The Langley Record

Langley Today Now Open For Business

2010-09-21T12:43:00.001-07:00

The Editorial Board of the Langley Record wishes to thank all readers for their loyalty, comments and participation. Going forward, Langley Today will provide the Political coverage you have grown to expect, as well as Business, Sports, General News, Arts/Culture, Healt, Lifestyle and other community coverage. Join us at Langley Today - Click Here

Langley Record Acquired

2010-09-20T22:33:00.000-07:00

Many months ago we reported negotiations between the Editorial Board of the Langley Record and an unnamed news organization to acquire us. We can now confirm that a deal was reached earlier this month for the Langley Record to be taken over. The official handover occurred last Friday and we will soon be providing a link to the new site. Stay tuned!

Time For A Full BC Law Society Investigation

2010-09-19T17:18:00.000-07:00

The Law Society of BC
Annotated Professional Conduct Handbook CHAPTER 2 - INTEGRITY

Dishonourable conduct

1. A lawyer must not, in private life, extra-professional activities or professional practice, engage in dishonourable or questionable conduct that casts doubt on the lawyer's professional integrity or competence, or reflects adversely on the integrity of the legal profession or the administration of justice.

Last week it was suggested by Mayor Rick Green that the brown enveloped discussed in our previous post came to him anonymously in his mailbox. But after Green's press conference the regional media did some digging and found that this could be yet another false witness from Mayor Green. People named in the corporate documents know that a single person accessed those real estate documents, and that there are specific rules around how they are accessed.

Is Mayor Green misleading the citizens of the Township of Langley in an attempt to protect a campaign supporter and local real estate lawyer? We've been connecting those dots and something just doesn't add up when Green tried to whitewash this whole incident and place the blame solely on Township Council. How can we trust a man that has been proven to mislead lawyers and Council for about 10 months?

It is high time that the folks in the know expose this local lawyer and file a formal complaint with the Law Society of BC so that this individual is fully investigated. If wrongdoing is found to be true and he perpetrated this act to smear people in our community, then the book needs to be thrown at him.

It is high time that Mayor Green stop protecting his friends and starts telling us how he really came to receive the documents in question and what the purpose and intent was. It is high time to bring this lawyer to justice. We call on the Law Society of BC to investigate the matter now and not wait any longer.

Was Mayor Green's Brown Envelope Really Anonymous?

2010-09-16T19:38:00.000-07:00

Examining the whole official release of information on the censuring of Mayor Rick Green, one wonders if Council may have ceased the investigation only to the point where censure was recommended, in order to save taxpayers the additional legal expenses. It's apparently that for many months the mayor frustrated the councillors and caused this issue to drag on in camera. Of course Green could later suggested that they wasted money on the legal bill. How convenient.

After Mayor Green's press conference, Cllr. Charlie Fox indicated that perhaps the mayor's receipt of the anonymous brown envelope wasn't so anonymous. Fox suggested that it may be profitable for the media to examine how the Corporate Share Registry data released by Green was officially obtained in the first instance.

The Vancouver Sun came close to the issue in this article that included an interview with Brownshak's sole Director, Mr. Joel Schacter, a Langley realtor and developer. The Vancouver Sun reports:

"Schacter, who has been involved with Brownshak on and off since 1983 and now uses it as a shell company for when he buys new properties, said the only person who has asked him in the last year for Brownshak's corporate records is an associate of the mayor's. He alleges Green dredged up the old, "non-story" for political gain"

"I'm quite disturbed. It's totally political gamesmanship going on. People were trying to embarrass people and I don't know why," Schacter said"

None of the main stream media have investigated this issue, further to identify who this "associate of the mayor's" really is. Connecting the dots a bit here, we all know there was a legal beagle who served prominently in Green's campaign. Interesting enough, this lawyer in fact practices real estate law. Maybe our local newspapers or the regional media as a whole should ask Mayor Rick Green flat out where he obtained the Corporate Share Registry documents. This answer may yield greater knowledge of the concerns that Township Council, and that may be way beyond what was released when they censured the mayor.

Joan Bech Resigns

2010-09-16T11:32:00.000-07:00

BREAKING NEWS

At 10:00am this morning Langley School Board Chair Joan Bech resigned. Despite our previous post about her moving to the Sunshine Coast, Bech claims that some School Board Trustees asked her to resign. She states that although she didn't agree with them, she tendered her resignation so as to not make waves. Instead of stating the true reason, her move.

Was the Langley Record instrumental in getting Joan Bech or other Trustees to see the light? Only the insiders know.

One Langley Newspaper Understands The Green Saga

2010-09-15T02:05:00.000-07:00

Word for word from Langley Advance Editor Bob Groeneveld, except for the document links he provided on his blog. He understands the issue well. Read all his posts here.

On a happier note, I was able to file a story from Mayor Green's surreal press conference at the Advance home page (click here), which includes last night's story about the censure, plus related council motions and resolutions.

And I spent much of the day speaking to outside news media, who seemed to think that I might have some special insights to help guide them through this incredibly convoluted story.

You can click here for the press release Mayor Green read out at the press conference. He makes it all seem so simple. But it's not. It doesn't look like there's anything factually wrong with it… but his interpretation of events doesn't perfectly match with the reality as interpreted by any other individuals in the known universe.

I have not included the "anonymous" letter or the Brownshak Developments Ltd. central securities register that the mayor included in his press packets. The allegations related to that information were nonsense 10 years ago, they're still nonsense today, and I will not be a party to promulgating them further.

Councillor Charlie Fox, who sat in the gallery with Coun. Grant Ward during the mayor's accounting of the events leading up to his censure, summed it all up nicely in a single word: credibility.

The Langley Times Finally Reports

2010-09-14T14:26:00.000-07:00

The Langley Times has finally reported on Langley's biggest story of the past 24 hours here. The regional media has not bought into Green's claims. That same regional media is reporting the facts....Green misled Council and has been censured for his wrongdoing. Again, how could these men and women AND us citizens ever trust him?

What's Wrong With This Picture?

2010-09-14T09:22:00.001-07:00

Right now we have the biggest news story in Langley - Mayor Green censured. It started at 6:00pm last night. The Advance ran the story front page almost immediate. The Times? Have a look. See what we have been saying all along? --Ed

Mayor Green Misled Council and Township Lawyers

2010-09-14T03:00:00.000-07:00

Even More BREAKING NEWS

A shocking release late yesterday from the Township of Langley Council perhaps provides the proof as to why Township Council has been unable to work with this mayor and for good reason. Mayor Green apologized verbally and in writing to Council and Township lawyers for misleading them! Beforehand, Green was trying to accuse two innocent Township residents and a municipal employee of "improper or unlawful conduct".

This press release details that facts that include 1) Green misled Council in calling an Emergency Meeting of Council back on October 29, 2009 and then "The Mayor misrepresented his knowledge of the true facts and failed to disclose to Council true facts". Click on this press release here:

This was partly related to an anonymous letter that Green alleged supported allegations of improper or unlawful conduct on the part of two Township residents and a municipal employee. A claim that apparently has be judged unfounded by Council in affirming confidence in the employee.

Council has apparently been giving Mayor Green the benefit of due process by keeping these incidents in-camera for almost a year. We are told that at today's Special Meeting of Council men identified as lawyers had been seen rushing in and out of the meeting and bring Township Chief Administrative Office (CAO) Mark Bakken behind closed doors for at least 4 discussions. Council finally moved decisively to censure Mayor Green today and to remove him from committees. Here is the motion approved by Township Council with Mayor Green opposed. Click document to enlarge:

Mayor Green has called a press conference at the Township's Municipal Facility for 10:00am on Tuesday, September 14, 2010 to explain himself. This should be a very tall tail after all the apparent shenanigans over the past year. Now we see why Council could not work with this mayor and why Green tried at all cost to paint Council as the black hearts. A large crack in Green's armour has occurred and it will be interesting to see if he can now humble himself a bit and face the facts.

Note that this was not the "Council Six-Pack" leading the charge here, as Cllr. Kim Richter is the councillor that put forth the motion to censure and apply punishment.

HST REFERENDUM

2010-09-13T15:56:00.000-07:00

MORE BREAKING NEWS

The Vancouver Sun is reporting that a Liberal-dominated legislative committee has voted today to hold a province-wide referendum to determine the fate of the anti-HST petition. The referendum will be held on September 24, 2011 and could cost as much as $30M.

Break News - Another School Board Fiasco?

2010-09-13T14:14:00.000-07:00

BREAKING NEWS

Just a few days after news of this scathing Auditor's report on the Langley School financial situation and a stern rebuke for the School Board to work together, now a news flash.

Calls rang out loud in our newsroom and we have confirmed that School Board Chair Joan Bech has sold her property in Langley and is moving her family to the Sunshine Coast. That would be fine in and of itself, as it should prompt a resignation and by-election.

However, sources tell us that Beck will offer to step down as School Board Chair, but wishes to stay on as a regular Board Member and commute from the Sunshine Coast to Langley for the meetings. In all this mess, does Langley need an absentee School Board Chair? We think not. What about you?

Green Bullies His Way Onto UDI Agenda

2010-09-04T15:54:00.001-07:00

As you compare the new announcement above to this old one we posted last week, you can see who was added. Yes, Mayor Green's bullying has paid off, they gave in an invited Green.

We have it on good authority within the development community that Rick Green called a senior executive within one of the largest development firms in our region and began the call by stating word to the effect that, several large hot pokers had been placed up his (Green's) backside. Our source says the mayor quite use such polite language in his call.

This very unprofessional exchange has made Mayor Green and the Township of Langley the laughing stock of the development world. Some opined it will be hard to look at him in council next time they are there on official business. Apparently Mayor Green will have no problem attending the event now (one to which he was never originally invited to) and speak as if there was never a problem. But, an overwhelming majority of the people attending this UDI event are aware of the call and subsequent invitation. The emperor will have no clothes on September 16th, but his gracious hosts will not let him know.

Taking this all in will be the real respected leader of the Langley's and that is Mayor Peter Fassbender. Mayor Fassbender is the man who enjoys great respect and admiration of his peers and constituents alike. He has the skills and speaking ability to run circles around Rick Green and perhaps that is why the rookie mayor despises Fassbender so much. You've seen it here folks, the bully has gotten his way once again!

What The Mainstream Media Missed About Bateman

2010-09-02T19:28:00.000-07:00

OPINION

By now you've all seen the press regarding Langley Township Councillor Jordan Bateman and his blog post. It is the buzz of all the regional newspapers and media outlets and was the headline story for Global BC and several others. You can find the newspaper accounts here and here. We won't re-hash was transpired, but our Editorial Board has several points to draw from all the facts:

Bateman had the guts to speak his mind. For several years he has been accused of being a puppet for the BC Liberal government and Rich Coleman. Obviously he didn't call Coleman or anyone before his blog post and that should be recognized.
Bateman has been known to read all the reports and materials that come before Township Council. He has surprised more than his share of news reporters by knowing about material buried deep inside a long report. In this instance he took the press at their word and blogged comments based on them.
After reading the released documents and speaking directly with Finance Minister Colin Hansen, Bateman apologized to the finance minister for his call for Hansen's resignation.
Unlike the main stream media news accounts may suggest, Bateman did not "retract" everything he said. Bateman surely does not agree with the way the HST was rolled out and he did not sugar coat that fact.

As we pointed out here on this blog before, a certain mayor, when presented with facts (airport lease rates, impossibility of a 0-0-0 tax increase, non-viability of a land trust system, et al), always sticks to his guns to the end like a stubborn child.

Cllr. Jordan Bateman at least is man enough to apologize for the resignation comments that the facts (documents) didn't support. Bateman did the same shortly after taking his first term in office when he realized there was little fat to cut in the ToL budget.

Interesting to note that well-respected veteran Global political correspondent Keith Baldrey commented this evening that Jordan Bateman is not an "insignificant person". He also said Bateman's blog, Langleypolitics.com is well-read by lots of media types, including Keith Baldrey himself!

Bateman had the guts to speak out on the way the roll out of the HST happened. He was man enough to review the facts related to Hansen, HST foreknowledge and the resignation call and deal with it. You can say what you want, but Bateman was not being a "yes man" today. Our Board members have it on good sources that Bateman was not "ordered" to do anything. He did what he felt was the right thing to do based on the facts and clarification from Hansen.
We say Bravo to Jordan Bateman!

On The Job Sighting - Again

2010-09-02T09:43:00.000-07:00

Another Rick Green "On The Job" photo appeared on the net. During the campaign and after the election Green was famous for fishing up old photographs of himself for the press and official Township photos of himself. If Green Isn't somewhere under the tractor, then he has managed to dig up a very old photo of himself this time around!

Mayor Rick Green Really On The Job?

2010-09-01T10:17:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: SEPT. 1, 2010 @ 1:10PM: LANGLEY TIMES REPORTS JUST OVER 250 PEOPLE ATTENDED THE ALC MEETING. Guess we were being generous :)
This picture surfaced on the Internet with a caption that says Rick Green is on the job. Is this mayor really on the job sitting around in the back row of an empty room? Could this picture be any fuzzier? Great quality Rick!

Oh and a side note. With all this talk of Rick Green being "on the job", he'd better check out the UK meaning of this phrase.

Belly Flop - ALC Meeting

2010-08-31T11:45:00.001-07:00

Last night the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) held a public meeting at the Langley Events Centre (LEC) to hear from residents on the proposed 64th & Mufford overpass. Several of our Board members attended and had varying degrees of reaction.

There was much rallying, emails, threats, and the promotion of this input session by the Farmland Defence League, the Fraser Valley Conservation Coalition, the NDP, Gateway 40 Citizens Network (which purports to represents more than 50 organizations, including labour, environmental, faith, academic and community organizations across the Lower Mainland). Despite all that, roughly 300 people attended this meeting, many of whom do not live in Langley. But they say this is a regional issue. Is this turnout significant? We don't believe so.

According to 2007 figures, some 2,524,113 people call the Lower Mainland home and is supposed to be the geographic area that all these groups claim to represent. Approximately 104,000 live in the Township of Langley and about 25,000 call the City of Langley their home. Additionally, many people attending last night's session were from even outside the Lower Mainland such as Vancouver Island.

The event was complete with the presence of that elected official from the Fraser Valley that purports to represent farmers and agricultural land singlehandedly. Township Council candidate Sonya Paterson was riding the wave, passing out cards with the names of those Township Councillors that voted in favour of the overpass.

One person close to this blog considered the meeting to be mostly respectful and commented that he/she was happy to see farmers from old farm families there. Another respected community leader attended and called the meeting the "Save Our Farmland Disney Episode". He/she said it was "totally negative" and commented that "with not one person with a viable option".

So, here are a couple of perspectives on the meeting. Our Board members point out that there wasn't much respect as some members of the public singled out 3 members of council for special whipping and that was not very respectful whatsoever.

We also hear that during the discussion someone was promoting a certain "corruption" blog that has been dormant for a very long time. It was run by a person in the community with an extensive and very violent criminal past. Interesting that that was being promoted and perhaps some people take that seriously?

Our overall evaluation of the meeting that it was a complete belly flop and Mayor Rick Green and council candidate Sonya Paterson had better count these numbers and pay attention. The backlash from the silent majority that support the overpass could be severe come the next election. Remember who was passing out those cards! Remember that ALR defender that has voted for more non-farm ALR exclusion applications than any other Township politician. 129,000 people live in Langley City and Langley Township. A total of about 300 people attended this meeting. 40 people spoke against the proposal. No point for those supporting the overpass to show up, as they weren't respected in the past. You do the math.

With friends Like Rick Green Agriculture Doesn't Need Enemies!

2010-08-30T04:00:00.000-07:00

This Facebook page recently went up for Township Mayor Rick Green. It says that Mayor Rick Green is on the job and fighting to protect farmers and agriculture. Is Rick Green really a friend of farmers and agriculture? We say that with friends like Rick Green, Agriculture doesn't need any enemies.

Ask anyone in Delta about then Councillor Rick Green and they will tell you that his voting record and statements were far from the protection of agriculture and farming. Green had a track record all right and it would not a good one whatsoever for agriculture. So, has Rick Green gotten religion since moving to the Township of Langley and buying a small hobby farm where he keeps his horses? NO! Not at all!

Since taking office as mayor, Mayor Rick Green has voted for several Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) exclusions that were NOT agriculture related. In other words he voted to approve and send to the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) several applications to exclude land from the ALR and these properties would NOT be used at all for agricultural purposes. Specifically:

Lands across from the Gloucester Industrial Estate
Lands in Aldergrove
Tuscan Farms
Land belonging to Green's campaign donors, the Omelaniecs

These are just a few of the ALR exclusions for non-farming purposes that we recall, Mayor Green recently voted to approve them. Understand that we are not judging the merits good or bad of the property owners or their applications. We just question the true nature of this "agricultural agenda" of Mayor Green. What is it exactly? All this voting was going on while he is supposed to be busy protecting farm lands on our behalf. Moreover, why hasn't our local media questioned Mayor Green's voting for all these non-farm exclusions?

Just this past week, Mr. Lee Lockwood of Aldergrove (a staunch supporter of Mayor Rick Green) filed this Letter to the Editor of the Langley Advance. In this letter Mr. Lockwood says:

"The only reason I can see the need for east/west connectivity is for the eventual development of the Salmon River Uplands, once GVRD water hits that area. This might prove the real economic “prize” for the developers, and this is a subtle way to get fast access built."

Doesn't Mr. Lockwood realize that if Mayor Rick Green's agenda was really to protect the Salmon River Uplands from development, then perhaps he would not have voted for Tuscan Farms, the Omelaniecs and perhaps even the water pipes? Doesn't the "J" Option that Mayor Green and Mr. Lockwood support include the crossing of salmon bearing streams as the "J" is created?

Clearly Mayor Rick Green is not for farmers or agriculture. Check out his voting record and ignore the rhetoric and his campaigns about "fighting" this or that. Mayor Green's voting record speaks volumes to the fact that once again he says one thing and votes another. Shame on those that will believe the rhetoric and ignore the facts.

Mayor Rick Green - More Proof of Our Regional Shame

2010-08-27T20:11:00.000-07:00

Yet more proof that rookie Township Mayor Rick Green has shamed our lovely community in the eyes of the region. The Urban Development Institute (UDI) is holding a luncheon and Regional Mayor's Forum to discuss all the growth in Langley, Abbotsford and Coquitlam.

As you know, the Township of Langley has about 104,000 residents, while the City of Langley has only about 20-25,000 residents. Yet UDI, in its search for real mayors to speak at this forum decided to invite Mayor Peter Fassbender of the City of Langley to speak. This is yet another sign that even private industry are shying away from our raging bull mayor.

See for yourself right here folks in this UDI flyer announcing the event. Emails have circulated around the planet and Mayor Rick Green does not appear anywhere on it. This all despite the fact that the Township of Langley has over 3 times the growth of that of the City of Langley. As we have pointed out before, Mayor Peter Fassbender is a well-respected public official in ALL of Metro Vancouver. Mayor Rick Green can only dream of obtaining half of that respect.

One has to ask themselves why such a respected organization such as UDI would shun Mayor Rick Green. Examine the facts. Examine his record of not getting anything done since elected. Examine his methods of operation and all those "fight" announcement from him on the various issues. Examine his alienation from the various professional boards and commissions, MLAs and other orders of government. You could also point to the fact that unless Mayor Green is reading word-for-word from a pre-prepared statement, the man is NOT a very good public speaker, while Fassbender waxes eloquent EVERY time, no mater what the topic.

Now can you understand why Mayor Peter Fassbender was selected over Green to represent Langley in a professional manner? Stay tuned for more news on this story. Late today our Editorial Board got a news flash from our friends in the development community. Apparently Mayor Green was VERY enraged by this event flyer and some phone lines were burnt in the process. More news to follow soon.

