“We talked about this a lot through the campaign, through this [2008 civic] election, about how we want to do things very differently. We want them to come bottom-up. We want the grassroots to have serious voice at City Hall. We want City Hall opened up.”
Newly-elected Mayor Gregor Robertson, at Neighbourhoods for a Sustainable Vancouver celebration event, December 10, 2008 (Heritage Hall, Vancouver)
That’s what the Mayor said to about 400 community representatives, thanking them for believing that Vision Vancouver would repeal the EcoDensity policies brought in by the Non-Partisan Association, and instead Vision Vancouver would support CityPlan.
Now in 2013, many people know the opposite is what happened.
The actions and voting of Mayor Robertson’s Council majority since 2008 have betrayed the public trust, broken the social contract. That’s what people are saying now. The rest of the story many know by now — the STIR program, Interim Rezoning Policy, Transportation 2040, the attempt to take funds and control from Community Centre Associations and centralize power at City Hall – these are just the tip of the iceberg.
Actual transcript of Gregor Robertson’s words on Dec 10, 2008.
Transcript below (reproduced from ChatterboxFilms channel):
10 December 2008, Heritage Hall – First Day of Mayor Robertson’s and Vision Vancouver’s Term of Office:
“It’s so fantastic to walk in here. I didn’t quite know know what I was coming into, but coming in the door, it was like all of Vancouver crammed into the Heritage Hall — with poster boards to boot.”
“I really want to recognize you, and thank you for all the work that you’ve done to represent your neighbourhoods, to actually pull together in a cohesive way — what your neighbourhoods are, what they mean to you, what they mean to the people who live there, and to put that forward and to make a political statement out of it.”
“Because its been the only thing really that pushed back effectively enough against the branding of EcoDensity. And when you say the word EcoDensity, well it sounds kind of good, I, you know, sounds reasonable and something we maybe should get behind, but the reality of it I think was very different, and it took a very very intense effort on behalf of all of you in the neighbourhoods to counter that effectively, and to reframe the whole debate around what matters most — and that is community, and our neighbourhoods.”
“Ultimately, when you think about what was most important, where you grew up, what’s most important through your life, it’s those connections to where you live and the people that you live with. And a lot of the problems that we have — not only in this city, but in cities and towns across the world, is when community starts to pull apart and disintegrate, and there isn’t all that support. People fall through the cracks, and they fall between communities. There’s a lack of cohesiveness, and that’s where a lot of the problems, and a lot of the social unrest and challenges that we have, come from.”
“So making our neighbourhoods and communities stronger is so critical right now, and we can get a lot better at it — and the work that you guys are doing is about that, I think. It’s about making neighbourhoods stronger, and making sure that we’re — as a society that we’re better looked after by working together in our communities. So, we recognize you for that work, which is really important to our city, and beyond.”
“We have a great opportunity right now with the big shift in the political winds to do things differently at City Hall.”
“We talked about this a lot through the campaign, through this election, about how we want to do things very differently. We want them to come bottom-up. We want the grassroots to have serious voice at City Hall. We want City Hall opened up. That’s why we had our big inauguration yesterday at Sunset Community Centre, because we want to be out in the community.”
“And it’s more than just us being out in the community, it’s about the community being in City Hall.”
From what I have observed in my 18 months as a resident of Vancouver is that the city and the neighborhoods within it are subject to a much larger set of concerns – those that impact the Lower Mainland itself. Maybe Mayor Robertson, et al realized that no matter how well-meaning certain voices in certain communities may be, they may actually be impeding what needs to be done at the regional level to enable reasonably-well paying work as well as housing that can be afforded on those wages.
Vancouver has much to do if it’s going to be economically, socially and environmentally sustainable and that will entail a great deal of change, some of which you or I may not like. In short, maybe the city can’t afford to give voice to as many narrowly-focused individuals (folks who are really only looking at their own backyards, instead of the bigger picture) as it once believed it could. Maybe the era of “Villages” is over?
It’s all about the Geoff and Gregor show, which exists to pay-off their developer backers.