role is "fundraiser" in a "weak mayor" system in Vancouver.
What actually happened was that the room wasn't exactly a friendly one for the Mayor. I didn't even have to ask a question, as the residents who were there were plenty fired up, mostly about issues of homelessness, drug use and poverty, that they say has gotten worse in the west end since the Mayor took over. While some of the comments were over the top, "Let's send them all back where they came from," some were thoughtful and obviously well informed.
The lowlight was the Mayor claiming over 3,000 units of new housing built on his watch, a number that has been widely analyzed and discredited, and it's annoying to hear him still use it.
The highlight was the Mayor referring to his invitation only Collaboration for Change event, and then turning to me and asking "Were you there Dave?"
Um, no Mr. Mayor, I was not there.
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