Rick Green Wasting Taxpayers Dollars on This Blog

2010-08-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

The Long Arm of The Law

Perhaps Mayor Green doesn't know it, but through our tracking systems we can tell when a major company, ISP or law firm accesses our site. This tracking information tells us when the firm visited, how they came to us (search engine, direct, etc.), what web pages they read and how long they stayed on the site.

We have now confirmed that once again Bull Housser & Tupper LLC, the law firm representing the Township of Langley, has accessed our website. This is now the ninth (9th) time that Bull Housser & Tupper has perused the site. Each of the nine visits directly followed our posting of an article that was unfavourable to Mayor Rick Green. The mayor really has a BIG problem with us exposing the truth!

Bull Housser & Tupper LLC (BHT) is a very good law firm. As they work for municipal governments, they are not a cheap firm to engage. Check out that website with the leather furniture and prime offices hanging sky high above Vancouver. The firm bill out to the Township at hundreds of dollars per hour for a little look at this website and the resulting report to the municipal official that ordered the legal opinion. With nine BHT visits to our site just this year, Mayor Green is foolishly wasting our tax dollars to chase this blog. In our opinion the mayor should really get himself some thicker skin and stop wasting our tax dollars.

Our investigation shows further that Mayor Green has wasted far more tax dollars for legal opinions than that of his predecessor, former Mayor Kurt Alberts. Just how much money has Green's insecurity, thin skin and easily bruised ego cost us taxpayers? Mr. Mayor - Thicken your skin and stop wasting our hard earned tax dollars. The Township lawyers are not your private consigliere. They are for official Township business to consult on matters of special interest and protection of our residents rights. All of these legal fees are coming from budgets that you Mayor Green have never voted to approve in the 2+ years you have been in office.

Mayor Green, if you are so tender and delicate then you don't belong in politics. You can't bully ever news editor around like you do to one particular local editor that you have in your pocket.

It is high time that Mayor Rick Green grows up and stops the folly of chasing an anonymous blog!

Green Still Doesn't Get It

2010-08-21T11:20:00.000-07:00

Mayor Green is still a rookie mayor, but since taking office in December of 2008 he is yet to learn what the job entails and how to be an effective leader. Unlike councillors, mayors take an oath to uphold the "Will of Council". Several times, Mayor Green has blatantly ignored the will of council and forged ahead with his own agenda. A classic example of this was the Mufford Overpass.

Green dragged council through the mud and forced them to vote on the issue twice. Despite the overpass receiving majority approval, Green refused to vote for the usual funding allocations for it during the budget process and continued to rally the ALC and others. Green said he was doing so as I "private citizen", just as he has done several times. But each time his correspondence has made it clear that he is writing as mayor.

Now within the past week, Mayor Green has once again clobbered people over the head. People that he should be diplomatic with in order to work with them. The ALC did something highly unusual by agreeing to meet with Mufford area farmers on the overpass application. The ALC is not required to meet with the public, but they did. The Commission also decided to hold a public open house on the Mufford Overpass in late August. They notified stakeholders and took out advertising in local newspapers well in advance.

Many public bodies such as Metro Vancouver and TransLink hold public input sessions over the summer months. But Mayor Green feels these meetings should be scheduled when he feels they should. Green sent this very unprofessional e-mail to the ALC (clearly as Mayor of the Township). An e-mail that has now been circulated around the planet by a VERY left-leaning loose cannon. Here is what Green said to Tony Pellett, Registered Planner for the ALC:

Tony: I am in total disbelief of the notice I just received from your office regarding the scheduling of a public information / input meeting for Monday August 30^th7:00pm – 9:30pm regarding the Mufford / 64^th Overpass proposal. This project has been under consideration and in limbo for the past 18 months and in 1 month during the summer we have now received the notice of two meetings, one for direct land owners and farmers (just held during their busiest time of year) and the second for the public during the last week of the summer (many people taking advantage of their last week of summer holidays), and “we wonder why people are skeptical of decisions made by government or their agencies”? I must send my strongest opposition to the timing of this proposed meeting. IF, due to holidays by staff at the ALC, I am asking for it to be rescheduled for later in September.

Please advise at your earliest convenience.

Rick Green
Mayor
Langley Township

Again, Mayor Green is keenly aware of the Will of Council on this issue. This is just one of MANY examples why this council does not feel they can trust Mayor Rick Green. Regardless of whether you are for or against the Mufford Overpass, the mayor has been given very clear responsibilities by the Community Charter and the oath he has taken. Yet he continues to act out as a raging bull.

The Two Faces of Mayor Rick Green

2010-08-18T19:31:00.000-07:00

Since Mayor Rick Green took office, he has NEVER voted to approve a budget that among other things, would fund our Township Fire Department. In fact, shortly after taking office Mayor Green realized that significant tax dollars go to fund police and fire services, or "Protective Services".

Green commenced putting pressure on several department heads to make cost-cutting recommendations. One of the department heads who faced heat and pressure from Green was Township Fire Chief Doug Wade. Wade did as requested and presented what could be done to reduce the fire budget and that was to put off the planned full-time hall in Walnut Grove. This at the same time the Golden Ears Bridge was about to open. But Wade only did as directed and that was to detail what COULD be done. A majority of Council voted to fund the fire hall.

The following budget year under the same pressure, Wade again complied with other recommendations. Mayor Green would tell you as he did in the campaign that his son-in-law is a firefighter elsewhere and that he fully supports the Township Fire Department. But in Council through budget votes and demands, his actions have spoken louder than his rhetoric.

Then there was the 2009 Canada Day celebrations where Mayor Green got frustrated from a lack of parking available to him. Green ordered a Township Firefighter to remove his official fire vehicle so that he could park his personal vehicle at the site. All with a total lack of concern for public safety.

Not long ago Mayor Green ran into some firefighters who were on duty. They were purchasing food for the meals they are entitled to eat while on duty and the fire apparatus was parked outside as they made a quick stop. Mayor Green quickly made a call to a fire official asking why the fire truck and these fire fighters were at the market. The response was that they are allowed to eat their dinners.

Now comes word through this Langley Advance article and a similar article in the Langley Times that last week's brush fire was a little too close for comfort for Mayor Green and his acreage.

Another resident grateful to the firefighters is Township Mayor Rick Green.
"That was a couple of hundred yards from my place," the mayor said. He was considering trying to evacuate his five horses and other livestock before the fire was brought under control.
"This has been my worst nightmare," Green said. He examined the extent of the damage from the two fires on Sunday and was amazed at how much land had been scorched. "The fire department did an outstanding job," Green said.

Now we don't wish fire on anyone and that certainly would include Mayor Rick Green. But this love-hate relationship of Green with the Township firefighters is odd at best. Will Mayor Green's gratefulness cause him to finally approve a budget to pay for the fire department next time around? Green's relationship with the fire department is as dysfunctional as his relationship with our two Langley MLA's.

You can't have it both ways Mayor Green. Either you show leadership by supporting and paying for these vital services with your budget vote, or you step aside because of some very weak leadership. Which will it be? Fire is everyone's "worst nightmare" Mayor Green. This is why we fund a fire department and proper equipment.

The Priviledged?

2010-07-26T13:00:00.001-07:00

The phone lines of our Editorial Board was abuzz the past few days with news of yet another insight into Mayor Rick Green's ego. We first tried to ignore this one, as we did not want it to be seen as just some personal attack on Rick Green. We often beat out the mainstream press on the story, if they report these things at all. But, Langley Advance Editor Bob Groeneveld was significantly offended with Mayor Green at this past week's BC Summer Games, that he wrote what we had received a ton of calls about:

"Because the food service was running behind, we were herded into reasonably comfortable quarters at Christian Life Assembly, where we cooled our heels for about 45 minutes, and then were ushered into the now-rapidly-dwindling line of kids — who had been waiting that same amount of time, but out in the hot sun.

Then an amazing thing happened. Instead of waiting in line, His Worship Mayor Rick Green managed to wangle a spot ahead of the last batch of kids.

We ”VIPs” were all invited to join him ahead of the kids. All but a very few declined. I was NOT going to eat while those kids – most of whom had come great distances to experience Langley’s hospitality — continued to wait for their supper. In the end, when we got our food, after the kids had had theirs, I found (and others concurred) that it was worth the wait.

I wonder if Green and the handful of bigshots who joined him — while some of the kids were still waiting to be fed — enjoyed their meals as much as we did.

Just wondering, that’s all. Since it’s really supposed to be all about the kids, that is."

-- Bob Groeneveld

The BC Summer Games are all about the kids. Groeneveld and many others in our community understood that clearly. Apparently Mayor Rick Green did not. Back in April of this year we reported on the Township's Volunteer Appreciation Dinner. Mayor Green was co-MC with a very well spoken high school gal. At one point during the program this young girl apparently started speaking a paragraph that was meant to be read by Mayor Green. It was nothing noteworthy or earth shattering, but Mayor Green quickly started to speak and boom loudly over this poor your girl. In shock, this young girl stepped back from the microphone and gasped. The audience of several hundred people did much the same and looked at each other in amazement.

These events give clear insight into the mindset and ego of Mayor Rick Green. We are extremely pleased that the mainstream media is starting to catch on. Apparently Green and his buddies feel a sense of "entitlement" and this entitlement allows them to trample on our youth if required. Are they insignificant in comparison to His Worship? Apparently Editor Bob Groeneveld is wondering the very same thing.

A Case For Privacy - What Do You Think?

2010-07-20T11:27:00.000-07:00

Our Editorial Board received this article written by The Hon. Tony Clement, Federal Industry Minister. We tend to agree with Clement. Like telemarketers, selling our personal information to marketing firms only invades the privacy of Canadians. We've all either received a long form or had friends that have. Stats Can is very aggressive with people that ignore the first notice and basically they FORCE Canadians to answer very personal questions over the phone with them under threat of law. In our opinion it is high time with policy CEASE. We wonder how you feel? Please post your comments.

Do you believe that the government should be asking you what time you leave for work in the morning? Whether your house needs renovations? Or how many bedrooms you have?

What if you discovered that the federal government requires Canadians to divulge this private information under the threat of fines or jail time, only to turn around and sell it to marketing firms looking to sell you their products?

Until recently, this was the case in Canada.

Every five years the federal government conducts a national census. It is made up of two parts — the short-form and the long-form. The short-form census is a mandatory eight-question survey. It is sent to all Canadians and asks questions such as date of birth, gender, marital status and mother tongue.

The long-form census is a 47-question survey sent to 20 per cent of households. It asks a number of personal and intrusive questions such as the number of bedrooms in your house, and the size of your utility bill.

Until last month, completion of the long-form census was mandatory. Canadians who refused to fill it out risked prosecution. During the last census the long-form portion was sent to approximately 2.5 million households. More than 160,000 Canadian refused to fill it out, a five-fold increase over 1981. More than sixty of those who refused were referred by the government for prosecution.

There are some people, including the leader of the Liberal party, Michael Ignatieff, who believe that Canadians should be forced to divulge intimate, private details about their personal lives to the federal government. We disagree. We believe Canadians should be free to choose whether they share the private details of their lives with federal government. Acting on this belief, the government recently announced that the long-form version of the 2011 Census will be voluntary.

Canadians will still be required to complete the standard short-form census that provides basic, necessary information that every government needs. The only substantive change is that the long-form will now be voluntary. Statistics Canada will continue to conduct and oversee the census process. And its employees will maintain the same rigorous methods and standards used for all of its surveys.

We believe this new approach strikes a fair and reasonable balance between ensuring the federal government has the basic information every government requires, and protecting the privacy of Canadian citizens.

Another Credibility Issue For Mayor Rick Green

2010-07-17T14:04:00.000-07:00

In a July 5, 2010 meeting of Township Council, Mayor Rick Green was asked by councillors how he would be voting at the Metro Vancouver Board regarding the Regional Solid Waste Management Plan. Green stated that there would be a final Metro Vancouver public hearing on the plan on July 14, 2010. Mayor Green stated that after this meeting he would have enough information to vote at Metro.

The Metro Vancouver public hearing did in fact take place this past Wednesday, July 14, 2010. The meeting was well-attended and we hear those attending this meeting actually exceeded capacity of the Metro boardroom.

We received several reports and have now confirmed that Mayor Rick Green was not present at this very important meeting. The Township of Langley had no official representative sitting at the table for this public hearing and Cllr. Grant Ward was seen in the audience. But where was Mayor Green??

Once again Mayor Green makes statements in open Council (and now on webcast) pontificating about "serious issues" and the numerous "questions" he has about various proposals such as this Regional Solid Waste Management Plan. But as with this one, Green fails to attend the important meeting that he claimed would help him decided and vote. How can anyone take this mayor at face value?

The Editorial Board of the Langley Record does hope that someone on Township Council will note this inconsistency and take the mayor to task. It was irresponsible of him to miss this meeting, especially after his pontification at the council table.

Credibility Lacking?

2010-07-14T11:18:00.000-07:00

Recently some Metro Vancouver issues have caught the attention of Township Council. Mayor Rick Green is the Township's Metro Vancouver representative for the five votes the Township has at the Metro table. Therefore, Council must query Green as to how he anticipates he will vote on these very important Metro issues.

First there was the expansion proposal for the U-Pass (see article here). Presently only students at UBC and SFU are allowed to purchase the $30 transit pass that allowed them unlimited transit for the month. Metro's proposal is to expand the pass to cover all post-secondary institutions. When Council asked Green how he would vote on the U-Pass, Green indicated he would need to receive his Metro agenda packet and information before he could decide. After some discussion Green then stated that Council could pass a motion to instruct the mayor how to vote (which they did). As you can see from the article, Green's credibility came into question as the discussion with Council progressed.

The next Metro issue is the Waste to Energy proposal that is before Metro. Again Mayor Green was questioned as to how he would vote at the Metro table. At the July 5, 2010 Council meeting Green stated once again that there were issues of concern and he did not have enough information to vote on the issue and was awaiting more details from the July 14th Metro meeting.

One again we must also question Green's credibility, as this article was published on Straight.com on July 8th (just 3 days after the Council meeting) where Green states he was inclined to vote against the Waste to Energy proposal. The article says Green put forth his intentions in a "recent interview". So, did he give this interview before or after the July 5th meeting of council? It appears that the information coming forward today July 14th is immaterial.

Two issues and two times this mayor suddenly comes to a realization as to how he will vote. Isn't that interesting.....

They Had Him Surrounded

2010-07-06T10:12:00.000-07:00

We received word this morning from those in the know that after the 7:00PM Township of Langley Council meeting on July 5th, Mayor Green and two Township Councillors violated the Public Hearing Bylaw by engaging in conversations with Fort Langley residents. It was a clear Bylaw violation, as Council had 3 nights of public hearings that ended before Canada Day.

Mayor and Council was not to receive any more input or information on Park Lane's Bedford Landing development, but Mayor Green invited a large group discussion in the foyer just after the Council meeting by opponents to the plan. Mayor Green also previously violated the Public Hearing Notice Bylaw by sending letters to all residents of Fort Langley. He blatantly spoke about it in his Mayor's Report as if it was something to take pride in. But he doesn't understand the implications of his actions and the fact that unlike the Bylaw Notification that the developer pays for, his actions caused costs to be incurred by ALL Township taxpayers, as the extra notices are not billable to the developer. All paid for from a budget that Mayor Green did not vote for.

Previous to this second meeting in the foyer, Council voted (Richter opposed) to refer the matter to staff and asked that they examine things in detail and report back to council in September. Thinking this was like a Mayor's Drop-In Forum, Green engaged the crowd expecting to win favour, failing to advise the public that had gathered about the Bylaw. Green was seen exchanging contact details with at least one resident so that the Bylaw could be violated once again no doubt!

We hope that Park Lane takes notice of this second violation of the Bylaw and the addition of two councillors that violated the Bylaw with the mayor. Perhaps Park Lane can now pursue legal action against these folks? Both councillors are long-time members of council and should have known better! It was also amazing to see Councillor Kim Richter do another BIG flip-flop by now supporting the Interfor plan that she once voted against. You know what they say....politics makes strange bedfellows.

Unlike the Mayor's Forum, we are told that this crowd turned on the mayor as he tried to squirm his way around the issues. They obviously had not picked up on his biased advances during this process (like the first Notification Bylaw violation). This meeting in the foyer lasted longer than the regular meeting of council we are told. Maybe Mayor Green will learn that you can't turn everything into a political game? Probably not, he's bad at learning lessons.

Will Park Lane now take legal action for the bias process this was? After all, mayor and some members of council did clearly stack the deck against Park Lane. If you skirt Bylaws then indemnification should not follow you and these council members should be forced to pay their own legal expenses as Park Lane gets some justice here.

More importantly, this sends a clear message to the development community. This Mayor is NOT in favour of economic development in the Township of Langley. Mayor Green will use developers or anyone else to further his political ambitions and if you want a fair process, better go see Mayor Watts in Surrey. Under Mayor Rick Green the Township will take your development and change the goal posts in mid-stream if they see a political advantage. Developers, take note!

An Unappreciated Mentor

2010-07-03T09:59:00.000-07:00

Once again, Mayor Peter Fassbender (at the Langley Canada Day Celebrations' Official Ceremony at McLeod Athletic Park), revealed the expected and proper etiquette of a mayor by acknowledging his Council Members by name in his address at this ceremony. This was in stark contrast to that of his neighbour, Township of Langley Mayor Rick Green who used Canada Day to make a political statement and jab by saying that there are still "issues" in the ToL. No mention of the Township Council Members present, as it is all about him (Rick Green).

Mayor Fassbender at least mentioned the members of his City Council that included Councillors Rudy Storteboom and Rosemary Wallace, who had taken the time to attend this neighbouring community's annual Canada Day event. Fass.bender truly is an unappreciated mentor by Mayor Rick Green

While Mayor Rick Green was on his own turf at the McLeod Athletic Park (MAC) which is located in the Township of Langley, Green once again failed (inadvertently or deliberately) in his address to the hometown crowd, to mention by name any of his own Councillors who were present for this very special and important community building occasion. The Langley Canada Day celebration was founded and chaired five years by one of Green's own Council members, Councillor Grant Ward. Ward has been a ten year member of the Langley Canada Day Celebrations Society. He was also instrumental in acquiring major sustainable funding for this important annual community event after he was elected to Township Council. Shame on Rick Green for not understanding the history of our community and its people. Shame on Mayor Green for using Canada Day to further his political ambitions by stating that the Township still has "issues".

It is very interesting to note that Langley City Mayor Peter Fassbender has been asked to MC the Canada Day event three times on this Township turf (McLeod Park). A production and Flash Mob for the home crowd was performed by the Township's very own Maria Martini's "Keep the Pride Alive" volunteers and was filmed for later upload to the website, so keep watching.

The important question has to be asked is, 'Why was Mayor Green not asked to be MC instead of Mayor Fassbender?" After all, this production was being filmed and performed in the Township and not the City of Langley. Could it be that this community has figured out the true character of Mayor Rick Green? Is this community now concerned with the "issues" brought on by this larger than life ego? Mayor Rick Green has three very fatal flaws....

In his mind he never makes any mistakes
When confronted with inconsistencies, bully and blame others (staff, Council, etc.)
Never admit to any mistakes

Keep watching Mayor Rick Green and these "issues" as time goes on. You will be enlightened.

Finally - A Current Photo

2010-06-30T22:10:00.001-07:00

We were shocked and in disbelief when we saw this current photo of Mayor Rick Green (in the Langley Times no less) not looking too happy after a grilling on his expenses that we reported on here earlier.

No one that we spoke with believes that the Township just doles out cheques without approvals and all 15 of the people that voted here believe that Mayor Green had to know about this money. It is very interesting to see that each time Mayor Green is confronted by facts, he chooses to blame staff and tries to shift the responsibility to them.

