Monday Council - Cllr. Steve Ferguson Proposes Making it Right

Monday, September 14, 2009 Township Council Meetings are as follows:

Special ToL Council Meeting - 3:00pm
Click here for Agenda

Public Hearing - ToL Council Meeting - 7:00pm
Click here for Agenda

Regular ToL Council Meeting - 7:00pm
Click here for Agenda

Councillor Steve Ferguson will present this Motion to Council (see below) in the 3:00pm Special Meeting of ToL Council. Cllr. Ferguson's Motion addresses Mayor Rick Green's presentation before the ALC (in violation of his Oath of Office and the Community Charter). It also addresses Green's ongoing problems working with Council. Despite what the Milner Greens tell you in The Langley Mimes rag, it is Mayor Green that is wrong and not the world.

If the mayor votes against this motion, then clearly Green does not believe himself when he says he represented himself as private citizen and not as mayor when dealing with the ALC. Of course students of democracy and parliamentary procedure will tell you that the mayor cannot shed his fur robe that way. We are certain that Councillor Mel Kositsky will have much to say on this topic, as parliamentary rules and procedures flow through his veins.

Council Steve Ferguson's Motion:

Goals and Directions 2010/11

Whereas Township Council is approaching the end of its first year of
a three-year mandate, and

Whereas the Mayor and Council have specific priorities, goals and
direction they wish to be presented at the Council table, and
Whereas Mayor and Council are bound by the Community Charter and
certain procedures need to be followed to carry out Council direction, and
Mayor and Council need to work together as cohesively as possible,

Be it resolved that the Township of Langley hire a consultant to do the
following:

1. Meet with the Mayor and each Councillor to clarify concerns, individual
goals, and possible directions for the next two years.

2. Have a workshop with Mayor and Council to discuss issues of concern,
procedural matters, and team-building relations.

3. Report back to Mayor and Council on the findings.

Mayor Down to Last Three Friends

Apparently Mayor Rick Green is down to his last three friends as VALTAC ignores parliamentary protocol and the Community Charter and blindly defends the mayor's actions at the ALC. You will recall that VALTAC once purported to endorse a return of the old Interurban passenger rail line, one that cuts through mostly agricultural lands and does not serve areas of regional density and development.

Over the past year, it is clear that VALTAC's clear motivation is to promote a family legacy at Mufford Crescent. VALTAC chairperson Lee Lockwood and members Roy Mufford and Jacob de Raadt accompanied the mayor to the ALC and now claim that the mayor represented himself as you can read here.

The mayor's presentation is clear and the ALC does not grant audiences or receive delegations from ordinary residents. Mr. Lockwood ignores the CLEAR fact that Mayor Green used his position as mayor to get the meeting with the ALC. In his own submission he admits to contacting the ALC when he was just Mayor-Elect to try and bully them. Former Mayor Kurt Alberts had not even vacated the seat when Green and his last remaining friends tried to get their own way and ignore the wishes of the majority of Township residents.

Shame on VALTAC for receiving taxpayer money (ToL Community Grant) and use of Township facilities and other ToL resources to fight the democratic will of a democratically-elected Council.

Should Township Council Censure Mayor Green?

Since first posting this story the Editorial Board has been bombarded with suggestions that Township Council should teach this mayor a BIG lesson and CENSURE him. As you can see from this Wikipedia article, Mayor Rick Green has certainly done enough to earn himself a censure.

ToL Council is wise and perhaps they are already seeking their very own legal opinions as to whether to take action against this loose canon? Are they? Should they? Could this be in the works?

Censure will certainly KILL any working relationship between this mayor and council, even if it is well-deserved. What would the bully do about that?

Note this from the Wikipedia article and tell us if this sounds like Mayor Rick Green's recent actions to you:

"(6) he disobeys the assembly's will and substitutes his own"

Township Big Gun Lawyers Set To Bully On Behalf Of Mayor?

The Editorial Board of The Langley Record recently discovered that last Friday the law firm that represents the Township of Langley (BULL HOUSER & TUPPER) accessed The Langley Record six times. You can see the firm's name in the upper left corner of the image above. It is now clear that someone at Langley Township hall asked for a legal opinion on The Langley Record, and swiftly.

