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Eight Great Candidates and One Class Act
By Rick Peterson November 13, 2008

There are some very fine people running for office in this Saturday’s municipal elections in Vancouver.

Here’s a look at eight great candidates that I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know quite well over the past several months, and who I strongly think deserve our support.

• Peter Ladner – Mayor: you’ll have a hard time finding a more decent man running for public office at any level of government in Canada. Peter’s been around long enough to know how tough municipal politics can be, and his successful bid to oust a sitting mayor for the NPA nomination shows that he can fight in the trenches when needed. In the meantime, he’s pragmatic, a realist and has the disarming tendency to say what he thinks is the right way to handle issues, instead of issuing platitudes and generalities. This doesn’t necessarily make for great campaign speeches or debating performances, but it does make him an honest, intelligent and sincere man who has paid his dues in Council, knows his way around City Hall, and is one of the better candidates for mayor we’ve had in Vancouver for a long time. We’ll be just fine under Peter’s stewardship.
  
• Suzanne Anton – City Council: anyone who has ever organized a West Side Vancouver soccer program – she’s a past president of the Kerrisdale Soccer Club - is more than capable of being an effective City Councilor. Suzanne is very personable, has a solid community sports background, is well organized, has a strong network of friends and colleagues across the city, and has good political smarts. As a former Crown Counsel lawyer, she’s got a no-nonsense approach to getting things done, and in my experience, follows through on promises quickly and efficiently and with no fanfare. That alone speaks volumes about her character and capabilities.
  
• Elizabeth Ball – City Council: it’s refreshing to find someone in municipal politics so unabashedly supportive and interested in all things arts and theatre. When you see what major cities of the world like Paris and New York and Montreal can do to bring artists and theatre into the streets, you know that we can do a better job of that here in Vancouver. Yes, we have strong arts programs in the city, but we need to bring art out and more accessible: music, concerts, poetry readings, plays – all of this needs to come out of the theatres and halls and into our schools, parks and on our beaches in a way that allows every single resident of this city to have access at little or virtually no cost. Our beautiful city is the best stage in the world – we need to use it more. Having Elizabeth on Council can’t help but help any initiatives in this direction. Hopefully we’ll see some new ones after November 15th.
  
• Kim Capri – City Council: Kim came onto Council in 2005 and has done a good job of keeping her messaging consistent on two major urban issues – the need to reduce crime and the need to make Vancouver municipal taxation competitive. These happen to be the major points that have dominated Peter Ladner’s campaign platform, and having an articulate and well spoken councilor like Kim Capri helping with this messaging would be a bonus for any mayor.
  
• Korina Houghton – City Council: Korina is very highly regarded for her role as chair of the Park Board for the past three years – not an easy thing to do, given the passion and complexity of a number of issues that the Park Board deals with on an ongoing basis. She’s a good networker, understands a wide range of issues, and brings a lot of energy to the table.
  
• Kanman Wong – City Council: I’ve known Kanman for several years on the federal political scene. He has a gregarious and optimistic personality, but is very well grounded and one of the most determined grassroots volunteers in this city. His resume of community service – which includes work on the ground and not simply sitting on boards – is impressive. Combine all that with effective media and communication skills, you’ve got a good potential Council member.
  
• Marty Zlotnik – Park Board: Marty should be a role model for any successful business person who wants to contribute to their community, and do so with integrity and independence. As president of one of Canada’s leading investment and insurance firms, he could be sitting back and worrying more about his dividend re-investment plan than putting his nose into municipal politics. Instead, he’s active, involved, passionate and visible on Park Board issues, which range from the trivial and mundane to bigger policy decisions that shape the texture and vibrancy of our city. Here’s a man who calls things as he sees them, will stand-up and speak out – as Premier Gordon Campbell knows all too well - for what he thinks is right at any time, and will use his considerable talent in fundraising and networking to simply get things done. He’s one of the few municipal candidates that has made inner city kids programs a priority – as they should be. And, a nicer guy you’ll be hard pressed to find anywhere.
  
• Heather Holden – School Board: Heather has probably what is one of the most eclectic resumes of anyone seeking public office in Canada today, and she combines that with an outgoing, optimistic and energetic personality. She’s got a PhD in satellite remote sensing from the University of Waterloo and has been a university professor, so she knows the value and cost of higher learning. On the other hand, she’s a veteran political activist and organizer, having already been elected to the Park Board, where she served as chair, and has thrown herself into several provincial and federal election campaigns here in Vancouver. And, to top it all off, she’s an Investment Advisor with a leading national brokerage firm, so she’s very much grounded in the ugly reality of today’s economic and financial markets. She’s focused on one particular item as a school board candidate: to open up school facilities for maximum use of the community – an idea that is so obviously a good one, and long overdue, that it deserves full support.

Maybe Heather Holden and Elizabeth Ball can get together and get some arts and theatre programs into our schools on weekend and after hours for everyone to enjoy, and have Marty Zlotnik help raise money and sponsorships to get that done, and have some of these things take place in our inner city schools. Why not?

A Class Act
These eight people above are all NPA candidates. I will be voting for the full NPA slate on Saturday for City Council, Park Board and School Board. Quite simply, there are good people on both NPA and Vision teams, but effective governance at the municipal level is very much a function of leadership from the top, which is the mayor’s chair. I prefer a pragmatic, experienced, detailed and focused approach to municipal issues rather than a broad-based, ideological and fuzzy message that might look good and feel good, but which comes up short on specifics and whose leadership is untested at the municipal level after an unimpressive stint in provincial politics.

One final note: outgoing Mayor Sam Sullivan has to be thanked for all his work and his tremendous contribution to the city, and commended for the way he is leaving elected office – with class and grace. Again, it never ceases to amaze me how we often see the very best qualities and character of elected officials only as they leave the stage.

Cordially,

Rick Peterson