Remember This One?

Mayor's Drop-In Forum Advertising - Green claims he circled only the title wanted it larger, but this is not what was circled. Green blames staff for the size, saying he had no input into the design or authorizing it, despite his initials and a quote from him.

Or How About:

Letters Sent With Council Member Names On Letterhead - When questioned by Cllrs. Fox and Richter about letters sent to various government departments without Council approval, Mayor Green tried to place the blame on Township Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Mark Bakken.

Or Better Yet:

Secret Meetings of Mayor's Committee On Finance - 25 firefighters and members of the press and community turned up for a meeting of the Finance Committee. Mayor Green claimed that this was a "workshop of the committee" and staff had approved of this form of meeting that did not get advertised as per Township Bylaw.

It is NO secret that Mayor Rick Green blames his ineffectiveness as a mayor on Council, the CAO, municipal staff, or anyone but himself. It seems that he is not responsible for anything and the problem is with anyone other than him! Can it be that despite not being able to get along with Council, staff, other mayors and community leaders, the problem is not Rick Green?

Mayor Green is actively campaigning to have the public vote this current Council out and elect his slate of candidates that he started to build within a week of the last election. Township voters better not get suckered into this ploy, as one must examine who really is responsible for all this mess. Examine the facts and see for yourself. Even The Langley Times may be starting to get it.

Public Input - Continuing The Discussion

2010-06-26T13:02:00.000-07:00

This week Editor Bob Groeneveld of The Langley Advance published this Opinion piece. He makes it clear that even if all the seats of the Municipal Facility are fully for a public hearing, those 160 - 200 seats are still but a fraction of the now 104,000 people that call Langley Township home.

If council's final decision agrees with those numbers, the "winners" will applaud the triumph of democracy - and the "losers" will point out that a simple head-count at a public hearing is meaningless, in the final analysis, because even well-attended hearings, like the one concerning much of Fort Langley over the past two weeks, attracts only a small minority of the total population of the area affected.
At the end of the day, the rule of municipal democracy still comes down to the council table, and the weight that council members put on the votes they need to get re-elected, the contributions they'll need for their next election campaign, and - if democracy really, truly is working well - the facts of the issue, as they pertain to the greater good of the entire community.

-- Bob Groeneveld

We highlighted "entire community" because this is what we see is lacking in the current process and the politicking of a few council members (including Mayor Green). Instead of relying on the facts and greater good of the entire community, Green and company use this group of vocal residents to solidify their political futures. Or so they think...

The 208th Street Open House attracted approximately 750 people and that included many who do not live anywhere near 208th Street. Then look at how many people came out from Walnut Grove as compared with Willoughby. Are these numbers as substantial as The Langley Times (or Green Times) made them out to be?

Most new developments on 208th have added 1,000 - 1,500 people per development. If we took five developments along 208th alone, that would conservatively be 5,000 residents. Is 750 out of 5,000 and overwhelming response? Enough people for council to throw away all plans and leave things as they are? How many people live in Fort Langley? 91 people spoke for or against and that includes many repeat speakers (people who spoke more than once). Why wasn't it reported that a substantial group of silent and respectable people wore "Support The Plan" stickers in support of Parklane?

Good on Groeneveld for being well-balanced, rational and accurate. Now if more rational people in the community look at facts and operate from them (in place of emotions), Langley will be a better place for it.

Is Rick Green Worth The Expense?

2010-06-24T16:19:00.000-07:00

Council recently released the annual report of mayor and council expenses in the Township. We have remained silent, but some serious questions need to be investigated and answered. Primarily the controversy centers around Mayor Rick Green's expenses.

Kurt Alberts was on a self-imposed salary of roughly $40K and donated all his automatic salary increases. I had said $58K at one time and was corrected. Rick Green makes $93K per year and with his Metro Vancouver pay he is at $120K ++ I was able to locate expenses for Former Mayor Kurt Alberts for 2007. Here is the comparison:

Former Mayor Kurt Alberts 2007 Expenses = $ 2,419

Mayor Rick Green's 2008 Expenses = $ 12,620

Why do you suppose that for the same work and meetings, Mayor Rick Green has managed to spend 10 times more than Former Mayor Kurt Alberts? How does that happen? We watched the webcast of the Special Meeting of Council on Monday and when questioned by Council members, Green stated that he received the money "automatically". He claims to have not had to submit receipts or sign anything for the expenses. He stressed this 4 times during the discussion, cutting Council members off to do so.

The Langley Record is investigating this claim, but so far Green's statements do not add up. We checked with several municipal experts and thus far, all say that Mayor Green would have to sign to approve these expenses. It is routine and a required municipal accounting practice and process. Stay tuned. If the local newspapers don't do their homework, we will do a Freedom of Information Request to get you the facts.

What do you think about this 10 fold increase in the mayor's expenses, despite Mayor Green getting a salary more than 5 times that of his predecessor and getting 1/3 of that tax free by statute?

Wisdom On Public Input Sessions

2010-06-18T09:02:00.000-07:00

As one of the Editorial Board members, I had an opportunity this week to meet with someone I consider to be a very wise and practical man. For many years he has quietly served our Township in a volunteer capacity and with little recognition. He has no special interests, and is TRULY only concerned with our community. He has been distressed at our state of affairs and the fact that our community pride has been tarnished with the current political climate.

At one point during our conversations we talked about public open houses and public input sessions. We agreed that public input is necessary and good for our community. But it seems that our current system is flawed in a BIG way. Lately some political leaders are using "public input" as a divisive tool that seeks nothing but to advance their political agendas. The results of these sessions create an "us and them" mentality in the minds of the participants. Even though the groups that turn out represent a minuscule fraction of the real population of a neighbourhood or the ToL as a whole, these people feel they are the majority. This has intimidated many residents that may have opposing views and has resulted in the non-militant people quietly listening to these groups and not speaking publicly. After all, what's the point when it is clear that a couple of politicians are against you and are pandering to the crowd.

This wise man that I know and trust made a very good point. He has observed many of these public processes as have I and has come to roughly the same conclusions. Many of the people that attend do so out of an emotional drive because of some proposed development that will impact their immediate area. They do not read the staff reports or details of the issue and claim to have no time to do so. They rely on their neighbours to provide "the facts" over the fence. Before attending the public input session, they are determined to defeat this development at all cost and believe that Township staff and some politicians have tried to "push this through" or in some way conspired to make their lives miserable.

At the public sessions they bite a donut and drink the coffee. Some may take a cursory look at the story boards, but most would rather give staff hell, ask questions and then not allow staff to answer. But, the bite of the donut and a sip of coffee has suddenly made them "experts" on the issue and they know far more than the engineers and planners. They appear at the council meeting where some politicians smile and glow.

The meeting begins with the sideshow kicking into high gear. Pandering to the crowd now takes priority over any real and meaningful care for our community. Despite the fact that mayor and council are meant to speak with each other during the meeting, that is scrapped in favour of public speeches and the putting down of other councillors that oppose them. The crowd goes wild and cheerful political smiles abound. The Grand Finale is a passionate opposition vote for the subject at hand. Major pandering to the crowd, vocal opposition to those councillors in favour of the issue, etc. Is this community better for all this? You be the judge.

How Not To Obtain Public Input

2010-06-16T15:21:00.000-07:00

Opinion

When the Township of Langley lost former Mayor Kurt Alberts, in the opinion of our Editorial Board, we lost a significant piece of what is Langley. Under Mayor Alberts everyone was treated with respect and everyone's voice was heard. People weren't always content with the outcome of the council vote, but most felt their opinions mattered and were taken into account. Of course there will always be the fringe of malcontents that even Mother Theresa could not please, but for the most part community pride and unity was evident.

Public input sessions and open houses are now being used by some Township politicians as a clear device to stir citizen anger, distrust and ultimately community disunity. Neighbour is suddenly against neighbour. People are allowed to act out in the public hearings that are an extension of council. Like a sideshow, the Chair (Mayor Rick Green) allows applause and booing. Disrespectful people are allowed to heckle Township Councillors openly. As the Chair despises these men, he allows this. Anyone wishing to speak against what the pack wants, must now think twice if they wish to speak publicly. After all, who wants to be publicly humiliated when the mayor and some council members condone this behaviour?

Although 160-175 people show up for these Public Hearings, like elections these numbers are far from the majority of Township residents that now number over 100,000. It is VERY clear that the Township of Langley desperately needs a return to civility and tolerance. It is mandatory that Public Hearings not be used to further the political ambitions of a couple and be divisive tools that will divide our community for the long-term.

Public input and involvement is critical to a municipal government. We elect officials to provide governance and direction to staff. We entrust these men and women with decision-making authority. Yet with far too many decisions to call a public hearing on everything, we need to be reasonable people. We need to express our opinion while respecting our neighbours. We need to inform and encourage those around us to make proper decisions, but we must do so without threats and disrespectful intolerance.

The Township of Langley is in desperate need of a new system of public input that draws the majority of residents into the mix and allows for a more complete public input process. The Township of Langley needs leadership that is not divisive and self-serving.

Rick Green Spends Money That Is Not His

2010-06-11T22:00:00.000-07:00

The Township of Langley has Bylaws that guide how our government operates. Bylaws make things fair for all and seek to serve all equally. On Monday, June 14th Township Council will have a Public Hearing night and one of the subjects will be the final phase of Bedford Landing in Fort Langley.

In accordance with the Township Bylaw, staff mail notices to households within a stated area of the proposed development along with advertising in the local newspapers and a sign on the proposed site. All who are affected thereby receive legal notice of the meeting and can attend the Public Hearing.

The Public Hearing notification Bylaw more importantly establishes cost recovery for these mailed notices and such. The Township processes the mailing and then bills the developer for the costs of said notification.

About a week ago, Mayor Rick Green short-circuited the Public Hearing Bylaw and ordered a letter that was drafted by him to be distributed to all Fort Langley residents. Because the mayor's notification was outside the Bylaw, all Township taxpayers are now stuck with the bill for the mayor's letter. Are all Township residents happy to fund Mayor Green's re-election campaign? More importantly, now that the Bylaw has apparently been violated, will this now mean that the Township will have to notify all residents of all affected communities moving forward and in order to be fair to all? How much is this going to cost us taxpayers?

Mayor Rick Green did not vote for the budget in 2009 and also in 2010. How is it that he is allowed to circumvent the Bylaw and cause ToL taxpayers to incur these expenses? All Township residents should be outraged by this flagrant abuse of power.

Interesting Statistics

2010-06-09T16:38:00.000-07:00

We thought we would switch gears for a minute and look at a provincial issue - taxation. The anti-HST people are geared up and ready for a fight. They speak as if the NDP is our savior. Here are some interesting Tax Facts comparing taxation today vs. the NDP yester-year:

Your Provincial Income Taxes

Under the NDP in 1996 vs. Today

Example B.C. Household	Taxes in 1996	Taxes Today	Savings
Two Income Family of Four - $90,000 Income	$6,935	$3,195	$3,740
Two Income Family of Four - $60,000 Income	$3,290	$1,320	$1,970
Two Income Family of Four - $30,000 Income	$1,284	$0	$1,284
Unattached Individual - $25,000 Income	$1,402	$376	$1,026
Unattached Individual - $80,000 Income	$8,881	$4,080	$4,801
Senior Couple, Equal Pensions - $30,000 Income	$718	$0	$718

Small Business Income Tax Reductions

Your local neighbourhood small businesses are the driving force behind B.C.'s economy. In fact, small businesses account for nearly 98 per cent of all businesses in British Columbia - which is why the BC Liberals targeted tax reduction to ensure they can reach their full potential.

Example Neighbourhood Business	Taxes in 1996	Taxes Today	Savings
Neighbourhood Pizzeria - $200,000 income	$18,000	$5,000	$13,000
Independent Pet Store - $400,000 income	$51,000	$10,000	$41,000
Local Produce Store - $750,000 income	$108,750	$38,750	$70,000

And More Than 120 Additional Tax Decreases

Since taking office in 2001, the BC Liberals made over 120 tax cuts, helping B.C. thrive during good times, and weather bad economic times better than almost any other jurisdiction in the western world.

Our other tax cuts and tax credits include:

New Northern and Rural Homeowner Benefit
Enhanced Shelter Aid for Elderly Renters (SAFER) Program
New Low Income Climate Action Tax Credit
Eliminated Corporate Capital Tax
Enhanced BC Mining Flow-Through Share Tax Credit
Enhanced Small Business Venture Capital Tax Credit

Battle For Your Mind

2010-06-06T05:00:00.000-07:00

This week there were more messages sent to you through the local newspapers to get you to believe that a whole bunch of people are wrong and only one certain local mayor is right. Just as we presented to you in this article and others, a re-election campaign was announced two months ago and a letter writing campaign have never ceased since the election. The latest smokescreen are presented here.

This usual trash talk against Township Council by Big Greenie, Robert Moats. A man that is never happy and sees it his duty to complain about everything. Notice the tone, personal insults and condescending arrogance of a man relegated to writing chain letters for his hero. Yes, that same old "victim" that we hear so much about. The world is wrong and his man is right. Go figure. You might find Moats on the Green Slate that is being organized as we speak. They may try to hide the names, or they may just publicly bring it all out of the closet. But they do prefer to operate in secret and assume that the electorate are fools. The arrogance that someone as unskilled as Mayor Green is supposed to boss around and tell engineers and other well-qualified professionals "what to do"? This guy doesn't realize that it is staff holding the boat together and they have no personal interest in the outcomes of decisions. Get a life and stop breathing the wrong end of those horses doctor.
Next up is this gem from a City of Langley resident that is always trying to tell the Township what to do. Riddled with inaccurate statements and once again a Greenie Weenie at work. See the trend yet? See that mayor "victim"?
Several Fill Site letters (yes, another "fight" issue for his troops) were published again this week by The Langley Times of course. Hell, Bucholtz could just fire all the reporters and simply publish letters from the Greenie Weenies. He may as well, as we have evidence that on several occasions The Times had to re-print online articles and editorials, editing upcoming print editions after a call from the mayor's office.

Greenie Weenie Issues to Watch:

Fill Sites
Aquifers
Salmon River Uplands
208th Street
Bedford Landing
Mufford/64th Overpass
Fill in the blank of anything where a group of people rise up to challenge. Forget the facts, as for this mayor, facts just get in the way of a good story and more support for the campaign already announced. Stay tuned for more issues!

What the local rags won't tell you is that many of this week's letter writers DO NOT live in Fort Langley. Also, the guy who bitches the loudest about the Salmon River Uplands is one of the few people that were allowed to develop and live in that area and now he wants to prevent everyone else from doing anything up there. Go figure!

Rick For Ruler?

2010-06-01T23:33:00.000-07:00

Several interesting bits in today's news and of note to Township residents. Our Editorial Board was working late to verify all the facts. These news stories only serve to validate our last posting about Mayor Rick Green's behind-the-scenes and out-front publicity campaign and his ability to attach himself to Township resident concerns without providing any concrete solutions.

First is Green's Letter Writing organization and their ability to get this silly letter published in The Times (where else?). Are you in favour of throwing the Community Charter out and allowing the mayor to become your Dictator or Ruler? Interesting that Candidate Green suggested that former Mayor Kurt Alberts had a stronghold on power in the Township, but Green's supporters now suggest that we give Green ultimate rule. Again this letter writer suggests that 8 Council members are all wrong and Green is the victim. See the theme? See these letters? Most people including the Township Council simply ignore them now. But hey, it keeps Times Editor Frank Bucholtz employed in between taking jabs at politicians family members.

Next we have another Rick Green "Fight" article about the 208th Major Road Network and Truck Route. Green is on your side folks and he has been listening and will VOTE AGAINST IT FOR YOU. But why did Green allow this to become a political issue? Cllr. Mel Kositsky, Steve Ferguson, Kim Richter and others took the high road to provide a compromise solutions that if approved by TransLink would be a Win-Win for all. It's because Mayor Green simply wants attention, attachments to issues and a fan club. He is incapable of providing intelligent solutions as witnessed with 208th Street and many other issues before Council.

Today Mayor Green was guest on CBC Radio's "On The Coast" radio show. The topic of discussion? 208th Street. Mayor Green spouted off about not wanting a truck route and suggested on this show that the developers will bear the costs of upgrading 208th Street. Green had better read the Community Charter and provincial laws before suggesting that Developer Cost Charges (DCC's) will pay for this costly endeavor.

Besides the costly upgrading of the 208th and Highway 1 overpass ($up to $30M?), land must be secured along 208th for lane widening. Despite popular belief, developments along 208th that provided dedications are not adequate for the upgrading. This project could cost well over $100M when completed. Green simply doesn't get this.

The CBC Radio host did and Green was grilled about the costs of upgrades and who would pay. As per his usual, Green spouted off some vague, bull-confident statements about no truck and getting road upgrades despite that. Nothing in the way of concrete plans or intelligent recommendations.

Read the last post here and you will see the pattern emerging. Rick Green is simply not mayor material and the man is scratching to get his head around the real issues apart from politicking and running a campaign. It is high time that this mayor cease trying to paint himself as the victim (that's like beating a dead horse now) and get on with putting forth smart solutions to the Township's growing complexity and issues. Stop the politicking and get on with doing what you were elected to do Mayor Rick Green. Stop blaming everyone else for your inadequacies and failures. And they are many.

Issues Without Solutions

2010-05-30T10:38:00.000-07:00

Langley politics is a strange mix of good and evil. Manipulation is at ever turn and lately residents seem to feel a conspiracy exists at every turn. Why are so many of our residents negative and angry?

Attend any public session or delegation to Township Council and one will hear the accusations and innuendos. As one recent blog commentator suggested, much of the talk is directed at Township staff and is very disrespectful. People tend to think they know more than the well-qualified engineers and true experts. Why is that?

Former Township Mayor Kurt Alberts had a slogan... "Working Together". Mr. Alberts did nothing short of that when he opened communications with the federal and provincial governments. He lived out "Working Together" when citizens contacted him about concerns. There was respectful discussions and sometimes respectful disagreements. Not everyone may have left Mayor Alberts office 100% satisfied, but they were shown respect and most returned that respect. At the Council table, Mayor Alberts showed that spirit of Working Together with his fellow councillors. One, two or more might have disagreed with Alberts on one issue or another, but there was much mutual respect across the table. Cllr. Kim Richter disagreed often with Alberts, but Mayor Alberts treated Richter with respect at all times. It was all a part of his Working Together philosophy.

Mayor Rick Green on the other hand talks often about "fighting" other orders of government and others. He has managed to set a precedent for disrespecting staff at every turn. During the Mufford Overpass debates, Green routinely questioned staff's integrity and expertise of several members of Township staff. It was obvious after his first two months in office that Green would not be Working Together with anyone other than insiders with vested interests.

One particular local newspaper editor gives lip service to peace, harmony and cooperation. Yet he helped get this "fighter" elected! Now how hypocritical was that? And now that Mayor Green's true colours are out, this local editor continues to polish the brass knob in an attempt to make it look better and more appealing.

Our Township community is now more divided than it ever was. Extremely qualified staff are abused with accusations and loud arguments. Staff did not sign up for combat duty and these are fine people with impeccable qualifications. Working Together has sadly given way to Every Man for Himself. For his part, Mayor Green continues to gather with groups opposed to something. People that have some issue in the Township. He strokes their egos and puts down the expert data to win their trust.

Green very manipulatively never brings about any intelligent solutions that could resolve these people's problems. Though he has access to all the expert reports, and within them many times contain room for good compromise solutions. Certainly never any MIDDLE GROUND is offered by Mayor Green. He simply vows to "fight" and then allows the fallout to hit fellow councillors and staff.

