Slate Breakup?

The Green/Richter slate seems to be bursting at the seams. Here's a little game to ease the pain and provide a little slate therapy. You know the tune, "Breaking up is hard to do". Poor Rick and Kim.

Game Instructions: Use your arrow keys to adjust the cannon and space bar to shoot.

Hint: Don't shoot Rich Coleman or Mary Polak as they give you ammo and health.

Richter Supports Ward

In this unusual Langley Advance article by Matthew Claxton, Councillor Kim Richter admits to not attending the mayor's closed door workshops and says that basically she support's Councillor Ward in his bid to take notes in the committee workshop.

"In recent years, the Township budget process has been under control of a committee composed of the entire council. Richter said she just wants to get down to business, but had some reservations about Tuesday's events. "I was concerned as well that Coun. Ward was excluded," she said."

We can only take Councillor Richter at her word here and assume this was an honest comment. Therefore, The Langley Record must be fair and congratulate her for doing the right thing. Might Councillor Richter be tiring of Mayor Green's leadership style or the way things have been going? Only Councillor Richter can tell us and we hope she does.

Lots of money in staff time has been spent on this Standing Finance Committee and the jury is still out on the value we are getting. Next Tuesday's council and committee joint meeting should see the presentation of a report to council. The editors of both papers have now mused that a zero-based budget is nothing more than wishful thinking, and the committee will be hard-pressed to keep things much the same without any service increases, while still being able to recommend no tax increases. However, The Langley Advance goes on to say:

"Richter said she just wants a budget with zero tax increases this year."

Committee member Calvin Patterson has stated at least twice that he views the committee's job strictly as looking at efficiencies and possible budget cuts, disagreeing with Richter that the committee should also look as ways to increase revenue. Patterson views this role as a ToL Council function. Stay tuned.

Langley Record Exclusive - Mayor Green & Coun. Ferguson Secret Budget Game

More Pitfalls For Property Endowment Fund

The more we learn about the Property Endowment Fund (PEF) architected for the City of Vancouver, the less Langley appropriate it seems to get. Just read this article on the latest hit to Vancouver's PEF here.

In vancouver, non conforming billboards are a revenue generator for the PEF (maximize property use):

• A total of 13 non-conforming billboards are actually on City of Vancouver property
• The removal of the 13 billboards on City property will cost the treasury about $200K per year in lost revenue.
• In addition, there will be a loss of $157K to the City's Property Endowment Fund.
• Staff predict an additional $50K in costs to cut lawns and remove garbage that will also be added to the tax bill.
• In total, this will be a hit of over $400K per annum.

Is this the kind of Langley we want?

February 24, 2009 Standing Finance Committee Unmeeting

Guest Editor Commentary

The “Workshop” Fiasco

The latest Finance committee meeting began with an explanation, kindly presented by Mr. Bakken. Regarding the difference between a meeting- to which the public would be granted access to, unless meeting strict rules of exceptions (none of which this finance committee meetings would pertain to) and a “workshop” or “Social Gathering”- to which the Mayor and his committee could decide who was given permission to attend. To be considered a “Workshop” it must meet some criteria, it is informal, with no recommendations made and no decisions made by committee members. After everyone was made clear the differences, Mayor Green gave a recommendation of having a private “workshop” and clarified with Bakken that they could hold this “workshop” and speak informally. Green then explained to the committee that they would have this “workshop” then meet again once more having a formal committee meeting on March 3rd, just prier to (that same day) their recommendations being presented to council. They would then formally vote on their recommendations allowing for the report to be finalized.