Is this yet another bullying attempt by this mayor that has very thin skin? A mayor that ran on a platform of "openess and accountability"? Clearly this was mearly election rhetoric with the bullying tactics and his frequent crushing of democratic process.

More importantly, if Mayor Green was really and truly representing HIMSELF as a private citizen only, then why is he spending very costly Township resources like BULL HOUSER & TUPPER and not his very own private lawyer, supporter, insider, and appointee? Apprently even the mayor doesn't believe he was acting as a private citizen.

Mayor and The Milner Greens Form Secret Committee to Fight ToL Council

Delving deeper into Mayor Rick Green's submission to the ALC is proving to be very interesting. Take this one entitled, "REQUEST TO THE AGRICULTURAL LAND COMMISSION" once again:

"Our committee on behalf of our community urges the ALC to consider all our arguments..."

What committee is this? We checked the membership list of the Milner Community Association and Mayor Rick Green appears nowhere on it. So, it now appears that a secret committee was formed by the mayor to fight the will of Township Council. You may also recall that Mayor Rick Green decided to hold his first two "Mayor's Meetings" at the Milner Community Chapel Hall coincidentally before and after the 64th Avenue overpass.

Township funds paid for two costly ads in both The Langley Times and The Langley Advance. These ads wasted space by running a large old photo of Mayor Green (yes, that one which looks nothing like him but he orders all to use). Apparently this costly advertising paid with taxpayer dollars was to promote a secret committee comprised of Mayor Rick Green and some loyal supports. Should the mayor be paying us back for these costly ads out of his personal pocket? We think so!

Did Mayor Green use Township meeting rooms and staff time with this secret committee to fight Council? Take a good look at the documents we posted in our first article on the mayor's submission to the ALC. Minus the Township letterhead (with the mayor's old photo on it again), you can see the letter follows the same format used on official Township letters. Indeed, the very first slide with photos are clearly photographs used on the large screens in Council meetings and in official Township publications. Did Mayor Green get written permission from the copyright holders to use these photographs for his secret committee work?

Is the Mayor of the Township of Langley legally allowed to form a secret committee to act behind the backs of a properly elected Council, with the chief aim of this committee to overthrow the will of said Council? We think Mayor Green needs to put the big ego aside and address these issues and promptly issue a reimbursement of costs to the taxpayers and PRONTO.

During our research we found this gem from Councillor Kim Richter's blog dated February 10, 2006. We gather that the Milner Community, led by the Milner Greens warmed her little heart and caused her to change her opinion of Milner?

"You know that neat looking little church on Glover in Milner? Well, you better. Your Township Council on Page 3 agreed to spend your tax dollars to the tune of $132,000. Add this to the previous $400,000 given to the Milner Community Association and you now have invested well over half a million dollars for a heritage building. Good or bad investment? You decide."

-- Councillor Kim Richter's Blog

Should Township Staff Sue Mayor Green?

Anyone following Langley Township politics knows that Mayor Green has blasted ToL staff many times on many issues. A professional staff with impeccable credentials such things as engineering, municipal administration and finance. Yet, The Grocer That Couldn't knows more than all of these professionals. Or is it the Milner Greens? Those insiders that have convinced the grocer they know more than Township staff?

Throughout his submission to the ALC, Mayor Green accuses staff and funding partners of "Biased and misleading statements." He quotes over and over the biased opinions of men long past their prime who graduated from engineering programs that are now part of ancient history. But when you are getting up there in age yourself, you can't possibly listen to the younger folk or learn anything from then now can you?

There are many others, but here is a real damning quote against ToL staff, directly from Mayor Green's submission to the ALC entitled, REQUEST TO THE AGRICULTURAL LAND COMMISSION:

"This proposal was poorly contrived; planned and designed in-house with a veiled public consultation process to meet the legal minimums and deniable application made to the ALC."

-- W.R. Rick Green, Mayor of the Township of Langley

Stay tuned Tuesday as we tell you how Mayor Rick Green formed a secret committee with the Milner Greens to fight the will of Township Council and very possibly used Township staff and resources to serve this secret committee.