Much of Council have to "wear" Green's shrapnel. Wise Township residents see that its all fodder for the next election. One which Green has already announced his candidacy for. Green's pals in the media can't help but invoke his name and write stories about the big bad Township Council members who just can't work with this mayor. They gush with praises for this rookie mayor that has managed to alienate all but a few. The fact that Mayor Rick Green cannot get along with Cllrs. Ferguson, Fox, Kositsky, Long, Bateman, Richter and Ward should clue these media types and others in on a fatal flaw here. Can all these councillors be big and bad? When all of them at one time or another Worked Together with former Mayor Alberts for the good of our community, one has to question what Mayor Green is doing behind the scenes.

Our fellow Township residents should really examine this pattern of political maneuvering by Mayor Rick Green. Watch the media comments. Watch the public meetings that turn into a circus sideshow because he can't chair a meeting. Listen to the soundbites. Watch him appear in the driveways of those with issues. Listen for any hint of wise solutions that should come from someone holding the office of the mayor. You certainly won't find any intelligent middle ground coming from this mayor who wishes to FIGHT everyone. You will find strife, division and and personality conflicts that come from a divisive agenda that is the hallmark of Mayor Green's administration. An agenda that was clearly evident during his campaign with an issue here and another issue there.

It's very interesting that the day after the election, Mayor-Elect Rick Green removed his website from the Internet, including all of the sound bites and promises. Cllrs. Richter and Bateman have maintained their websites on a consistent basis. Their promises and statements are there for all to see. Yet if you go to this link of Green's campaign website, you will not be able to connect. It simply vanished from the face of the internet the very next day after Rick Green was elected Mayor of the Township of Langley. Now why is that?

When One Seeks To Undermine

2010-05-20T14:17:00.000-07:00

IN OUR OPINION

Over the past few weeks are Editorial Board has been receiving information about various discussions and tactics Mayor Green has been employing in our community. You will recall that during the campaign season, candidate Rick Green was very busy holding meetings in the community to find issues to attach himself to. Once elected, he immediately attached himself to more things such as Fill Sites, the Hopington Aquifer, the 64th Avenue Overpass and more.

Since the election Township Council has allowed him to hold Mayor's Drop-In Forums as a courtesy. When first proposed by the mayor, some council members questioned the purpose of these forums. After reviewing some of the official Township recordings of those council meetings, we discovered that Cllr. Kim Richter specifically questioned the mayor as to how these meetings would be used, and if he (Mayor Green) intended to start addressing issues without council participation (paraphrase). The mayor responded that he wouldn't.

Since the Mayor's Forums began, we hear that many issues are being discussed, and solutions offered and all without council's awareness or consent. Although other requests for information are pending, we are finding that considerable Township resources are being tied up or used to research issues brought to Mayor Green. Many of these same issues coming from disgruntled community members have been addressed by staff in the past. Yet more resources are being wasted so that Mayor Green appears (to the public) to be "working on them". At a recent Drop-In Forum held in Willoughby it has been reported to us that the mayor was annoyed at the presence of three council members. Several sources tell us that the mayor raised his voice to some or all of the councillor and said publicly that this was HIS MEETING.

In another instance we were invited to meet with a Township resident that had some concerns with the mayor. In this meeting we were told that Mayor Green actually visited this resident personally to address Bylaw issue(s). The mayor failed to notify official Township Bylaw staff who had discussed the matter with the homeowner previously. The mayor appeared at the home and in a bullyish and rude manner. The mayor ordered the resident to cease certain activities.

Our elected officials in Canada are not elected to become self-appointed US-style Sheriffs that roam the county. Municipalities in Canada are civil and contract the RCMP, local police or Bylaw Officers to address matters related to the Criminal Code or Bylaw infractions. Just like an ordinary citizen that is overzealous, an elected official acting like this can ruin a criminal or Bylaw case. In a much similar Sheriff fashion, Mayor Green demanded in the past that the Langley RCMP notify him of any gang incidents so that he could appear at the crime scene with news cameras rolling to assure all Township residents that he was on the job and would see to it that these incidents wouldn't occur in our community.

Never in anyone's recent memories can long-term knowledgeable Township residents recall a mayor do the things that this man does. Behind-the-scenes meetings, consensus building bullying and other tactics are being used to the detriment of Township Council. Promises to residents concerned with a host of issues are being made personal promises by the mayor that he will single handedly resolve their issues. All of this is occurring for the most part without the knowledge or crescent of Township Council.

The Mayor's Report used to be a time in the council meeting where the mayor would report to council on what meetings or events that he or those acting in his stead, have participated in since the last meeting. Since taking office however, Mayor Green turned the docile Mayor's Report into at times a political spear hurled at council members, or to promote initiatives in his political agenda.

It is now common knowledge that several letters have been sent out from the Mayor's Office on letterhead that includes the names of ALL Council members. Yet as Cllrs. Fox and Richter pointed out recently, Mayor Green did not make council aware of these letters nor seek their consent to send them!

We also have the incident where Mayor Green attended the Township's Heritage Committee meeting. He did so to get them to add a Mayoral Chain of Office with their work plan so that he would have the jewels before the next election. At that time Cllrs. Bateman and Richter caught that line item in the committee's minutes and had the chain removed.

Shame on Mayor Green for using Township citizen committees, external boards and meetings sanctioned by the good graces of Township Council to further the mayor's re-election campaign. A campaign that he recently launched some 20+ months ahead of the next election.

In our opinion it is now time for Township Council to review the Mayor's Drop-In Forum and other activities and take some control. There are plenty of avenues for public input and participation that will at the same time, respect council and be inclusive. In our opinion these behind-the-scenes politicking excursions by Mayor Green are dangerously excluding council oversight.

Mayor Searches for Another Cause

2010-05-18T14:36:00.000-07:00

Our Editorial Board received info from our stringers regarding last night's Township of Langley Council meeting. It is very clear that Mayor Green is in search of causes to keep his political career alive.

We will expound on them move at a later time, but it appears that Green has taken a swipe at Parklane Homes for their Bedford Landing development. A development that has been very good at working with local residents and people who use the waterways. Despite all the good intentions they are not respected by a group of people that just cannot be pleased with anything this developer does.

As we previously blogged, Parklane has done so much and now Mayor Green bitch slapped them in last night's meeting in poor attempt to garner public support. What's more, Green suggested that a public hearing be moved from the Township facility at OUR expense, so this hearing could be done in Fort Langley. Public hearings come up all the time and involve neighbourhoods all over Langley. Should these meetings now become traveling circus shows to pander to voters? The Town Hall expenses are already covered. Why should taxpayers pony up more for sound equipment, facility rental, etc.??

Mayor Green voted against the budget and now he is wanting to eat off the buffet without paying for it once again. What will it take for this man to realize one has to approve a budget in order to spend the money? When will this man stop grabbing at straws hunting out issues in the community to attach himself to? This was his campaign strategy and now he continues to do this while in office. He was elected to serve and not to continue a political campaign.

Time to stop politicking and work! Enough with the vote pandering!

Another Green Flip-Flop At Metro Vancouver

2010-05-14T16:59:00.001-07:00

In today's Langley Advance hidden away online is this Letter to the Editor from Donna Passmore, a very vocal environmentalist in the region. Passmore rightly points out that Mayor Rick Green appears to switch his votes and ideas when he feels he is away from the local spotlight.

You may recall that previously the Langley Record has brought to light several inconsistent votes by Mayor Rick Green at Metro Vancouver meetings. The last Green flip-flop occurred when Metro Board members voted themselves a huge pay increase. However, before entering this meeting Mayor Green spoke against the pay raise and then entered the meeting and voted FOR it.

"On March 26, barely more than a year after the board (in pre-election mode) voted to keep Maple Ridge's historic Jackson Farm in the Metro Vancouver Green Zone, Maple Ridge put it back on the agenda."

"Mayor Rick Green of Langley Township (who ran on a platform of preserving farmland) and Gayle Martin of Langley City both voted in favour of developing this historic farmland."

-- Donna Passmore, Farmland Defence League of BC

While we have never heard any promises from Cllr. Martin of the City of Langley, we all know that Mayor Rick Green of the Township of Langley has been very vocal with regards to "saving farmlands". We heard much of this talk during the 2008 election campaign and of course Green's extensive musings during the Mufford/64th overpass debates. Green had vowed to "FIGHT" because he said he was "for farmers and farmlands.

The Langley Record also recently discovered that Mayor Green had an extensive voting record in Delta in the 1980's (where he was a councillor), voting in favour of development over farmlands preservation.

Trees at 208th Street Near 52A Avenue

2010-05-11T17:00:00.000-07:00

A reader posted these comments under an old post and we thought we would bring her concerns front and center for all to see, instead of leaving it hidden in the March 25th subject post. As many know, there is a Tree Bylaw in the Township of Langley and we are not certain there is one in the City of Langley as we did not find anything on the website. Perhaps a Langley City Council member or someone in the know can respond to Melissa here.

Melissa Jerome has left a new comment on your post "When You Can't Have It Both Ways":

Today (May 11) at around 8:11 am, I was in traffic on 208th street near 52a Avenue when I looked to the left side of the road. As always, there was construction, but what caught my eye made me want to scream.

Years and years ago, my friend Semantha died a very tragic death and in her room there was a little potted tree. We planted this tree along the road she used to live, all 31 of her friends and myself included. This tree has stood for years and served as a private memorial to Semantha for us, even though it is just a tree. She loved that little plant and cherished it when she lived because it made her think of Christmas and happiness.

Not today.

The claws came down on our tree with ruthless speed and ripped it out of the hole we dug for it so many years ago, chucking it into the chipper. I started to cry and screamed something at them, but they didn't even look at me. That tree meant the world to us. It meant that she was always with us, through good times and bad. That tree has served more than once as a comfort, and now it is gone forever.

There was another identical tree beside it that was a bud off of the first, and that was gone by the time I saw the original one die.

Have these construction companies no mercy? This was OUR TREE. I don't care about billion dollar road deals, this tree was supposed to stand forever. We are all outraged at the fact that they would let the only greenery along this road that meant more than shade - two cone-shaped pine trees, no higher than an average man - die for the polluters of the earth.

I want answers. Why were these trees, and others along 208th, taken down, and why, when it was common sense to many people, did they tear down this memorial to our friend? This is getting to be like Avatar. All they want is a paycheck. All we wanted was for them to leave our trees alone.

Yesterday's Township Council Meetings

2010-05-11T08:01:00.000-07:00

Our Editorial Board has now drank copious amounts of coffee with our Township Council stringers and here is what we can report on yesterday's Special Meeting of Council at 3:00pm and the Public Hearing Meeting at 7:00pm.

Apparently Mayor Green was absent for a family emergency and Cllr. Kim Richter served as Chair for the meetings. We hear that she did a good job as chair and appeared to be more diplomatic. Our stringers opined that perhaps the power of the Chair worked some magic. This is a good thing and it's too bad it is not the way she conducts herself at every meeting of Council.

Cllr. Richter did allow last night's public hearing participants to "cross-examine" staff which was totally inappropriate. All reports and information are in the ToL website and the public hearing is for SUBMISSIONS from the public - not cross-examination. The Chair also allowed members of the public to speak more than once, which is also inappropriate. We give her a B-.

From the two agendas there were only two issues that raised Council concern and vocal opposition. One related to the Mayor-supported Langley Airport Authority. Council felt that they already form that layer of oversight above the airport manager, therefore no further bureaucracy is required. Cllr. Ward (who is a pilot) declared that he's not willing to fix what Isn't broken. The idea burned down in defeat with a tied vote 4-4.

The other larger bone of contention came as Cllr. Richter presented a motion accusing Council of receiving a 55% pay increase (not really fact). She proposed that the current bench-marked averaging system (that was designed by an expert citizen's committee) be scrapped and replaced with Council reviewing and voting on pay increases. Several Council members spoke against "politicizing" the process and basically Richter's grandstand approach. Cllr. Ferguson pointed out that Cllr. Richter wasn't being much of a team player and this was "very disturbing" to him. We will reserve further commentary on this motion, as all members of Council addressed the issue well.

It is becoming increasingly evident that both Cllrs. Bob Long and Mel Kositsky are getting sick and tired of the folly at Council. Both are becoming more vocal with clear and concise opposition. We notice they are also moving away from more referrals of items to staff and that's a great thing. After all, Council is there to make decisions!

Overall a tame Council meeting and public hearing. Cllr. Richter did a good job of running the meeting and getting along with her Council colleagues for the most part.

Langley Record Investigative Exclusive

2010-05-07T02:51:00.000-07:00

Our Editorial Board has been extremely busy visiting various offices in Langley, Delta, Surrey and Vancouver to bring you the very best in investigative journalism. After all, with one newspaper in Rick Green's pocket by his own admission, you can't expect much from the local rags that are barely keeping their heads above water. One in particular that won't send their editor packing despite that editor losing touch with all reality and failing to understand today's Langley Township.

(THIS SECTION REMOVED BASED ON ACTION BY OUR LEGAL COUNSEL)

Be watching this space as the news unfolds.

So Much For Openness and Transparency

2010-05-04T11:30:00.000-07:00

At yesterday's Township Council, Cllr. Kim Richter announced a Notice of Motion that would require Township staff to advise her and other members of council of all Freedom of Information (FoI) requests from the general public. Council would receive copies of requested documents and more. This is a huge departure from her "openness and Transparency" double-speak election platforms. It is clearly a knee-jerk reaction from Richter in her futile attempt to target this blog.

Richter's folly has far reaching implications and legal challenges ahead. Imagine a Township staff member who files an FoI request in a whistle blower case? Now all of council will receive the details of this staffer's request and exposes that person to possible action or dismissal. WOW, we do hope the local CUPE and other unions are paying attention to this latest Richter silliness. Yes, the same Kim Richter who last year was championing a Whistle Blower Policy for the Township, now this week seeks to rally her uniformed troops together with desk lamps and magnifiers to snuff out freedom and liberty for the general public.

When our Editorial Board caught wind of this nonsense this morning, we immediately tasked our legal council to check on the legality of this nonsensical motion and to alert provincial officials of this attempt to is regulate their domain and usurp Provincial Privacy Legislation.

As the original FoI that reached the Langley Record through unconventional means involved Mayor Green and not Cllr. Richter, this has set off new alarm bells here at The Langley Record. Does Township Councillor Kim Richter have something to hide? Something so damaging that she must try to stifle or frustrate our rights and freedoms?

We had obtained election disclosures some time ago and was going to publish several years of Cllr. Richter's disclosure documents. Quite simply, Cllr. Kim Richter is not worth much of our time. But stay tuned as The Langley Record digs deep to uncover more news in a Langley Record Exclusive Investigation forthcoming. News that the local media deny you each and every week.

Local Press Part of Problem, Not Solution

2010-05-01T18:25:00.000-07:00

OPINION

This week Editor Frank Bucholtz of The Langley Times too yet another opportunity to back his buddy, Township Mayor Rick Green. This is the same editor that announced in his Opinion piece back in 2008 that Township voters should really pay more attention to local property tax issues. Throwing former Mayor Kurt Alberts under the bus just days before the municipal election.

Well Mr. Bucholtz your latest rant and other press focus on the fireworks as you see them and the sensation headlines. Truth is, you haven't graced Council Chambers for much of anything, but you appear in the press to speak with authority.

The fact is, Cllr. Grant Ward spoke against wasteful 1/4 page advertising for Mayor's Forums, when a Council meeting notice garners a few inches and is much more important. So while Editor Bucholtz is so concerned about local property taxes, he is willing to white wash Mayor Green's story. Why on earth would the good editor fight a larger Township ad in his newspaper? Don't they make more money from the larger ad with Green's smiling mug? AND Bucholtz must have been really livid when some councillors suggested putting the discretionary ads out to tender and giving that to the lowest bidder.

The budget and taxes is an important issue and is as important as the other issues The Times listed. The Times fails to remind readers that Green was elected to cut the budget and do all kinds of new things, all part and parcel of his election platform. The headlines that this week's Times and Advance ran certainly got the attention of lots of readers. But they failed to address the real issues and that was that Mayor Green had direct say into the ad's content, design and size. He also authorized the expensive 14 months of such advertising, all while voting against the budget and booming his rhetoric about why he couldn't vote for the budget. Well Mayor Green, those budgets you voted against were the ones that paid for your advertising bills. Advertising with a campaign picture certainly geared to boost your position for the next election that two years ahead you have already announced your candidacy for.

The local press should really start providing balanced coverage of factual events. Their attitude and coverage impacts this community and all of the whining that has resulted from Mayor Rick Green's administration. Green is very good at painting himself as a victim along with his cohorts. But Green is directly responsible for the division in the Township of Langley and for his lack of any concrete results. Time to call a spade a spade. Editor Bucholtz and others need to consider the welfare of our community over advertising sales, hypocrisy and sensationalism.

You Be The Judge

2010-04-30T14:21:00.000-07:00

“On the Freedom of Information that you talked about, there was a description…ah.. and I believe it said drop-in - the words drop-in was circled or squared or something and I said larger. That is correct, the words were larger. I did not have anything to do with the size of the ad.” --Mayor Green

You see the document for yourself above (click to enlarge). The Langley Advance (click) reports the entire ad was circled and The Langley Times (click) also reports the entire ad was circled. You be the judge.

Truth or Consequences?

2010-04-22T22:00:00.000-07:00

A LANGLEY RECORD INVESTIGATIVE EXCLUSIVE

SPECIAL NOTE: Since posting this article some 15 minutes ago, our blog has been bombarded with traffic. If audio files fail to work, click to reload the page and try again. All files have been tested many times and are functioning. The volume of traffic in 15 minutes is incredible.

During the Township of Langley budget process Councillor Jordan Bateman proposed a motion that would instruct staff to place the discretionary advertising on the "Township Page" out for tender. While some advertising (such as Council and other municipal meetings) are required by law, others advertising such as a community service message or notice of the Mayor's Forum is not mandated by law. Bateman's intention was to get a competitive quote and run the ads in one paper instead of the current three. The motion was defeated at that time, as some members of Council were absent and Cllrs. Long and Kositsky opposed the motion and wanted staff to compile a complete communications plan or strategy.

At a subsequent Special Meeting of Township Council held on March 15, 2010, Cllr. Bateman was absent due to the birth of his child and Cllr. Fox proposed a motion to reduce the Township Page advertising budget by $100,000. With Cllr. Kim Richter now present, the Fox motion was seconded by Richter.

You Can Hear That Audio Here:

During the course of Council discussion, Cllrs. Long and Kositsky put forth another amendment to send the whole matter back to staff (a referral motion). These two love to send stuff back to staff so decisions can be postponed. That referral motion was defeated.

Something Old - Nothing New

During the debate on the referral motion, Cllr. Richter brought up the ad size for the Mayor's Forum. At that time (and since February, 2009), the Mayor's ad has been a pricey quarter-page and included a large 10 year old photo of Mayor Green. You know, this corny one used during the campaign:

The Bottom Line - The Kicker

Richter pointed out the wastefulness of this ad. In our opinion this is especially true given the fact that Council Meeting ads (required by law) are MUCH smaller and more important. Richter rightly questioned why Mayor Green's forum ads had to be so large?

You Can Hear That Audio Here:

As you heard in that clip, Mayor Green said that he did not design the ads nor decide how BIG they are.

Listen Specifically to What Mayor Green Said Here:

The Lies EXPOSED

So, if Mayor Green did not have say into the design of the Mayor's Forum ads, then why did he instruct staff to use that old picture? A picture took up considerable space in these ads. All at taxpayer expense! Here's what he said...funny eh?

But as the Freedom of Information Request discovered, Mayor Rick Green did in fact have a say not only in the design of the Mayor's Forum ad, but also in the size. This ad as seen in this proof would have been about the size of a Council meeting notice. But as you can see from this Langley Times (you know, that "buddy" paper) proof below, Mayor Green wrote a note to staff.