Now I am just a Langley Township citizen and have no council experience, but even to me something does not add up. How could the committee have a “workshop” where no recommendations where made and no decisions were made, that allowed the committee to then only require a short meeting to formalize things by a vote? From what I could see they were in need of a lot of recommendations and had a lot of decisions to be made. In fact, Counsellor Richter asked for Mr. Bakken to attend. To assist in all those decisions? maybe make a few recommendations? To which Mr. Bakken responded, he would be “cautious” of that. Adding: “ My fear is if staff is present for a protracted time it may appear we are doing business”

Committee member George Luciani reiterated the need for some help in the matter and in not so many words, added the need for someone who knows what they are doing. How does a committee go from that, to being prepared to submit their recommendations to council? All from a “workshop” where no recommendations were made and no decisions. Seems a little suspicious to me!

I sympathize with the committee, and would certainly not want to be in their shoes. There is no arguing they need a “ roll up your sleeves meeting” but the point is, to gain any head way, it would have to come in the form of a meeting, not a “workshop”. And it is clear the public and media should be allowed to be there to witness it. Why hide behind closed doors? What is the secret?

Read Al Irwin's Account of today's meeting here and last Saturday here.

The Full Statement Delivered Today By Councillor Steve Ferguson Read to the committee before excusing himself from today's unmeeting

Submission to the Mayor's Standing Committee on Finance

Over the last few months and approximate 9 meetings we, the finance committee as a group, have had the opportunity to view the Township of Langley's 2009 budget and beyond. There have been submissions from the staff at the Township of Langley from various departments by means of hard copy (printed materials), overhead/video presentations, and general dialogue.

We have also had one presentation from Mr. Bruce Maitland regarding a Land Trust Fund, and Community Amenities Contributions. Out of that presentation brought many questions about including a Cost of Growth Study, and how a Land Trust (endowment) Fund could be established.

We have followed a structured meeting schedule, minutes were taken, and a time line of logistical next steps for proceeding were followed. We have been told by Council that they wish an initial presentation on the recommendations of the committee at a joint Finance Committee/Council Priorities meeting on Tuesday March 03, 2009.

An array of questions have been asked, and supplemental information has been requested of staff and consequently received at other meetings. Staff have made themselves available either by telephone (which I have taken advantage of) or by email to answer any questions or queries that committee members may have had during our meetings.

Committee members have been asked to provide input/thoughts and or recommendations (as I have done) that can indeed be forwarded to Township Council for review. These suggestions will form part of the general discussions that Township Council can consider when discussing the entire budget for 2009 and beyond.

Members of the community and media have attended our finance committee meetings. Many of them have respectfully, outside of meeting times, asked questions regarding both process and information presented during the meetings.

The public has been made aware of some of the discussion by means of the local media. The minutes and reports presented during the meetings are available upon request from the clerks office.

I am more than prepared to continue meeting with the Mayor's Standing Committee of Finance under the same format that we have used during the last 9 meetings, however, I am NOT prepared to meet behind closed doors where the public is not invited.

The Township of Langley Budget process has always had an OPEN door environment. Those that were interested or were concerned about the way items are budgeted and accounted for in the Township have attended the meetings. The media has always kept the public aware of our findings and for the most part kept up accountable.

I believe in Open and Transparent government. This makes me accountable to the very people that elected me, the Taxpayers of the Township of Langley. I do not support Closed door meetings where the public is kept in the dark as to what is being discussed.

I am more than prepared to meet and discuss recommendations during our regularly scheduled meetings of the Finance committee, however, as stated above, I will not attend any closed door meetings that do not include the public.

Respectfully Submitted,

Steve Ferguson
Councillor - Township of Langley

Note to Township of Langley 3:15pm - The Slate Likes Closed Meetings

At 3:15 PM ToL Administrator Mark Bakken presented the rules for a "workshop". They include "informal discussions with no decisions being made". Listen to the recording from the other day and tell us that in preparing a report for council this committee will not funnel things down and make decisions on what will be sent to ToL Council? The committee gets 9 weeks to chew on the budget and what can be done and ToL Council only get 3 weeks and they are the only ones that can make final budget decisions? What's wroing with that picture?

