By-Election October 14: Capsule Commentary

This by-election will elect 9 Vancouver School Board trustees and one City councilor (following Geoff Meggs’ resignation).  The trustees and councilor will serve until the civic election on October 20, 2018.
Current Vancouver council’s party breakdown — note that a non-Vision winner will create a 5-5 council with a Vision mayor:

• Vision:     Mayor +  5 councilors
• NPA:  3 councilors
• Green:  1 councilor
• Empty:  1 councilor

Vision Vancouver’s candidate deliberations are not yet public.
Certainly, a few themes are emerging from other parties as candidates try to attract public support:
Here’s Frances Bula in the Globe and Mail on who’s now jousting for the NPA’s nomination.  It looks like housing affordability will be the prominent issue, a welcome elevation from bike lanes and traffic light synchronization.  Conspicuously absent from the NPA are concerns over climate change, transit, oil tankers and pipelines.

• Hector Bremner:  2013 BC Liberal MLA candidate, then BC Liberal Gov’t ministry employee, then gov’t relations guy for Steelhead LNG and VP Public Affairs of PR firm Pace Group (Norman Stowe). Now city council candidate. Identifies housing, drug deaths, red tape & high taxes as Vision problems.
• Sarah Kirby-Yung:  Current Commissioner of Vancouver Park Board, a veteran of the tourism and marketing worlds.
• Penny Noble: former school trustee, now Exec Director of Bike to Work B.C.  Focus on heritage.  Consulting work on communications & fundraising.
• Glen Chernen: civic Cedar Party candidate in 2014 (placed #30 with 9577 votes).  Infamous, in my mind, for his “Making the World Safe for Muscle Cars” stunt around the Point Grey Road project.  Anti bike lanes, anti-density, anti-transit. Really, he seems anti anything that has occurred since 1956. A good match for the old NPA; is there a new NPA emerging somewhere?

A few other candidates for the single council seat have come forward.
Pete Fry (Green Party):  more affordable housing, fewer expensive condos, less big-money developer influence. Ran for council in 2014, earning 46,522 votes to place #19, while co-candidates Carr placed #1, and Brown #18.  Given the provincial results, is Green on the rise?
Jean Swanson (Independent, maybe COPE):  social and environmental justice, anti-poverty, pro rent freezes, focus on the DTES (affordability).  COPE/Civic NDP mayoral candidate in 1988.
Judy Graves (OneCity):  affordability, homelessness, condo developer influence.  More HERE.