What, can't read these notes? Here's a close-up of that section for you:

Mayor Green writes on this proof, "LARGER" (initial "R" for Rick) authorizing this larger ad. Through clarification of our FoI request we were told that a Township staffer spoke with the mayor and then the staffer wrote, "It will cost more." - But wait for it.... after that discussion with Mayor Green, the staff member records Mayor Green's response by writing in quotes what the mayor said, "The cost of doing business" and the date Feb 17 09.

Wow - so not only did Mayor Rick Green fail to deliver any ZERO tax increases, but all that rhetoric about his Finance Committee, doing things differently and reducing costs was just that, RHETORIC! Despite the mayor knowing this little 14 month venture in living large advertising would be costly for us taxpayers, Green authorized a very large quarter-page ad with his equally-large 10 year old photo on it.

This is Rick Green's "cost of doing business" ... On our backs and without any regard to the budget that for two years now he has failed to vote for. Mayor Green ordered off the menu with this expensive advertising in 3 newspapers and failed to pay the bills by voting for the 2009 and 2010 budgets.

Keep in mind that with a whole two years before the next election, Mayor Rick Green has already announced his re-election intentions a few weeks ago in the newspapers. Do you suppose this expensive Mayor's Drop-In Forum 14 Month advertising campaign (with ads 100 times larger than any ad for very important Council Meetings) was just free re-election politicking for candidate Rick Green? So really this campaign began in February of 2009, just after his inauguration. Isn't that what some Councillors said at the time? And several accused those councillors of picking on the mayor, imagine that? They well realize that a short leash must be kept here.

We do hope that all Council members will question this massive advertising budget and the inconsistencies of facts. Perhaps they could explore some financial loss recovery from Mayor Green's Re-election Committee?

It's a crying shame that Cllr. Kim Richter (who had posed a clear and direct question to the mayor), received just an intelligence-insulting slap from the mayor. Shame, shame Mayor Green!

Database Cross-Check In Progress

2010-04-22T11:00:00.000-07:00

*** LANGLEY RECORD EXCLUSIVE INVESTIGATION II ***

MORE TO FOLLOW.

Exclusive Investigative Report About to be Released

2010-04-21T22:39:00.000-07:00

****** URGENT INVESTIGATIVE BULLETIN *****

The Langley Record's Editorial Board has now received the results of a Freedom of Information request. Shortly we will be releasing details of our exclusive investigation that no other local or regional news organization has bothered to investigate or will tell you about. But we have the guts to do so!

Through this FoIPPA request, The Langley Record has obtained documents that prove conclusively that taxpayer dollars were wasted in the Township of Langley by a high-ranking public official. The waste was authorized with a written acknowledgment that it would cost ToL taxpayers more money.

In addition to this blatant disregard for the taxpayers, this official made claims in open Council that said official had little to do with the extent of this expenditure. We are currently checking and verifying 3 more sources and cross-checking our databases. We will go live with the results of our investigation as soon as all the evidence is verified and cross-checked. Keep watching The Record for breaking news of this investigation.

Why Did Kim Richter Just Accept A New Township Laptop?

2010-04-17T04:00:00.000-07:00

At the Monday, April 12, 2010 meeting of Township Council, Cllr. Kim Richter and Mayor Green took jabs at ToL Council. They both taunted Council members for what they viewed as a failure to listen to the Mayor's Standing Committee on Finance and their recommendations.

Well, Rick Green accepted a new Township laptop computer when he took office and we hear that this week Councillor Kim Richter accepted a brand new laptop computer from the ToL. Well this is really interesting (and hypocritical once again), as Richter just this past Monday slammed her fellow councillors for what she perceived as a failure of her colleagues to listen to the Finance Committee recommendations.

HYPOCRITE, because Richter ignored one of the Big 7 Recommendations when the Committee wrote (click to read full box):

Well Kim Richter, when will you cease your use of this "electronic gadgetry" if this report and it's recommendations are so credible? Explain that new laptop of yours. And what about the ringleader, Mayor Rick Green? He is constantly seen playing with his Blackberry, irritatingly so even when people are trying to speak with him.

HYPOCRISY is alive and well in the Township of Langley. It starts at the top with Rick Green and Kim Richter.

Bateman Not Responsible - Imagine That!

2010-04-16T12:03:00.000-07:00

History was made this week on The Langley Times website. We congratulate Green flunkie Horny Toad who has always posted toxic comments blaming Township Councillor Jordan Bateman for every situation in the Township of Langley. After the Times Editor posted this opinion, Horny Toad had this to say...

"Has there ever been an education problem that couldn't be solved by just paying teachers more money. After all, EVERYONE knows they do everything for the benefit of students."

Not one single mention of Cllr. Bateman, can you picture it? We anticipate heavy rains, thunder and hail this weekend for certain. But it may be short lived as Horny Toad never has done any of his own research and relies on the political lies and favorable press writers for his information on various topics.

This PR machine is all part of the Rick Green PR machine leading up to the election. Paint Green as the "victim" of a Township Council that just won't work or listen to him. Of course we know for a fact that this mayor had opportunities to deliver the goods and has failed. His Report Card is a big fat F. Some recent Rick Green failures include:

Failure to obtain the promised 0-0-0 by failing to provide researched and reasonable cost-cutting suggestions during the budget process. No folks, not even ONE.
Voting for the Water Management Strategy that he ran against.
Voting for a big fat raise in his Metro Vancouver per diem
Voting for Metro increases that will impact taxpayers in perpetuity
Supporting his Finance Committee's recommendations that included provision for cutting computer laptops and cell phones and then accepting both "technological gadgets"
Failure to sell off the Redwoods Golf Course and Bedford House Restaurant. Green spoken often during the campaign about these two public assets and has not mentioned a word about them since winning the election. What's up with that?
Failure to deliver $1M more per year to the ToL from increases in airport lease rates. We have seen NO proposals from Green to change anything at this airport.

Rick Green has been one big failure of a mayor for the Township of Langley. Horny Toad, better pay more attention to the facts like you have with this last comment!

Richter Body Language Clear - Her Star Has Burst

2010-04-13T11:28:00.000-07:00

The Editorial Board had coffee this morning with our Township Council advisers. We had quite a chuckle as the "Blog In The Fog" vented about Councillor Jordan Bateman. It was clear that Bateman's calm, cool and well-researched comments on the budget got the goat of all times of Cllr. Kim Richter. Our council advisers report that Richter's body language as Bateman spoke was as if she had just taken a large mouth full of manure. We'll keep it tame here. Interesting that the Blog In The Fog (BITF) mentions all these comments and quotes from Richter, but fails to show any video or quotes from Bateman. Just some vague innuendos. What's up with that?

The BITF blames Bateman alone for the tax increases, imagine that? How foolish! How silly! How idiotic! No mention of water, sewer, contract and other drivers. You have to be a real moron to read that garbage and believe it. Even Mayor Green voted for the user pay utility increases and he was happy to not be at the other end of the forked tongue of Cllr. Richter.

Bateman rightly pointed out that conservative and liberal councils have raised taxes. Large and small cities have raised taxes. Taxes with and without casinos have raised taxes. The list goes on and all Kim Richter could counter with was a personal attack on her fellow councillors regarding the automatic raises that are bench marked with Metro. How lame was that?

Bateman rightly pointed out that the Township doesn't buy television sets, food and consumer goods. The ToL buys construction, water, sewer and other costly things. Did Cllr. Richter debate this? NO.

But Richter will surely get that crap out of her mouth just in time to use that new laptop that the Township bought for her from tax dollars approved by her fellow councillors and not approved by her. Kim Richter is ordering off the Township buffet once again and not paying the bills. Did the BITF tell you about the new ToL laptop Richter just got? NO, not at ALL!

Councillor Kim Richter is:

Out of date
Out of touch with reality
Out of urban Langley much of the time
Out to lunch

If one watches the hit TV show Glee, a twin of Councillor Kim Richter can be seen in each and every episode. Yes, Kim Richter is the spitting image of Sue Sylvester. Coach of the "Cheerios" in Glee that constantly tries to undermine her council colleagues and attack them personally and professionally. Watch the show. Watch Kim Richter. Amazing similarities.

First A Kid's Baseball Coach and Now the Mormans - The Langley Times Hits Another Low

2010-04-11T04:00:00.000-07:00

We have been reporting during the past while about the errors and omissions of The Langley Times that we can only assume is sanctioned by the Editor and his Publisher. We recently reported on the Little League Baseball coach that The Times had to apologize to for a photo and caption about a child molester. Then there were the series of factually incorrect articles that we posted quotes and links to. Just as we published our open letter to the publisher of The Times, news of this gem hit our Editorial Board...

So this Friday The Times published this story about a bogus credit card factory that was busted by the Langley RCMP. While we think the police action was GREAT and illegal operations like this should be busted, we don't believe the RCMP wanted the nearby Mormon Temple and Church to be drawn into this raid on some illegal activity during a speacial week for them. But, as The Langley Times is on a roll lately with articles in poor taste, this quote appeared in The Langley Times piece...

"Langley RCMP’s economic crime unit executed a search warrant at a property in the 20400 block of 82 Avenue, which is the same street as the new Mormon Temple."

Now why on earth did The Langley Times see fit to drag the new Mormon Temple into this criminal crackdown? This article was published just as this local church began celebrating their new temple, a showpiece of their religion and a building that will serve something like 22,000 people, by inviting the general public to tour the new temple.

In fact, whether you agree with the Mormon religion or not, hundreds (if not thousands) of people from all over the Pacific Northwest are currently visiting and touring this grand $34M temple building. Many cars and buses were backed up on 200th Street and the surrounding area Saturday, as the local Mormon church served as gracious hosts to those visiting Langley citizens and those who traveled from beyond Langley. We are also sure that those same visitors will spend lots of money this weekend in local restaurants, shops and hotels.

For all their good will, the Mormon Temple is mentioned in the same article about some serious criminal activity, almost as if they were somehow affiliated with this illegal activity! The Langley Record Editorial Board aren't the only ones that immediately thought this reference in The Times was in extremely poor taste, as this Langley Times blog commenter posted this...

"What's the inference here? Are the Mormons involved in criminal activities? Did the police seize any black suits, white shirts and shiny shoes at this residence?

jwlaurie

Looks like The Times had better get another "sorry column" typeset this weekend and ready for fresh publication their their Tuesday edition. Surely the Times Editor should have caught this one directly after that Little League blunder! Mr. Times Publisher, are you listening now?

An Open Letter to The Publisher of The Langley Times

2010-04-01T13:39:00.000-07:00

**** UPDATE **** April 7, 2010 - Traffic to this article is going NUTS! Apparently people are seeking it out and where much of our traffic is direct, search engine traffic is now through the roof. People are taking an interest in this topic and the publisher would be wise to take this rebuke seriously. The primary search words are people grouping "langley record" with "langley times". It is very clear that news is traveling fast through Langley on this topic. Stay tuned!

TO: Mr. Dwayne Weidendorf

Publisher, Columnist
The Langley Times

Dear Mr. Weindorf,

Since early 2008 your newspaper has allowed slanted articles to be published for consumption by Langley residents. In fact, Township Mayor Rick Green boasted in public at the Douglas Day banquet in 2008 that he had your Editor, Frank Bucholtz in his "back pocket". The lack of investigation and fact-finding continues to be published week after week in your newspaper.

Article after article related specifically to the local political scene in both the City of Langley and the Township of Langley is being skewered on a regular basis. Minor facts are also being misreported. Here are a few quotes from The Times that are clearly false:

Full version with many inaccurate facts here.

– “Most of these developments are located near the 208 Street corridor. The Township has no plans at present to widen the street or help move traffic better, yet the street is now congested at many hours of the day, particularly in rush hours.” Frank Bucholtz

LR EDITOR: Clearly this has been addressed in budget discussions, with specific projects for 2011. There has also been an extensive transportation plan to address the 208^th Street corridor and funding is the big requirement.

Full version of another inaccurate rant here.

– “In fact, the Township does not even have current population projections for Willoughby. About a decade ago, when development in the area was starting, population projections called for about 50,000 residents when the area was fully developed. That was later boosted to 60,000.” … “Given the trends in housing today and the exorbitant cost of land, it would not be surprising to see Willoughby have an eventual population of 70,000 or more. It now has less than 20,000” Frank Bucholtz

LR EDITOR: Apparently The Times has never read any of the Official Community Plans (OCP’s) to see that the Willoughby OCP projects 65,000 residents.

– “It used to be that homes in the Fraser Valley, starting in Surrey and moving east, were priced a fair bit lower than those in Vancouver, but that has changed in recent years. The price differential isn't as glaring as it used to be.”… “Given the very expensive housing prices here, what have local or provincial governments done to ease this affordability crisis?” … “Local governments aren't any better. They consistently raise the development cost charges on urban developments, which are paid by buyers not by developers, as some municipal politicians seem to think. The developers pass the cost on to the buyers. DCCs are a key factor in the high cost of a serviced building site.” Frank Bucholtz

LR EDITOR: Lots to say about these and other quotes in that same article, but it looks like the Editor was refuted with a reply from a ToL Council member that we are sure you are aware of.

The height of this lack of publisher control occurred today when The Langley Times had to apologize to Langley Baseball for this photo and headline which was VERY inaccurate. While The Times is trying to explain this away by talking about a box around the photo, everyone we checked with associated your headline to this photo. This was very irresponsible journalism, and damning to your Editorial team. We do hope that this poor coach in the photo is considering his legal options.

We feel very badly for this coach and the young child pictured. Here is a guy that volunteers in our community and gives of his time and talents freely. He's probably received very little recognition for all this hard work, and his first front page picture in the local newspaper is a horrendous print error that slipped by your watchdog. Imagine the horror and humiliation he was forced to endure Mr. Publisher.

There is instance after instance that we could document which proves your publishing standards have diminished greatly over the past few years. It is now time as Publisher that you take the reins of this wild horse and pull it in. While bloggers are being portrayed as being irresponsible for not performing fact-checking, The Langley Times continues to publish inaccurate and misleading articles. The Langley Times now requires your leadership. If not, there needs to be two resignations, with swift and direct control from the upper management at Black Press.

Bombshell Dropped

2010-03-31T14:37:00.000-07:00

Our editorial war room was inundated with calls this morning to ask what the bombshell was. As reported yesterday in our "Cat Out of The Bag" article, Mayor Rick Green announced his candidacy for re-election as Mayor of the Township of Langley. That was the bombshell we spoke of and was awaiting confirmation of. You can read all about it here in the Langley Times. An immediate reaction came from The Times Editor (and old pal of Green from Delta days) which can be accessed here.

It's clear from the press coverage and comments that Green has no regard for the Community Charter and doesn't see the need for the mayor to represent the "will of council" in other meetings. While individual councillors can speak their minds, the mayors have always represented the majority "will of council" as a uniting force. This is also required under the mayor's Oath of Office that is vastly different from the Oath of Office that members of Council take.

Green makes these statements regarding "speaking out", "fighting" this or that, etc. as mere politicking. Mayor Green has for many months accused Council of continuing to fight the last election. He took the same shot at them basically in his announcement.

If the electorate reviewed this fan fare by Green and Bucholtz for an election that is about 20 months away, one must conclude that Green is the one that has not stopped fighting the last election and in fact will now use his office as mayor to further his political future. Just like that Mayoral Chain of Office. Rest assured that each and every decision by Mayor Green moving forward will now be measured against re-election, garnering more supporters that will convert to voters, and playing to the whims of his vocal Milner Green supporters.

The Times (with Bucholtz at the helm of content), would like to see nothing better than to see a 1999 style election. It makes for lots of he said, she saids, sensational headlines and the potential for greater ad dollars as readership spikes upwards. Judging by the slim amount of pages and the end of a Sunday edition of The Times, the paper needs all the help they can get.

Mayor Green may get his wish at a chance to try new things and such. Moral with key Township staff is at an all-time low and we are certain that if Green was re-elected, retirements and resignations would follow. This would be a catastrophic brain drain for the Township and one that could set us back 10-20 years. Reserves would be plundered. Illegally plundered we assume, as Green's recommendations fly in the face of legal requirements. Infrastructure would certainly crumble and take years to rebuild. At that point Green could ride into the sunset on his horsey and that would be that.

What is more chocking is the reaction of The Langley Advance in all of this. While the Advance presents more balanced stories and Editorial Opinions, they are certainly not holding this current mayor's feet to the fire as that editor did to Former Mayor Kurt Alberts. Perhaps it's because Green appears more intimidating to them and his bully style has made them impotent? Maybe some massive doses of reporter and editor Viagra is required to help them out?

The Cat is Now Out of The Bag...

2010-03-30T18:09:00.000-07:00

Well, the cat is now out of the bag and Langley Township has been duly warned that Mayor Rick Green will seek re-election. Green felt it necessary to announce his intentions (a campaign that never ended) to The Langley Times here of course.

It was clear from his first day that Green intended to politic and now the cat is out in the open. Unlike other members of Council that got in with their jobs once the election was over, Green used every Mayor's Report and opportunity to fight a campaign of sorts. The 0-0-0 promises never became a reality because they never really could. But hey, people believed that this politician was unlike all the others that promised tax cuts and never delivered. Just like the Mayoral Chain of Office, we will now see what Mayor Green does with our money to benefit his re-election campaign over the next two years.

Bombshell About to Hit Township

2010-03-30T14:51:00.000-07:00

Today our Editorial Board received word of a statement made loud and clear by a local politico. Stay tuned, more info to come. Take the new poll as this upcoming statement may be impacted by your vote in this poll.

When You Can't Have It Both Ways

2010-03-25T10:06:00.000-07:00

It was a very simple decision to make, but somehow Mayor Rick Green has managed to complicate it. Staff issued a report about upgrading the TransLink Major Road Network (MRN) now that the Golden Ears Bridge has been completed. Obviously the new bridge will impact the surrounding area and everyone knew this. As roads are placed into the MRN, TransLink is now responsible for paying the bills for those roadways.

Green frustrated the decision-making process to place 208th Street into the MRN, that would also allow some truck traffic, by insisting on a public consultation process. These are issues that the average citizen does not understand the implications of. The decisions regarding the MRN are best left with professional staff and a sober second look from Council. This is how every other municipality handles MRN decisions.

The reality is clear to anyone that uses 208th Street. That reality is that currently more truck traffic travels along 208th Street with the massive ongoing construction than there ever will be with an MRN truck designation. Residents in and around 208th Street want the roadway widened to 4 lanes for safety and efficiency. As land must be acquired for a right-of-way along the route, the Township has no ability to pay this bill without help.

Mayor Green complains often about other orders of government "downloading" costs to the municipalities. In fact, he took a pop shot at the provincial government just this past Monday during his 2010 budget rant. So the socialist-leaning bailout rants go forth, but Green and others can't manage the millions that the GVRD has already! Can you imagine the nerve of government legislating health and safety? The nerve of them, right Mayor Green?

The BC Provincial government is under constant attack by Mayor Green. So here is the much-needed MRN expansion that is a no-brainer for most. There is money to make 208th Street safer and more productive. Money will flow from TransLink to pay for the much-needed infrastructure upgrades.

So why does Mayor Green oppose saving Township taxpayers millions by putting 208th Street in the MRN? He pouts when other governments say no - and when they say YES!

Budget Vote Next Monday - Richter Motion With Absent Richter

2010-03-17T22:43:00.000-07:00

Township Council will vote on the budget bylaw next Monday, March 22, 2010.