The great thing is, the entire Township of Langley now knows that Councillor Kim Richter and her slate sidekick Mayor Green totally favours closed-door meetings. It was fully evident in her motion today to take the Standing Finance Committee meeting into a closed meeting and a vote that included support from Mayor Green, with ONLY Councillor Ferguson opposed to a closed door meeting.

Our Guest Editor is preparing an article on this meeting and we are going to wait and let the other blog spew their spin first. I can assure you that our guest is far more articulate and bright than the wannabe editor of that other blog ever will be.

Langley Advance Editor Offers Strong Rebuke to Mayor Green

In today's Opinion column entitled QUIT SQUABBLING, Langley Advance Editor Bob Groeneveld put's the blame for Saturday's Finance Committee fiasco "squarely on the shoulders of Mayor Rick Green".

"While the two councillors involved in this latest bout of bickering need to stand in the corner and think about how they might have handled the situation differently, the chief responsibility for this one falls squarely on the shoulders of Mayor Rick Green.

The newbie mayor has had three months to start to get his act together. He should be trying to find ways to work with all his councillors, to make his council work. That's his prime job as mayor - not to drive wedges. He gets no extra points for his citizens' finance think tank, if all it does is stir the council pot further.

He did unseat the previous mayor, but seven of his eight councillors were re-elected last fall, most of them on campaigns that did not include rhetoric locking them into 0-0-0 tax increases at any cost. And he, himself, did not campaign on promises of secretive meetings - quite the contrary."

As was predicted, with the slate reeling from their latest big blunder, they mobilized a couple of slate recruits that included Sonya Paterson, to write some letters. You will recall that Paterson ran unsuccessfully for council in the last election, and lost to incumbent Councillor Grant Ward. She was also endored by the Green-Richter Slate blog, so the response is predictable. It is amazing that these people who were not present for the meeting appear to know it all. A couple of writters clearly got their instructions from the slate, as both focused on Ferguson's Blackberry. What these uniformed pawns do not comprehend is that the Township has an official message alert system that advises mayor and councillor on their Blackberry devices of ANY changes to meetings and locations. Ferguson was making reference to this message system and protocol in the audio below. 

As the Advance Editor points out, now is not the time for the mayor to drive wedges between his slate and council members. The economy is in the toilet and this man ran on a plateform of ZERO tax increases over the next 3 years. Time to get over his ego

The Scoop on Municipal Meetings

The Editorial Board of the Langley Record has now called and visited with a large core group of mayors, former mayors and some municipal lawyers to get the scoop for you on meetings. This was sparked by the Green & Richter slate's attempt to shut the public and two councillors out of a meeting that was originally schedule to be at the mayor's private residence and was switched to the Township Facility after an e-mail error.

The core group of elected officials, former elected officials and lawyers with much experience say that although "workshops" are rare for a committee, most municipalities allow for public observers. The normally vote in open meetings to go into a closed meeting ONLY when legal/litigation, land or labour issues are involved and they admit they never discuss such sensitive issues with non-sworn members of the public for obvious reasons. Most of the core group listened to the recording presented here on Saturday and all commented that the mayor switched from "private committee meeting", to "workshop of the committee", and back to meeting when Green adjourned "the meeting".

The core group all said without exception or coaching that rookie Mayor Rick Green does not understand process and was not very politically wise. A few admit that early on in their terms they mistakenly called some closed meetings. One former mayor admitted that a particular councillor had leaked in camera information to the media about a meeting with staff in one instance. The reaction? That mayor simply called for that meeting to move to a larger room and declared an open meeting with an appology. There was no intent to shut the public out this mayor admits.

This brings us to the two keys that caused a major failure this past Saturday. The first failure was caused by the intent of the slate to hold a closed meeting. Had an email not mistakenly been copied to Councillor Steve Ferguson, the slate would have been successful with a closed meeting on the mayor's private property. That was the original intent and the slate can deny all they wish,and threaten all they want on their blog. It is all but a smokescreen. They have been caught red-handed, plain and simple and they had better hope that Councillor Ferguson doesn't go public with the shameful documents that clearly prove the intent. No notice to the clerk two weeks prior, no notes on the mayor's calendar, no vote in public to bring the meeting in camera and no public notice of specifics why the meeting needed to be closed. All required by Bylaws or the Community Charter.

