Just Like a Bad Dream - Only This One Doesn't Go Away

Sonya Paterson, a former defeated Township Council candidate (who ran on Richter's invisible slate) seems to be doing Councillor Kim Richter's dirty work yet again. You will recall that Paterson appeared before Township Council (after filing a jaded, if not inaccurate Delegation Request) last year to ask who the tens of thousands of Mufford overpass supporters were. Just like the rest of her crew, Paterson just couldn't let the issue drop after the group tried to intimidate Council and behave as disrespectful children. In fact, she just can't seem to let go with much of anything. NOT being elected should have sent a clear sign to Paterson that the ToL taxpayer is not impressed with her sideshows, and computer reconfigurations that mysteriously send out caustic e-mails all by themselves don't seem to command much credibility from the general public. Those "reconfigurations" occurred several times for Paterson.

After that zany Paterson Council delegation, Councillor Kim Richter promptly filed a Notice of Motion regarding the matter. At the next meeting when the Richter motion came up, Paterson we are told was present and smiling in the audience, accompanied by one piss poor "videographer". The Cheshire Cat smiles quickly vanished when even former slate pal, Mayor Green, did not second this wacky motion. In fact, no one seconded it and Paterson made the walk of shame out of Council chambers in defeat once again. You may also recall that prior to these antics, Paterson tried unsuccessfully to get both langley MLA's criminally charged by the RCMP for what she viewed as a violation of the Elections Act for their endorsement of some Langley School Board candidates. It was yet another embarrassing crash and burn defeat when the RCMP announced they had investigated the matter and found no grounds for this and other accusations against Township Councillor Jordan Bateman who Paterson also tried to pull into the matter. You would think someone would smarts after all that negativity and move out to another province or something to get away from all that embarrassment.

But....

Now the Editorial Board of the Langley Record uncovered some rising chatter with word that Sonya Paterson this week made some calls that included the local media outlets. We understand that she was also requesting that Mayor Green interrogate some Council members because they that had non-secretly met in the Municipal Facility with some leadership of the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) to get an update on several Langley files and to discuss troubling gravel extraction applications and what the Township could do to prevent them. A good thing for the citizens of the Township, don't you think?

Apparently Paterson did not study the duties of a councillor to see that it includes meeting with staff and other orders of government to gather facts, expert opinions and relevant data, in order for them to make informed decisions on our behalf. It's a good thing this one didn't get elected, eh? More importantly, Sonya Paterson was not at the Municipal Facility during the time of this meeting we have discovered through our investigation. So, did Councillor Kim Richter get Paterson to do her dirty work once again?

Paterson really should examine who her friends really are. Both Councillor Kim Richter and an unnamed significant other have been overheard in public places several times laughing at Paterson for her zany antics. The most recent chuckle was at the most recent Douglas Day Banquet when Richter belittled Paterson for hiring two psychics to try and locate her little missing dog. It was a cruel maneuver that shocked more than a few guests. While these guests had no love for Ms. Paterson, given her circumstances with that poor little pooch gone missing not far from a major roadway, we don't see any humour in this latest Richter outburst that could not be overheard. Yet Richter and company laughed the night away at Sonya's expense once again.

While the Editorial Board of this blog doesn't consult mystics and psychics as a news source or otherwise, we could understand Sonya Paterson doing everything she possibly could to locate this (apparently) prized little doggy of hers.

The moral of the story is....When you become someone's puppet, they tend to lose all respect for you. Is that the case here perhaps?

Haiti Relief - A Langley Home Town Effort

A faithful reader of this blog has asked if we could provide information to our readers regarding a local effort to help Haiti. As The Langley Record is meant to be a hometown Langley news outlet that cares very much about our community and people in general. We are happy to take time out of our political coverage to aid the efforts of people in our community that are reaching out to help the poor people of Haiti that are suffering so much. Please read the information and links here and consider a generous donation today.

Global Aid Network (GAiN) is a division of Power to Change, based right here in Langley. The Vancouver Giants is partnering with GAiN and the Langley Events Centre to raise money for the Haiti relief efforts. The Vancouver Giants press release says in part:

When Giants fans cheer on their team at the Langley Events Centre on Saturday, January 30th against the Prince George Cougars and on Sunday, January 31st against the Portland Winter Hawks, they can
also make a donation towards Haiti relief efforts.

GAiN will have a booth set up in the concourse of the Langley Events Centre where spectators can make their donations and information on how they can give will appear on the jumbo-tron and announcements will be made throughout the game.

GAiN is already on the ground in Haiti. They are busy distributing emergency kits that contain food, water purification tablets, tents and other basic necessities. They are also running medical clinics and providing trauma counselling for survivors. Until February 12th , the Canadian Federal Government will match your donation.

If you won't be at the game, please take a moment to click here and give a generous donation online to GAiN now!

So Where Did This All Come From?

This blog has always called it like it is and we never removed posts to pander to any political forces. We have also been fair to praise and fair to criticize. This week saw Mayor Rick Green present HIS Annual Report. This report traditionally focused on COUNCIL accomplishments and other major events that occurred the previous year in the Township. The Editorial Board of The Langley Record has now received word back from several spectators in the Council audience that night, or who watched the proceedings on television.

The response was overwhelming that this Annual Report was a Rick Green report, all about him. He neglected some significant projects that launched in 2009 and "Mayor" Ferguson gave his report afterward to remind the mayor. What was neglected? Things like the opening of the Golden Ears Bridge, the Langley Events Centre (where Mayor Green holds season tickets), the long-awaited opening of the Salvation Army's Gateway of Hope and a host of others. At one point Councillor Richter even leans over to her Council colleagues to comment on this "ME" report. We obtained the audio files from the ToL and enhanced them for clarity to make sure.

Councillor Richter and others made copious notes and while watching with the Board on TV, we thought certain she would refute Mayor Green point by point. We do have to credit her with asking for clarification on the Mayor's rail task force, but we had anticipated more with all the note taking. Quite frankly this task force should be the least of our worries and Richter should have much bigger fish to fry.

While we praise Councillor Richter for speaking out at the meeting and through her "political strategist", we must also ask her how this situation with her and Mayor Green being at odds is just NOW coming to light? It is no secret around the Council table that Richter has reached out to the "Council Six-Pack" and others with somewhat of a gesture of peace. At the Douglas Day Banquet, Cllr. Richter interrupted a guest speaking with former Mayor Kurt Alberts in order to tell Kurt that he was greatly missed at the Council table and how this new mayor is something else. Several people directly heard and reported these statements to The Record. So, where did all this displeasure come from and when????

Councillor Kim Richter has spent her career on Council building walls around her contrarian views and tactics. Why on earth would any intelligent Council member throw away common sense and simply trust her just like that? Richter's "political pundit" did not help her win friends and influence people with her latest blog post. In fact, he has publicly stated that Kim Richter doesn't trust anyone. So, why should she be trusted?

If Kim wants to earn back the respect of Council, she is going to have to be up front and voice her displeasure in public and at the Council table. No more behind the scenes lobbying and a clear stance on the issues at hand. As Kim always says, "If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck". To which we add.... Quack! Quack! Quack!

And while we are at it, what's up with the removal of comments and replacement of her "Editor's" lame attempt to smooth over the previous strong stand?

Little does Cllr. Richter know, but her Council colleagues love to have her "political brain trust"... "The Editor" back in action. It only gives them more reasons not to trust her. She certainly does much better alone. Now if she just comes out of the closet (or perhaps back room) and speak her mind in public, she may give her colleagues legitimate reason to work with her. She has certainly taken a baby step in the right direction and for that we salute her efforts. Now what?