Councillor Kim Richter announced she will be on Kwantlen business for that March 22nd meeting, but read her motion in the last Special Meeting of Township Council. in her motion, Richter calls for the mayor and council to take cuts in pay and benefits. This sounds aweful familiar to the stunt Councillor Dave Hall did in Langley City Council. Now Isn't that nice of Councillor Richter to do this? Just as she will miss this upcoming meeting for "Kwantlen business", taking her away from ToL Council business that she was elected to do, she will be paid for it all by Kwantlen and the ToL. Between Kwantlen instructor salary at $80-100K, plus the monies paid to her for her Board of Governor status, she can certainly afford to skunk her fellow councillors. ToL benefit cuts? Not a problem as Kwantlen also provides those. Cllr. Dave Hall is also on the education teet, so birds of a feather here folks. Cuts on the City or Township level will not impact Hall and Richter, so what the heck, eh?

The danger in these kinds of votes (apart from pandering to the press for a little smiling picture and article), is that you are saying with your motion that the common man can't run for mayor or Council. The message is, only the elite with good paying public teet jobs should run because they can take or leave their municiple benefits. What about retirees? Well, they need to come well-financed in Richter's version of public office. Single Mom's? Sell the farm and pony up cowgirl. What Richter hasn't figured out is that other members of Council may work harder than her. She certainly missed all the budget meetings and her contents within her motion make it obvious that she didn't understand what was proposed with the budget because she asked for Council cuts to cover things that are already covered under the proposed budget!

It's really good that the majority of Council came to work and didn't take an outside salary. It's equally good that those other members didn't stab their colleagues in the back and use this outside compensation to strong-arm their colleagues. So, come to the Council table self-financed or go home folks. This is Kim Richter's version of politics. Let's question her regarding her late arrival or no arrival at Council in the next election, shall we? Let's get her to disclose her non-Township salary and benefits, how's that? It is high time we hold her to the same standard she tries to set for everyone else in our humble opinion.

Rick Green's Hidden Agenda?

2010-03-13T19:04:00.000-08:00

Township Mayor Rick Green has been using a systematic program of disinformation since the campaign. The disinformation program uses uninformed political supporter pawns to write letters and post comments to the two local newspaper groups. The campaign's primary focus is continue fighting the election by hamming a false idea that Mayor Rick Green is a victim and that Council is just out to get him. Of course we all know the reality is that this is all a smokescreen.

The fact is, this rookie mayor has accomplished absolutely nothing. This is wholly attributable to his bully disposition and his inability to grasp the the essential issues that mayors who are true leaders can. One of the key principles is that once the election is over you lead as mayor by building consensus and serving the people. This is what YOU are elected to do Mayor Green. Green has done a piss poor job of this ability to stop fighting the election and getting on to business. This lack of leadership points to the impotence level being extremely high.

Our the past couple of weeks the Rick Green campaign of disinformation has been operating on overtime as these uniformed and blind Green followers have occupied space in the local newspapers and online once again. But this week in the latest campaign we see clearly some items that could be forming part of a hidden agenda for use by Green in the next election. It is no secret that Green is busy forming a slate and that he is paranoid that Cllrs. Jordan Bateman and Charlie Fox make take a shot at the mayor's seat in the next election. So, the latest letters seek to discredit Bateman and Fox. At the same time, they introduce some themes that appear to be part and parcel of Green's hidden agenda. We've gotten several calls about these issues and several people are of the same mind. Green has some tricks up his sleeve:

Green's Hidden Agenda # 1 - Cut the ToL Fire Department & ToL Staff
“Stop growing the bureaucracy and stop growing the fire department budget.” See link here

It's no secret that since elected, Green has placed significant pressure on the Township Fire Chief and other department heads to find ways to reduce their already slim budgets. Green through this bull fighting could care less about public safety, as long as he could take credit for what appears on the surface to be budget cutting. That is of course until an incident happens, then he will blame the department head. These letter writers should also know that some of the people they quote are City of Langley residents, not Township.

Green's Hidden Agenda # 2 - Allow Soil Deposits and Removals for Select Friends & Supporters

Green extremist Fred McNeil takes issue with Cllr. Charlie Fox for his record of strongly opposing gravel extraction and soil deposit works that could impact the water supply. See the post here. Fox was merely suggesting that the letter writer in question understand the issues more clearly, just as this fine letter writer and this one does. While McNeil, Green and others continue to rant over the Mufford Overpass, the fact remains that several ALR exclusion applications have come before Council and none of these "farm saviours" have attended any of the meetings. Does McNeil's letter open a door for Green to start considering soil deposits and removals now?

Green's Hidden Agenda # 3 - Attack Councillors Jordan Bateman and Charlie Fox
Relentlessly

In additional to Fred McNeil's venom against Cllr. Fox in the above section, McNeil was busy crafting this comment online against Cllr. Jordan Bateman. The Green Disinformation Committee has met and Fred McNeil must have been elected Chair. Congrats Fred on your total misunderstanding of the facts regarding the issues of this Township. Stay at home and listen to Rick Green smokescreens and you will be fine. Keep up the attacks on Bateman and Fox because as you know, your buddy the mayor is going to have one hell of a road to hoe in the next election, as he comes empty handed to the debate table with NOTHING accomplished for the good of the Township. All because he continues to fight the last election and almost every councillor that was elected with him.

Do You Remember?

2010-03-09T23:22:00.000-08:00

Do you remember the old McDonald's hand puppets? It's been a long time since our Editorial Board has seen a Mayor McCheese puppet, so we thought we'd bring him back for you.

Next Monday, Township Council will meet. The 2010 Budget vote will be front and center before them. Mayor Green as you know ran on a platform that hinged greatly on generating more revenues and cutting taxes. We've seen neither! His tactic since winning was to join the whiners and blame Township Council for it all. He has missed two important 2010 budget meetings (the final two).

Councillor Kim Richter has never voted to approve a Township budget. Last year she did not attend the council meeting when the vote was taken. During the only Council Priorities Committee (CPC) meeting regarding the budget that Richter attended this year, she put forth a couple of possibilities (like water metering in the urban areas and no additional police officers) and then disappeared.

We aren't sure where Councillor Richter stands, but following staff's outline of legal requirements (for utility funds and such), ToL staff identified about $175,000 - $200,000 in possible discretionary cuts that Mayor Green or Councillor Richter could propose at next Monday's meeting. In our opinion this year Richter could gain some credibility by forgetting her annual protest budget vote and either approve the 2010 budget, or make motions to cut the items that staff identified.

As we mentioned before, Mayor Green has already vowed to "fight" a proposed closing (on the off-season) of the Langley Centennial Museum on Sundays and Mondays. This decision despite staff memos that make it clear the closing will have very minimal impact on the public and is in line with what other municipal area museums are doing. But hey, Green and the local rags never let the facts get in the way of a good BS story, eh?

Next Monday we will see if Cllr. Richter attends the budget meeting and takes some bold action of real substance. Will she propose and vote for cuts as she has suggested over the past few years at past budget meetings? Or will she decide to approve the budget? This will be a true test of her ability to lead. She has coveted the mayor seat in the past and now her leadership has to become evident. Money is the important issue for many people these days. You can't give them lip service the rest of the year. You have to show your true leadership capabilities where the rubber meets the road...finances and budgeting. You can't abdicate this responsibility. You must put forth SPECIFICS and you must put aside simplistic protest votes.

Now that Green has decided to approve spending, will he now vote to approve this budget? In 2009 Green voted against the budget with a big fat vague speech that told the intelligent electorate NOTHING. It did impress the "cling-ons" that agree blindly with everything the man says. But if you plan to spend, then you also must vote for the vehicle that allows the bills you approve of to be paid. Time for a man to be a man.

Will Mayor Green switch over to a Mayor McCheese mentality, or will stop "fighting" and try to work with the majority of Township Council that was elected with a larger mandate - more votes than Green?

Doublespeak From Township Mayor

2010-03-04T22:16:00.000-08:00

This week, Township Mayor Rick Green vowed to "fight" yet another battle...closing the Langley Centennial Museum. You can read about it here. As Council looked at a list of non-essential Township items that could be reduced from the budget, this item came. Mayor Green was not at this Council meeting on the budget, but did get his Council packet like everyone else. The staff report said in part:

Historically the museum was closed Mondays from Thanksgiving Monday to the first Monday in May through 2003. Monday openings in the off season were added in October 2003. The museum has been open Sundays from 1:00 - 5:00 pm since before 1987.

During the years when the museum was closed on Mondays two professional staff continued to work that day. If Council approves a Monday closure two professional staff will continue work on Mondays. Museum staff will be available to:

- oversee any Recreation Worker led registered Monday programs
- maintain Lochiel School commitments
- coordinate pick-up and drop-off for offsite self-guided tour options
- organize and plan for school programs scheduled from Tuesday to Friday
- do conservation or exhibit related work

The in-museum self guided program "Discovery Cupboards" would no longer be available on Mondays but would remain available on Fridays.

As noted in the Memo to Council dated February 2, 2010 closing on Mondays only would shift one regular part-time clerical position to other recreation facilities, reducing auxiliary hours at those facilities. Maintaining the current operating hours on a seasonal basis would require auxiliary staff to supplement the full-time clerical position during the defined summer season. Closing on Sundays and Mondays would shift both regular part-time clerical positions to other recreation facilities, reducing auxiliary hours at those facilities. Maintaining the current operating hours on a seasonal basis would require using auxiliary staff to supplement the full-time clerical position during the defined season. In both scenarios there is an allowance made to provide eight hours per week of auxiliary clerical support throughout the off-season."

-- Township Staff Memo--

Mayor Green ran on the promise of zero-based budgeting and spoke often and passionately about all the non-core services and waste he purported to be found within Township operations. He called for many "audits" and "reviews" to find areas to cut. His Finance Committee suggested withholding laptop computers and Blackberry devices to ToL staff and picking up your trash only once every two weeks. One could argue that garbage collection is a core service in a municipality, is it not?

So, now Mayor Green considered keeping a museum open off-season something similar to an essential service! You see, Mayor Green is doing what all politicians do...blab about cutting things until a group of citizens complain to you at the Mayor's Open House. At that meeting you can claim you was not present at the Township Council meeting where this matter was discussed and you can blame Council for the proposed cut, as Mayor Green told the crowd that Saturday.

The facts of low attendance during these off-season times be damned, as now the mayor will "fight" to keep this museum open. Who cares if attendance is low and staff can use the time to catch up on other duties? It's time to fight and put aside election promises of core services and cuts elsewhere. Who will stand with Mayor Green in this fight? Who are they fighting against?

Township Budget Open House Coming Up

2010-02-25T20:43:00.000-08:00

The Township's annual Budget Open House will take place March 1st & 2nd. You can download the Budget highlights and Response form directly from this ToL site here.

Our Editorial Board has reviewed this year's budget in-depth and after one sets aside all of the statutory requirements, there is approximately $200K in discretionary spending. Despite what some politicians might say, this is the fact of the matter! If there was a way to do more, those people proposing it would be elected forever. There is no magic bullet folks despite all the political rhetoric.

So, what part of the $200K do you wish to cut? The choices are things like closing the museum in Fort Langley during certain seasons, abolishing Rivers Day (really a week at $40K), axing the volunteer appreciation dinners like those for firefighters and a host of other related things this community holds as important.

This is an open thread, so let's hear your ideas !

Warning Signs - The Female Narcissistic Politician Among Us

2010-02-21T13:19:00.000-08:00

The problem with mental illness is the deception of it all. Those with mental health issues often feel deep inside they are the healthy ones and have convinced themselves this is true. They project the hidden inner demons onto others, despising their colleagues that obtain the press coverage and perceived limelight that they themselves thrive on. They conjure up false causes and excuses to obtain "payback" and get that face picture on the front page as often as possible. They enlist friends and family...often spouses...who enable them and feed their illusions of grandeur. New hair styles, a dye job here and there, an appointment to board perhaps? All part and parcel of the destructive mental health issues hidden deep within.

Don't be deceived into thinking that we don't have our very own female narcissist at work in our municipal Council!

Here's some facts and warning signs for female narcissists that you should be aware of. Recognize any of these?

" They secure their Narcissistic Supply through their more traditional gender role: the home, children, suitable careers, their feminine traits, their role in society, etc"

"It is no wonder than narcissists are chauvinistic. They depend to such an extent on the opinions of people around them – that, with time, they are transformed into ultra-sensitive seismographs of public opinion".

"The narcissist cannot afford to seriously alienate her "constituency", those people who reflect her False Self back to her. The very proper and on-going functioning of the narcissist's Ego depends on the goodwill and the collaboration of her human environment."

-- Dr. Sam Vaknin

Common Signs of Female Narcissists:

A lack of feeling, empathy, or concern for others
A willingness to take advantage of others
Excessive feelings of self-importance
Exaggerated personal achievements and abilities
An expectation to be seen as superior without cause
A fantasy or is preoccupation with power, personal abilities, or success
A demand for favorable treatment without appropriate reasons
An insistence on being the object of admiration and attention.
A sense of entitlement
Interpersonally exploitative (i.e. takes advantage of others to achieve her own ends)
Lacks empathy- unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others
Is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of her
Shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes. Distances herself from others

What Planet?

2010-02-16T11:16:00.000-08:00

What planet is this letter writer (Robert Moats) from? This man lectures Council on how to conduct themselves and points to Mayor Green as the shining example for them all to follow. This same letter writer bullied Council during the Mufford overpass debate - treating staff and councillors like dirt.

Mr. Moats does not know what he is talking about. He did not attend any committee meetings, has only attended Council when he needed to bully and bitch about something, or to threaten councillors. As far as our Editorial Board knows, Mr. Moats is not involved in any community activities (i.e. giving back). As a strong supported of Green during the campaign and a full-fledged Milner Green, he needs to look at his own conduct and the abhorent manner in which he conducts his "advocacy" for his very small minority.

Mr. Moats, you are also wrong about the majority. Mayor Green came in 4th place. Three councillors got more votes than the mayor. Get your facts in order before you put your dragon suit on.

Mayor Green was elected as mayor and not dictator. Staff does the work in a municipality Mr. Moats and mayor and council work on a higher level ONLY to provide a sober second look and to set high-level direction based on the EXPERTS (Township staff). No one wants your Mr. Green or anyone else taking over for staff. They are hired experts and you pay them so they are listened to. Not your Green grocer.

Something's Fishy

2010-02-14T13:37:00.000-08:00

****UPDATED FEBRUARY 15, 2010****

By now we are sure you have all read the letter to the editor regarding the Mayor's Standing Committee on Finance and the decision of the three civilians to resign. Something's really fishy about this for several reasons...

The mayor was Chair of this committee. If you believe that Council ignored the committee, then there is a fundamental problem because the Chair is to support and advocate to Council for his committee and engage Council in the process.

Council thought this committee was so important that they had 3 members of Council sit on the committee (Mayor Green, Cllr. Richter and Cllr. Ferguson)
The letter writer mentioned his credentials and experience. But several times during the budget process this same individual stated that he had no municipal finance experience.
The .93% was never explained in any detail whatsoever by the mayor. None of their budget figures were shown to add up and the accountant left on holidays before the report was written. How could run on a campaign of 0-0-0 and then propose even a .93? Did he miscalculate when running in the election?

Mayor Green told us during the campaign that the Langley Airport was operating grossly under market and that the Township of Langley should be making an additional $1M per year. Another miscalculation we gather, as a report released late last year states that our airport is making record profits as compared with other regional airports around the country.

Rick Green told us during his campaign that Langley would be saved through a Land Trust, much like the City of Vancouver. Green proposed a man with qualifications to act as a consultant, but who had also supported Green in the campaign. Council accepted the qualifications and did not fight the hiring of this consultant. One year later this exercise of a Land Trust has gone nowhere.

The Township doesn't have Vancouver's land portfolio and hence cannot generate the dollars needed to offset property taxes. Once again Mayor Green's calculator was broken and we can thank Green (and not NOT COUNCIL) for our tax increases. If he did as promised and what people elected him to do, we would be getting money flowing from this grand Land Trust that would freeze our property taxes. Green has failed us!

Mayor Rick Green's calculator is broken folks. He embarked on this finance committee process with the goal of finding massive waste and perhaps more. What he found was a well-oiled machine that is run by dedicated and bright staff.

The mayor should get his calculator repaired or replaced as this year's budget enters the debate process. It is now time for Mayor Rick Green to explain in detail where the $7M+ in cuts will come from to support his 0% rhetoric. Will he close recreation centres? Will he cancel all road repairs and upgrades? Will he rip up contracts for CUPE workers? Will he reduce garbage collection?

We want specifics Mayor Green and if the local press won't push for detailed facts to support a 0% tax increase, then the people must. It's time for details and an end to vague pontifications delivered in a white washed public relations Mayor's Report.

The Free Tickets You Don't Know About

2010-02-09T09:00:00.001-08:00

REASON 687 WHY KIM RICHTER COULD NEVER BECOME MAYOR

Recently Township Councillor Kim Richter's PR machine posted an article that slammed the Provincial Government for what they inaccurately termed free Olympic tickets for BC Liberal MLAs. Of course everyone in the know is aware that over 80 social events will take place during the Games where ministers will work as hosts to international business people. After all, when the world is on your doorstep why note try to lure big business to consider the Greater Vancouver area as a new base for operations?

Local MLA Mary Polak has already told a recent Town Hall Meeting held in the City of Langley last Saturday that she is working over 50 non-sporting events as host and therefore she will not be getting any Games tickets for sporting events. They are reserved for colleagues that are working as hosts at sporting events, as well as visiting dignitaries (Heads of State, etc.) that pop in. The insiders know that Mary Polak was offered free tickets to Olympic events by a large corporation that bought many event tickets. MLA Polak politely refused the tickets because of optics and knowing full well that there will be community whiners that would verbally assault her for doing so, we are sure.

But the hypocrisy of the Kim Richter's PR engine is simply amazing! Richter and her significant other have attended hockey games at least twice at the Langley Events Centre using free tickets obtained through the Corporation of Langley. In at least one instance, Richter received additional free tickets for her former slate friend and others. All in the very same Langley Events Centre...a community asset that she has spoken and voted against time after time in Council. Hypocrisy!

The height of hypocracy came just one week after her PR blog post about the Olympic tickets when Councillor Kim Richter and her significant other attended a Vancouver Giants games on the corporate bubble.

Now it would be OK for extra tickets to be distributed to Council and others. Maybe even to the many volunteers that serve this community? But to throw stones at the provincial government on one side of your mouth and then take free tickets for you and your family members on the other side is the same hypocrisy that Richter often accuses others of. Glass houses are popping up in central Langley. Yet another reason why Kim Richter could never be mayor of the Township of Langley.

Broken Promises? Hardly!

2010-02-05T13:22:00.000-08:00

Recent press out of Fort Langley here and here will certainly mislead those unfamiliar with ParkLane Homes and their Bedford Landing project. Those familiar with the issues here know that the same handful of people have done nothing but offer negative remarks but little in the way of productive and constructive solutions for our community.

The comical thing is that some of the people mentioned are NOT Fort Langley residents, but portraying themselves as Fort Langley residents possibly to add to their credibility? To set the record straight, Doug McFee, Larri Woodrow, Bays and Bob Blackhall and Keith Robertson who all identify themselves as "Friends of the TransCanada Trail" are NOT residents of Fort Langley.

We would also like to set the record straight by saying that any claims of promises broken by ParkLane Homes are equally false and misleading. Statements by these folks show a complete disconnect in what they support and embrace. Just look at this:

Province Article:

"We wanted a vibrant and lively area along the riverside, not a quiet residential space"...said Smith.

Langley Times Article:

"The original development was sold on a vision of rural, riverside and peaceful," said Rodney Blackwell, chair of the Fort Langley Community Association.

and

"Bedford Landing was not supposed to overwhelm the rest of the village. We don't want a busy urban development and that's what this will do." Rodney Blackwell

Which is it you want folks? Vibrant and lively or peaceful?

History
ParkLane purchased this land from forestry group Interfor, that once ran a sawmill on this old Fort Langley property site. Prior to the purchase, Interfor was looking for a rezoning and made some promises to the Township in exchange for the rezoning.