The second failure was a total lack of political wisdom. Mayor Green should have fessed up to the fiasco and called for the meeting to move over to the presentation theater with the public and the press present. All of the well-qualified people we spoke with said this was very poor political wisdom on the part of Mayor Green, and all agreed they would not have handled this meeting in that manner.

What is so secret that the Green-Richter slate must keep so hush, hush? An overwhelming consensus of the politically-savvy we spoke with all agree that Mayor Green will have to raise property taxes or plunder Township reserves. He will do so under the guise of a downturn in the economy. If this is attempted by the Green-Richter slate, the public better really research the facts, because this is FAR from the truth. The Township operated in a lean manner, there was no fraud or waste and there were more than adequate reserves left for this mayor and his slate. The slate had access to all kinds of information prior to and during the campaign, yet they hyped a zero-based budget to win the election.

We hear that the slate will take the previously schedule Tuesday public meeting of the Finance Committee for February 24th and bring this meeting in camera. Again, what is being discussed that is so secret?

If you have trouble with this meeting situation and agree that meetings should not be held in secret, then call Councillor Richter and Mayor Green and let them know that you don't appreciate secret meetings in OUR Township.

You can also e-mail them manually at: mayorandcouncil@tol.bc.ca
Sorry, but sometimes Blogger does not do what you want it to, like open e-mail links!

Address Mayor Green and Councillor Richter in your opening. But using this address will also allow the other councillors to see you message to these two slate members. Don't take excuses from them and don't allow them to intimidate you. After The Langley Advance photo was taken Mayor Green moved even closer to Councillor Ferguson in a typical Green attempt to intimidate the councillor. Don't let him bully you!

Sunday Update on Green-Richter Slate Secret Meeting

Make certain you hear the shameful audio of the mayor below as he tries to run damage control after the slate got their hands caught in the cookie jar!

More disturbing details have emerged regarding this secret meeting that should cause the public GREAT concern...

Informed sources have confirmed with the editors of the Langley Record that yesterday's Standing Finance Committee secret meeting had first been intended to be held at the home of Mayor Rick Green, and without the notification or knowledge of Councillor Steve Ferguson. Obviously meetings at the mayor's home would also preclude public and media involvement. 

The slate's secret plot fell apart, when during an e-mail exchange between the slate and the committee, a member of the slate inadvertently copied Councillor Ferguson on an e-mail. The slate then scrambled to run damage control, quickly changing the venue to a Township Civic Facility meeting room. A very poor attempt to legitimize the meeting and cover their tracks. It all makes sense now, as one will hear Councillor Steve Ferguson in the audio recording tell Mayor Green that he has e-mails and such that prove the Green - Richter slate tried to keep Ferguson out of this meeting. They did everything they could to keep him away.  

It is very shameful and disturbing that Mayor Green and his slate publically appear to enspouse openess and transparency, while behind closed doors they plot secret meetings and exclude the public. On Saturday, February 21, 2009, twenty-six members of the public and the press were denied access to a meeting and information that we as taxpayers have paid for. All because this mayor believes he rules the Township with an iron fist and his fellow slate members back him up, instead of objecting on behalf of the public. The "transparency" is 100% optics and is nothing but a sham. 

MEETING NOTES *** UPDATE ***  

• No council meetings this week
• Tuesday, February 24, 2009 - Finance Committee Meeting - 3:15pm - 5:15pm Salmon River Committee Meeting Room Although this meeting does not appearing on the ToL online calendar. Is this meeting at Rick's home or Kim's place?
• No other details on any other secret meetings of slate insiders.