Following the sale (and being good corporate citizens), ParkLane Homes as new owners sought to provide the community with amenities and develop a quality community. Of the 80 acres, ParkLane preserved roughly half or 40 acres as dedicated green space, conservation areas and linear parks (trails).

Interfor committed to provide resources ($250K - $300K) to upgrade facilities for both the Rowing Club and Canoe Club that are active on the river. ParkLane inherited this promise and together with the Township of Langley developed facilities for these two clubs that make others envious. In the end, ParkLane Homes spent far more than the original Interfor commitment of $250K - $300K. You can hardly call this a broken promise, can you?

Caring for Pedestrians
Interfor had committed to the Township for provision of a pedestrian overpass to enhance the usability and attractiveness of the riverfront. ParkLane inherited this commitment and will soon provide funding for a $1M pedestrian overpass. What promise was broken here?

The Rowing Club, Kwantlen First Nations and the Township saw a huge need to do a commercial dredge of the Bedford Channel to help cleanse this waterway and enhance recreation here. It was estimated at that time that a commercial dredge would cost approximately $2M !!

Bedford Channel Dredge Costly
The Township went to ParkLane regarding the commercial dredge. The company crunched the numbers and had a very difficult time finding a business case to help the ToL. They wanted to, but the huge price tag made it far from economically viable. The ToL reviewed the approvals and realized that basements were not approved for some Bedford Landing homes. The ToL offered ParkLane approval of some basements in exchange for the commercial dredge. ParkLand agreed that this would make things more economically viable and a partnership was struck, with the ToL offering $50K, GVRD $50K and the Provincial Government putting in abother $100K in grants. Again the final bill to ParkLane Homes was more than the estimated $2M and the company installed a self-scouring system for an additional $500K. Another broken promise here perhaps? Hardly.

While the Township has approved legal secondary suites, much of the basement homes in Bedford Landing do not have secondary suites as this group of critics claim. But the offering of basements for recreation rooms, spare bedroom or a home theatre helped ParkLane offset the cost of this huge community gift of the deeper channel.

An Attractive Adult Community Area
Interfor committed to "senior housing" that could only be purchased by "seniors". There is currently no Bylaw in the Township of Langley that specifies any specific age for "senior housing". The Bylaw is vague in that regard. Again, ParkLane homes honoured this promise by building some apartments that were marketed to folks 45 years of age and old. NO Township Bylaw required this. The reality is, most people who purchased this product are at least 55 years of age (empty nesters), with many being 65 and over. No promise broken here that we can see!

Smaller Footprint - More Landscaping
The original Interfor approval called for a 3 story building with 100 apartments and 8 townhouses in the original plan. ParkLane presented Township Council with a proposal for 4 stories and only 78 units. The critics complain and claim that ParkLane is trying to "squeeze every last drop of profit" out of this land. Yet, the current 78 units have a smaller footprint than the original plan for 100 units and 8 townhouses. Imagine that!

The Hotel That Shouldn't
Interfor hired a consultant to design their original development. This consultant drew up some grand plans for a waterfront area and hotel with 90 rooms. The same consultant developed similar plans for a waterfront project in Pitt Meadows. The developer in Pitt Meadows crunched the numbers and looked at usage and determined it was not economically viable.

Economic Realism Or Do They Want A Casino in Fort Langley?
ParkLane Homes like any company in these hard economic times must review all developments to ensure their plans align with market conditions. No one has any crystal ball to say when this economic downturn will change, or how well it will recover. So, ParkLane reviewed the old hotel proposal from the former Interfor consultant, spoke with some hotel chains and people in the business, looked at visitor figures and choices of accommodation (bed & breakfast), and have determined that a hotel in this development is NOT economically viable. Has ParkLane really done anything wrong in sidelining plans for what could be a very large and ugly white elephant visible from the roadway and the waterfront? We think not.

Despite having a 24-hour casino and a convention centre, the Coast Hotel in Langley City is only 77 rooms. How on earth can any economy support the building of 90 room in Fort Langley?

We could go on, but we think our readers are wise enough to read between the lines on this one. Given the fact that Doug McFee and his group made a delegation to Township Council last year to criticize ParkLane Homes for a waterfront development plan that was YET to be issued at that time, the claims of promises broken is very unfounded to put it politely.

We MUST conclude that ParkLane Homes should be commended for their fine corporate citizenship in our community and their follow-through on the promises made by others. ParkLane has been building nothing but quality products at all price ranges, making them affordable for people in Langley. They have contributed greatly to the cleansing and viability of waterways, greenways and trail systems. In very tough economic times, ParkLane Homes has not failed the majority of the residents of the Township of Langley and they continue with their commitments and generous contributions. We wish all to know the truth and to support their efforts. Let's stop bashing ParkLane Homes and the beauty that is Bedford Landing. A gem right here in the Township of Langley.

The Experts Love Bedford Landing - Imagine That!
Recently a member of our Editorial Board took some well-respect urban planners to Bedford Landing. They were amazed at the range of housing options, affordability and quality. They couldn't help but photograph every corner and housing type. They are now presenting these slides of Bedford Landing in their communities elsewhere in North America as examples of quality sustainable development. So while the world envies at our gems, a handful of critics cast these same gems around like feed for swine. Go figure!

Langley Chatter

2010-01-29T14:17:00.000-08:00

News Flash

LANGLEY CHATTER REPORT

While intelligence agencies around the globe monitor "chatter" that streams in from phone, Internet, fax and other sources, The Langley Record monitors the chatter of the Township as our frank reporting troubles some. Our new Langley Chatter report will advise you of the latest talk and chatter we received from our Langley intelligence sources that run the gamut of political affiliations and position.

Our latest intel reveals that a handful of people are VERY upset by our posts. Langley area pharmacists are working overtime as a community service to refill prescriptions for this small band of folks in need of serious medicating. Orders have also been placed for some very fashionable straight jackets as seen above, just in case the meds fail to work. Area doctors have also been busy raising doses and frequency of use instructions for these patients.

As if this was not enough, the rusty old PR engine for one of these people has tried to crank itself to life, but the tired old posts are not garnering any comments as readership has bled heavily from the sudden political attacks against have alienated a once-shared support base. Even former allies now concede that the unholy alliance with the kingpin (or should we say "Queenpin"?) has resulted in multiple elections losses as a result of this misalignment.

Yes folks, the PR engine will have you believe as they did from the start, that this blog is simply evil. But as we have consistently reported the facts and called it as we see it, people have now learned where the true disinformation is coming from and where the truth can be found.

Stay tuned to the Langley Record, as very soon we will uncover yet another smoke screen that attempts to fabricate truth and mislead you. This journey will take us to a quaint little area of Langley Township. Wait until you hear this one!

More Quack, Quack, Quack...

2010-01-25T14:49:00.000-08:00

Councillor Kim Richter has once again showed her true colours. Her old duck line (used and abused often in Township Council) has come back home to roost... no pun intended!

Pretending to befriend who she previously referred to as the "Council Six Pack", with sweet calls and comments of concern, the gloves came off when these folks didn't trust her or tell her their every move. Good thing, as a look at The Times shows the level of hatred for her fellow Councillors. But hey after all, only a fool would trust her when you consider the amount of old baggage and antics that have occurred in the past.

Shortly after the campaign Richter's "Editor" (you know, the same guy that does what he accuses us of doing) printed some comments and Willy Nilly commented back about Richter not being able to work with any mayor or Council. There was complete and utter denial from that other blog, but we must agree with Willy Nilly now! Very prophet Willy! Right on!

In our opinion Mayor Green has his faults and his own way of doing things that rub people the wrong way, but he does pick and choose his battles somewhat and he doesn't hold grudges year after year about silly things. He will also entertain criticism that is focused on issues. This is FAR more than we can say about Cllr. Richter, someone who has refused to talk to some colleagues for years and then suddenly changes her tune when a particular relative comes in from Ottawa. She also doesn't consider critics from the general public that are NOT public officials. Going on the attack against them is simply political suicide over time.

Cllr. Richter's behaviour should seriously raise the eyebrows of the electorate. We are hearing that Mayor Green's supports are taking a very hard second look and we did predict what is happening today. Another "Editor" would have you believe it just happened yesterday, but we are dealing with a Councillor that is calculating and strategic, all for her own benefit and profile. Never for the benefit on another.

Just remember what has been said many times at the Council table about ducks and watch what is happening folks. Expect the heat to rise even higher as we get closer to election time. This person will also try to drag Cllr. Bateman into everything. Why? Because Bateman recently had a corporate fundraiser and we do hear that some serious cash flowed his way. We know for a fact that people in Surrey were called to fund a mayor's run in the Township of Langley by a certain female Councillor. When the dollars didn't materialize, her energy was focused on a slate with Mayor Green. What else can you do when people don't have the confidence to put the cash up? Perhaps the bitter harvest is now here because of a would have - could have - should have scenario? Keep watching. The gloves came off with the Times news plant.

Brown's Pit - Someone Better Fill Coleman In!

2010-01-24T03:00:00.000-08:00

Last year the residents around Brown's Pit was concerned that gravel extraction in the area would make a mess of the Hopington Aquifer. Although it was a political hot potato (as the BC government was clearly in favour of building a new Port Mann Bridge, Fort Langley-Aldergrove MLA Rich Coleman swung into action. All those that know Rich very clearly recall him meeting with Councillors Jordan Bateman and Charlie Fox, collecting all the facts, then letting Victoria know this plan would definitely impact the aquifer and couldn't happen.

Some four weeks after MLA Coleman took up the charge, Mayor Rich Green appeared in the driveway of some opponents, along with several Milner Greens. A day late and a dollar short, still Mayor Green took credit for "fighting" and winning the case in his latest report card on Monday evening. As this clearly fell within the jurisdiction of the Provincial Government and they can basically do whatever they wish without consulting this mayor, how can he possibly take credit for this work? MLA Coleman even met with the residents at his request to let them know the project would not be moving forward and that he had worked all this out.

We are certain word has now gotten back to MLA Rich Coleman. We'd love to be a fly on the wall in his office when the news came in that the rookie mayor has taken all the credit.

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

2010-01-22T03:00:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-21T14:08:00.000-08:00

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?

2010-01-20T12:00:00.000-08:00

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?

Opaque - The New Transparency For Kim Richter?

2010-01-14T09:53:00.000-08:00

At a recent Township (Council Priorities Committee - CPC) budget meeting Councillor Kim Richter suggested that Council examine water metering IN THE URBAN AREAS and that they also consider NOT adding the proposed additional police officer for the next few years as recommended by the RCMP based on population growth.

At Monday's Special Township Council meeting on January 11th the minutes of that CPC came before Council for approval. Cllr. Richter quickly jumped in to ask that the minutes be revised to clearly indicate her intention of wanting to meter water in the URBAN areas of the Township only. She then apparently threw away all of the political rhetoric on her website and election platforms for the past many years, asking staff why these comments were directly attributed to her (Councillor Richter) in the record.

Staff agreed to amend the minutes to say that there was a "Council discussion" related to these issues raised. Can you imagine that? Cllr. Kim Richter constantly chastises her Council peers for what she perceives to be any hint of lack of transparency and accountability. Yet Richter had the Township record amended so that her comments in Council appear vague and not attributed to any one single Township Councillor.

Apparently for Cllr. Kim Richter, opaque has become the new transparent. Better throw away those old campaign buttons and revise that website Councillor, as once again your walk does not line up with the talk.

Only ONE Pocket - Kim Richter and Mayor Green Take Note

2010-01-01T09:07:00.001-08:00

What amazes our Editorial Board each year is how Councillor Kim Richter (and now Mayor Green) separate taxes. They somehow think that if tax increases are not in the form of property tax increases, somehow that will buffalo the general public?

Richter constantly promotes things like raising user fees in the Township. Green just comes up with ridiculous budget numbers that are irrational and never add up. Someone needs to educate Cllr. Richter on the fact that whether it is property taxes or user fees, it is the same public taxpayer pocket. You can slice it and dice it all you want Kim, but it all comes out of the same pocket!

It also amazes us that each and every year the loudest griping comes from the rural residents of Langley with regards to budgets and increases. The fact of the matter is that in 2009, Township Council received 30-40 positive feedback sheets during the public budget input process. At least 30-40 urban residents (who pay proportionally more taxes than their rural neighbours understood the need for the tax increase and supported it. Our Editorial team took a straw pole amongst our neighbours in 2009 and all of the people we spoke with were happy with the services and levels of service they were receiving from the ToL and were happy to pay for them. Many of them resented Mayor Rick Green's suggestions that the Township could be operated on a shoe string, and viewed this approach as nothing more than a cheap political tactic. They fully understood that Cllr. Richter could be placed in that same boat.

One pocket there is Kim and Rick. Better come to Jesus and repent of your past sins.

Spin, Spin, Spin...

2009-12-30T05:28:00.001-08:00

As we are about to enter a New Year, some things just never change. We see this Langley Times article on the Township budget process here and the spin job that is already heating up. Since taking office, Mayor Rick Green quickly discovered that his take on the Township was not reality-based. We believe he was already well-aware of that. His constant denial of the facts and truth cause those of us that love Langley to be hugely concerned.

It's OK that Green was a transplant from Delta and didn't grow up in Langley, but did live here for about 10 years. Sometimes an outside perspective is good. But Green managed (through voter apathy and aligning himself with a handful of people with axes against the Township, former mayor and council) to push Kurt Alberts out of the mayor's seat. Kurt was a man that loved and still very much loves the Township. What people may not realize is that during his tenure as mayor, Kurt refused many of the automatic pay increases. Kurt's salary was in the low to mid $50K range. Rick Green's compensation is in excess of $120K with salary and expenses. He recently received a huge raise with the latest Metro Vancouver averaging formula. Even the mayor's pal, Langley Times Editor Frank Bucholtz, could not ignore that one!

But back to the spin...Green is now busy spinning his version of the news related to the ToL budget. His Finance Committee of campaign cronies (except for Cllrs. Ferguson - Richter was really friendly to Green at that time), came up with a VERY lame report. It said nothing, did nothing to address the maintenance needs of a growing municipality, would have depleted fund reserves, and would have led to a $9M+ deficit in 3 years! This very thin "report" did not even spell out how their proposed .93% tax increase could be obtained!

Yet Mayor Green continues to stick to the spin and ignores the huge white elephant in the room. Green also fails to understand that even his proposed .93% (if it was do-able), is still a far cry from his 0% tax increase times 3 years. Green was that careless that he failed to do his homework on the Township's finances. A process that is very open and with all documentation available for public consumption. The man should have known going into the election that 0% was not do-able at all, but he created false hope and optimism amongst his band of malcontents.

Don't believe the Green spin. Attend the budget meetings yourself and hear from the various directors what reality is. The budget meetings are open to the public (despite Green's secret budget meetings last year). The dates for the Council Priorities Committee (CPC) Budget Meetings are January 14th and January 28th at 3:30pm - 5:30pm. Other meeting dates may be announced. The last meeting was held in the Fraser River presentation theatre. Count on the next meetings being in there or the Salmon River committee and meeting room.

Don't just wait for the budget open house and some pretty picture boards. HEAR the facts yourself and don't believe the SPIN.

Mayor Green Unrealistic Once Again

2009-12-26T04:00:00.000-08:00

The local rag reports here that the ToL budget process has begun and Mayor Green has already launched his attack against Township Council. Green appointed three people that either supported his campaign with time, or gave money to his campaign. He keeps trying to paint this group as a simple group of Township citizens, but the reality is that they are political insiders.

Last year after 12 weeks of budget reviews this committee could only ask basic questions about why this or that expense is placed in this category on the spreadsheets. How can Green say that a more extensive process is what we need when he fully knows that there was already an extensive process last year. Mayor Green also knows very well that his proposed .93% would have drained Township Utility funds and caused a deficit of over $9M by year three of his budget plan. Mayor Green loves to talk about him or his cronies having "concerns", but he is NEVER specific about what these concerns are, nor does he ever fully explain these "concerns". In our opinion it is all SMOKE and MIRRORS with this mayor and it directly relates to his inability (with or without Council support) to conclude with anything other than a 4-5% tax increase for 2010.

How can a zero budget be promoted by this mayor when we all know that the provincial government has just downloaded PRIME BC costs of $1,000 per police officer, the Murrayville Fire Hall will go to full time in 2010, and significant roads and infrastructure must be maintained. Can this mayor understand English? Rene Payer provided an excellent presentation to council on their responsibilities to maintain Township assets. How can Mayor Green ignore the facts here with unfounded "concerns"? Time for Mayor Green to get real!

Local Rag Mis-Reports

2009-12-22T13:38:00.000-08:00

One of the two local Langley rages mis-reported and its interesting that this happened. The final vote on the borrowing Bylaw for the 64th and Mufford overpass was on the table. Green, Richter and Kositsky voted in lock step on the other votes and apparently Mayor Green and Cllr. Richter were expecting much the same for the final vote.

Wise Cllr. Kositsky did not raise his hand to oppose the final vote, and this caused the mayor to reiterate 3 times the question for this opposed. We listened to the recording and it was a bundle of laughs. We spoke to councillors present and found that Kositsky had his head down writing each time Cllr. Richter and the Mayor looked his way with a vote call.

It's fine for Cllrs. Richter and Kositsky to vote as they wish, but Mayor Green's lack of support for the funding Bylaw just shows once again that he is ignoring the Will of Council. The same Will he took an oath to defend. Perhaps Kositsky's message for not voting with the twofers was to show that there was nothing personal about this Bylaw and that sometimes people have to move on.

This mayor doesn't understand that sometimes you can get more with sugar than lemons. Also sometimes you have to move on from your opposition and support the Will of Council. So, for the sake of making the 64th Avenue overpass a personal thing, Mayor Green lost yet another opportunity to gain some respect with his council. We also know not to trust our local rags for accurate political news! Keep reading the Langley Record for the accurate reporting of the facts!

2010 Budget Bombshell

2009-12-17T23:14:00.000-08:00

Just one hour ago The Editorial Board of The Langley Record received confirmation of the discussions today at a Township Council Priorities Committee (CPC) meeting on the 2010 budget. We can confirm the following:

1. No members of the press were present.
2. Staff presented on Sustainability and Asset Maintenance.
3. The presentation talked of staff, mayor and council's responsibilities to maintain Township
assets (roads, sidewalks, parks, etc.).
4. Staff presented a realistic look at a Township in fairly good financial shape that will require
roughly a 5% tax increase in order to maintain current service levels, adding just one new
police constable per year and minimal additions elsewhere for items sent to budget by Council
in the past few weeks.
5. The reality is that there has been more downloading that includes higher water and other
GVRD rates to municipalities and a requirement to pay for the RCMP Provincial Police
database system known as PRIME. Costs that used to be covered by the provincial
government will now cost the Township about $1,000 per police officer, we are told.
6. The collective bargaining agreement and a full-time fire hall in Murrayville by August 2010
figure into the mix. Tax increases projected at 2.50% would be needed in other years of the 5
year projection.

We are told that Councillor Kim Richter asked Township Administrator Mark Bakken if a ZERO tax increase budget was possible. Bakken responded that anything is possible and that in order to get to 0%, council would need to cut some $7-10Million dollars out of the budget.

Editor Comment: Of course cuts like that would lead to compounding costs in future years as roads and other infrastructure deteriorate and crumble to bits.

Cllr. Richter then commented that perhaps the Township needs to look at not hiring an additional police officer each year (a cost of $144K per officer) and perhaps the ToL needs to look at water metering and charging for water use in the urban areas where GVRD water is supplied, but not any private wells in the rural areas.

Editor Comment: After checking official ToL recordings of the last ToL Council meeting The Langley Record learned that Cllr. Kim Richter once again made a distinction between urban Langley and Rural Langley, when a staff report regarding a recommended sidewalk inspection program was presented to council. This report addressed types of sidewalks and usage (lower in rural and of a different type material), the report suggested inspecting the small amount of rural sidewalks every 5 years and the larger amount of urban every 3 years. Richter suggested that rural receive the same treatment of inspection every 3 years for the rural Langley. Apparently now this rural service could be paid for at the expense of taxpayers in the urban areas through water metering?

We wish to point out that Cllr. Richter has never voted to approve any Township budget and was absent from the final Finance Committee meeting in 2009, as well as when the 2009 budget vote came before council. Will thee be repeat absences during the 2010 process given the bitter pill that was floated by Township staff today?

We must stress that the budget battle has only just begun and all that all comments made at the CPC are very preliminary. But certainly the comments made at the CPC meeting today will set the stage for fireworks in early 2010. The next CPC meeting takes place on January 14 & 28, 2010 at 3:30pm. Stay tuned.

Although not present for the CPC meeting, you can now expect the local rags to read this blog and dispatch the usual lazy reporters forthwith to produce a lame story or two for your consumption. But remember that you read it here first folks!

Just Another Blame Job - A Matter of Respect!

2009-12-10T19:08:00.000-08:00

A recent Letter to the Editor in the Langley Advance by Mr. Doug McFee "Land Plan Shows Disrespect" has spurned our Editorial Board to do an investigation into this issue. The question here truly is, who was disrespectful? The Township of Langley or Mr. McFee? Firstly, we wanted to get to the heart of the facts. Something that Mr. McFee in all his wisdom, failed to do. Apparently re is relying on public innuendo and speculation, rather than taking the time to do his homework. Pity, pity, as that in itself is disrespectful!

The Township of Langley it turns out, is not hiding anything at all. In fact, if anyone should be blamed , it is Trinity Western University, for not coming out publically sooner. But Mr. McFee is a good buddy of Trinity Western and McFee’s SRES (Salmon River Environmental Society) partners with the university on a number of public education projects. We gather this is a HUGE case of not biting the hand that feeds you, or not whipping your master. McFee decided that someone had to be blamed and so he puts that blame solely on the shoulders of the Township of Langley – how disrespectful!

The Editorial Board of the Langley Record has determined from our investigation that yes, the Township owns one of the properties in the composite plan of three properties that TRINITY is making application to withdraw from the ALR. Trinity is a growing (both in student body and reputation) university campus of international quality. Many of their existing dorms are old and in significant need of repair . Where do you go for that as your campus is full? Pick up stakes like others do and leave the community? Or simply look to expand across the road and remain dedicated to the local community!

The advertisement in the paper we have confirmed was paid for by Trinity Western University, not the Township. The paper chose the location of it in the ‘Classified’ section – not the Township. Our investigation also revealed that the Township will serve as a point of contact for input and public feedback, but this is being done more as a courtesy. This may seem to lack transparency to some, but we hear the ToL doesn't want to go there with this mayor and his lack of transparency on many issues in only his first year.

The Township as we understand it, has no part in reviewing these plans for appropriateness. This will be Trinity’s job, along with the ALC, who are paid to do that. Trinity planed an open house for this evening - Dec. 10^th from 4 – 6. Once again, this news could have been found with a mere phone call to Trinity – the applicant! Once again the Editorial Board determined that it was Trinity that chose the date and time for public input. The fact that this came forth just before Christmas is something that Mr. McFee should discuss with Trinity.

We can go on and on regarding this issue. Actually the local papers has spelled it all out quite well using factual details in the story. This situation could have been avoided if Mr. McFee would have done his homework and been more respectful in his approach. Instead he choose to simply blame. Unfortunately for Mr. McFee he has lost a lot of respect with the informed public on this issue and that includes the SRES. In the future we will all know well to read letters from this source with skepticism.

What Will Kim Do?

2009-12-09T13:20:00.000-08:00

Chatter is increasing in the Township of Langley as Councillor Kim Richter has been making it known to many over the past few weeks that she is now very unhappy with Mayor Rick Green and his lack of performance. For his part, Mayor Green is making it known to anyone that will listen to him, that Cllr. Kim Richter is clearly the enemy.

As we all know, Kim and Rick had a secret slate going on, sharing the same platform and soundbites. Now there is nothing to show for these efforts...not one accomplishment to point to. The budget season is gearing up and talk is that the mayor's band of merry men who gave money and time to his election campaign are poised to once again waste staff time and Township resources for nothing. The shy report was more like shite and the mayor's insistence on secret committee meetings, led councillors assigned to the committee to boycott the final report meeting.

We have now received confirmed reports that Mayor Green has been busy meeting with his three supporters to map out a strategy to force Township Council to give them more say in ToL budget matters. The group was overheard talking about orchestrating a smear campaign against council in the local press if the council could not be persuaded to meet their power demands. We wonder what local editor will oblige them? Not too hard to figure out! We also wonder why anyone on council would give them partisan group anything. And what will Councillor Kim Richter do about all this? Will Richter allow these strong-arm tactics against a council that she is a member of to continue without resistance? Richter clearly supported this witch hunt at the start of the term and it has done nothing but waste serious amounts of staff time and taxpayer money!

Will Kim try to get others to do her bidding or will she come to the Council table and do the right thing? Tough choices ahead and we shall see of Richter has what it takes to stay on Township Council.

Classic Mayor Rick Green

2009-11-24T15:30:00.000-08:00

This week we saw classic Mayor Rick Green in action as the Metro Vancouver Directors (Green included) allowed a 25% raise in compensation to sail on without any objections. Of course Mayor Green did voice his "concern" outside and in advance of the meeting when questioned by the press. But once inside the Metro meeting, Green remained silent.

Classic Green...rambles on about unspecified "concerns" at almost every Township Council meeting and in almost every nauseating Mayor's Report. Yet Green is never specific about what his actual concerns of his are. Most especially when he always seems to ignore those very same vague musings, and either allows things like the Metro raise to happen, or ends up voting for something like the Township's Water Management Plan.

Mayor Green and Councillor Kim Richter spoke in unison for many weeks during the last round of Township budget deliberations about the economic downturn and the need for political leaders to live with less, as they claimed the general public was doing. Indeed Green beat his fellow councillors over their heads for approving a reasonable tax increase last year. One that was much lower than its neighbours. The same budget that now allows Green and Richter to fund pet projects and causes. As the Metro Vancouver Board member, Green will now be paid $316 per meeting plus expenses, as opposed to the old rate of $253 plus expenses. If meetings run over the allotted time, board members are actually paid more.

Green loves to spout off about such things, but he's the first person to stick his face in the big feed bag. The Langley Record wonders during these hard economic times where Horny Toad, Willy Nilly and the rest of that elk are now? How could their hero allow such a thing to just happen? We won't even talk about the rest of this article just yet. But let's be very clear that hypocrisy is very much alive in the mayor's seat in Langley Township. Take what you hear with a grain of salt there, as actions always speak louder then words when it comes to Mayor Rick Green.

Thanks to Jeff Nagel for a factual article. Wonder if his editor received any calls from a certainly Langley Editor?

Promises Broken

2009-11-05T08:51:00.000-08:00

This is the first of a long series on Promises Broken by Mayor Rick Green of the Township of Langley. Candidate Green promised much in 2008 while on the campaign trail and now we see if the rubber has met the road after one year on the job.

The Water Management Plan

During the campaign Township Council received a DRAFT Water Management Plan. Staff detailed measures that COULD be taken in order to help conserve our precious water supply. The DRAFT report suggested that private wells could be metered to help people see how much water was being used, with an eye at helping them to now conserve and cut back on this usage.

Then candidate Rick Green took this draft plan and metering proposal to the streets. He told the public that the Township of Langley would meter private wells, conveniently leaving out the for purposes of conservation part. Green promoted the idea that water meters would include the ToL billing residents for water from private wells.

As this issue was before Council and then Mayor Kurt Alberts did not know the wishes of Council, he wasn't able to comment on this issue until the final debate. By then the damage had been done. Kurt Alberts DID NOT support water metering even for conservation purposes, as that would give the perception of billing, etc. Neither did the majority of Council and so before the election, this metering provision was removed from the draft plan. Kurt Alberts was being a great mayor by waiting to see what the wishes of Council were. He put aside his own opinion to give that a chance. All of this planning was being done so that the Township of Langley would say how water would be managed here, and not the Provincial government dictating.

On Rick Green's candidate website which was removed directly following the election, but which The Langley Record has full copies of, Green said,

"Currently - Under Kurt Alberts leadership the Township initiated a Water Management Plan. without initial public input and consultation starting with a joint Township and Provincial Government initiative in 2004 designed to tax the groundwater resource.

This initiative was designed to go public and to be sent to Victoria for implementation in early 2008 after a very short two month time frame, including two open houses.

After a significant taxpayer revolt, Council backed off of the Taxation Authority and metering of private wells. The second draft has now been introduced and will be studied over the next ten months. This plan includes an estimated administration cost of $700,000 to 1,000,000 per year for 20 years. Who pays and for what?

Proposed under Rick Green

Put a hold on the current proposed draft Water Management Plan #2 and hold talks with the Provincial Government, our MLA's and the Federal Government through our MP to identify our real needs in this process, specifically to address the needed water line infrastructure required into areas such as Brookswood, Aldergrove, Murrayville and the Gloucester Industrial Estates.

There are some positive recommendations within this plan but also some very real negative impacts or certainly items to be clarified. Something that needs immediate review is the estimated annual cost of $700,000 to $1,000,000 per year for 20 years to pay for annual administration of the plan...."

Promise Broken
On September 21, 2009 Council approved the very same plan that Kurt Alberts had supported. Mayor Green did not raise any objections and only Council Kositsky voted in opposition to the plan being forwarded to the Provincial Government. Mayor Rick Green broke this promise to the residents of the Township of Langley.

Broken Promises

2009-11-03T20:29:00.000-08:00

Just one year ago many, many promises were made to the residents of the Township of Langley by a certain candidate for mayor. These promises tickled the ears of many that listened. Old men dreamed dreams and the electorate shifted with high hopes. Everything sounded good to them and it was all wrapped in promises of "openness and transparency".

But very quietly and unnoticed by most residents, the day after the election Rick Greens website came down along with all the promises and audio files. Since that day, the promises of election past have faded and survive only in the minds of those that can recall what was said to the masses.

We here at The Langley Record have not forgotten the promises made to you. So, starting this week we will be previewing a new weekly series entitled, "Promises Broken". It's the stuff that The Langley Mimes can't print for fear of angry calls to their puppet editor. The Langley Retreat won't publish it as they struggle to stay out of bankruptcy and attract more advertising dollars. A certain female councillor's site promised you long ago that they would provide some reports, but apparently they are still out fishing and perhaps afraid to piss off some joint supporters because they were once part of the slate. So, we at The Record are here to present the facts without pulling any punches. Stay Tuned, the best is yet to come!

This Train Isn't Leaving The Station

2009-11-02T07:15:00.000-08:00

By Guest Editor Mildred Manor

The Editorial Board of this blog have given Mayor Rick Green the benefit of the doubt regarding his light rail task force, despite the involvement of the Milner Greens. But I have an opposing viewpoint and they have graciously allowed me to publish it here. Thanks fellow EB members!

This Train Isn't Leaving The Station

Why you ask? Well likely because Mayor Green and his citizens committee (or so he states - we will discuss that later in this post) didn't do their homework prior to presenting to all the Mayors and Councils south of the Fraser. The City of Surrey announced some time ago their support for a rail demonstration project in conjunction with the heritage rail folks (Mufford, Holt, et al - all staunch Milner Green campaign supporters). Trying to capitalize on Mayor Green's position, his cohort (read "cronies") decided to work the momentum created by Surrey and developed a proposal to extend this through the Fraser Valley on the old interurban line. Mayor Green and his group reported to Township Council on Oct. 5th. The report titled "Fraser Valley Heritage Rail Update" in actual fact wasn't an update. It was a proposal for ToL Council to back his supposed south of the Fraser Rail Task Force.

With due consideration and politeness Township Council indulged and appointed a member of Council to this task force. Prior to presenting to Council, Mayor Green and his band of tired engineers (including hanger on member Jacob deRaat) presented to Langley City Council.

With his chest puffed and his ego stroked by Township Council, Green felt he had tied the issue up (no pun intended). Things started to unravel later that week as Township Council received a pointed and rather blunt letter from TransLink C.E.O., Mr. Tom Prendergast in which he straightened the record out on several points that Mayor Green and his misguided citizens committee made in their presentations to numerous councils. Further, he implored the committee to correct the points made regarding TransLink's alleged support (which the committee interpreted quite incorrectly - listen folks, listen) and told Green in no uncertain terms to remove the TransLink logo from their presentation.

This was a huge blow to the committee as one of their reported key partners for support (both moral and funding) was allegedly TransLink. Mayor Green then shot back a letter to Mr. Prendergast using Township letterhead (what you scream!). I thought this was a citizens committee and that Mayor Green was actually just a simple citizen (Rick Green) on the committee, and not the Mayor as he had reported. So all of a sudden this is a Township Committee and his rebuttle is now clearly laid out on Township letterhead and I would guess typed by Township staff. Interesting that Green failed to use the "Mayor's letterhead" with his name and picture only - choosing to use the mayor and council letterhead. Perhaps he felt that all the names collectively added credibility to his cause? This is evidence of a blatant lie to Township Council and an abuse of power in his position as Mayor - are you a citizen or Mayor when you speak for this committee Mr. Green? We are very confused as you appear to throw your mayor's cape on and off at will.

Doesn't this bring back memories of the supposed "private citizen" Rick Green presenting to the ALC and mentioning five times in the presentation that he was mayor - another Community Charter violation methinks!

Now comes the biggest blow. My sources tell me that on Monday a week ago all members of Township Council, Mayors and Councils south of the Fraser and all other government bodies received a letter from the Mayor of the City of Langley simply challenging Mr. Green (no not Mayor Green) and his antique band of self-proclaimed railway officinados to answer to eleven points that represent some legitimate questions regarding the reality or authenticity of this proposed demonstration project. Apparently this rational letter caused an explosion. I guess it is fair to say relations between the Langleys are at an all-time low. With Mayor Fassbender's letter and Translink's rebuttal in hand this guest editor suspects that this project has derailed and hit the end of the line. There won't be any diesel smoke blowing from these engines, just from that smoke blowing from the ears of the Milner Greens. Of course as Holt and deRaat are from South Surrey and Whiterock, it would be unfair to label them as true Milner Greens. So why do they muck around in Langley anyway?

Next time folks, cross your 'T's' and dot your 'I's' before you stoke the coals. It will be a long time coming now, as all credibility has been lost. Area councils were all told that this proposal had regional support from all the other communities and TransLink. But now we find it was all a sham and this is why This Train Isn't Leaving The Station.

Monday Township Council

2009-10-18T10:53:00.000-07:00

Township of Langley Council will hold a Special Meeting only this week as the agenda remains light. Of special note are two items before Council this week:

A report on Traffic Calming
The Master Transportation Plan - Road Network Plan and Classification

Also of interest is consideration for a resolution by Council to eliminate refugee transportation loans. Apparently the federal government gives loans to refugees to cover their medical examination and transportation to Canada. These refugees then come to Canada with debt that could total up to $10,000. Advocates would like to see the loans eliminated so that the government could simply pay the transportation costs for the refugees and lessen their burdens. Sounds like a great idea to us!

October 19, 2009 Special Council Meeting - 3:00pm - 6:00pm
Agenda and Reports (click green title bar to save time):

Oct 19 2009 ToL Council Special Agenda

Are They Really On Board?

2009-10-16T19:51:00.000-07:00

Council members and mayors across the South Fraser are now calling into question the new task force to discuss a possible light rail demonstration project. Mayor Rick Green, along with reconstituted VALTAC/Heritage Rail members Roy Mufford, Lee Lockwood and Peter Holt did a horse and pony show before city councils from Surrey to Chilliwack. It was started that TransLink and several municipalities were on board with the idea. At Langley City Council they were read a list of communities that were identified as on board. Indeed we suggested that Green had done a good job here on the Langley Record.

Several mayors and council members from the region have now contacted our Editorial Board members to say they are very unhappy with what they felt was deceptive remarks made in their respective council meeting by this group. Even TransLink CEO Tom Prendergast has told Mayor Green and the group to stop using the TransLink logo in their presentations.

It is also interesting to note that Mayor Green in responding to the TransLink CEO used a Township letterhead that lists members of Council at the top. But after taking office, Green had replaced this type of letterhead with one that had his name only, along with a photograph of the mayor. So, it begs the question if Mayor Green selects letterhead based on who he is writing to and whether he wants to suggest that Council is behind him? It all seems very fishy.

Credit Where Credit Is Due

2009-10-12T10:19:00.000-07:00

This Editorial Board has always maintained that we will report both sides good and bad with regards to the politicians we are holding accountable for their campaign promises. So, here goes:

Mayor Rick Green has done several things of positive note that we want to acknowledge. Firstly, several weeks ago you will recall that the mayor voted in favour of a motion that will authorize staff to establish a consultation with mayor and council to sort out issues and move forward. It was a positive approach that Green supported and in the end only Councillor Kim Richter opposed.

Next, in the last Township Council meeting they dealt with another wacky Richter motion to support her pal, Sonya Paterson. It was a clear attempt by Richter and Paterson to grab some headlines and the use of a VERY old photo of Paterson (don't you love it?) The publicity campaign succeeded and got some press because we all know that the local media is lame and too lazy to investigate anything. BUT, Mayor Green did not second this motion, nor waste any of his time on it. Green clearly had bigger fish to fry that he needed council support on and it appears that Green is slowly learning what we all knew...Councillor Kim Richter is insignificant and don't accomplish anything, except causing "Dis-organizational Behaviour". Again, kudos to the mayor for taking the high road here.

Finally, Mayor Green took the wishes of the majority of Township Council (more transit options and non-skytrain rail) and did something about it. He engaged local communities and politicians and we all know that with some political will, things could happen in this transportation area. Councillor Richter went on the attack, but once again her opposition was very insignificant. A motion to approve the formation of a South Fraser taskforce was approved.

Much can be accomplished when we all work together and although Kim Richter always slighted former Mayor Kurt Alberts for his slogan and talk of working together, we see that it is effective. Richter has promised a report card of sorts on Mayor Green and it has been VERY slow in coming. Perhaps she doesn't have the courage to turn against Willy Nilly and Horny Toad?

When One Person Doesn't Put Any Meaning to Tens of Thousands

2009-10-10T13:05:00.000-07:00

Fresh off reviewing the audio tapes of Monday's Township Council Meeting. We hear that Councillor Richter's motion regarding a response from a group of Councillors never got seconded. Those Councillors you will recall had responded to the Mayor's visit to the A.L.C. regarding the Mufford Overpass, which was blatantly in contravention with the Community Charter (and which of course the lazy local media never picked up on but we sure did).

Well Councillor Richter's foolish, politically motivated, and "I won't work with the others" Motion, never got seconded. Not even by Mayor Green nor Councillor Mel Kositsky, two vocal opponents to the Mufford Overpass. Kudos now go to the "8 pack" for seeing through the charade of this pair, Kim Richter and her pal S.P. and their childish and truly dumbfounding Motion. It should also make plain to people that Kim Richter and her sidekick S.P. are not supporters of democracy. If they were, they would access Council's decision and move on.

This stage production by Richter speaks volumes of her poor choice of associates and lack of political abilities. Hasn't she figured out yet that her FLASH IN THE PAN Motions don't impact one bit on the organizational dynamics of council? And it is a subject that she lectures on (Organizational Behaviour) ever day of the week to boot! What's up with that folks? Following this type of lead, Kim Richter is sure to alienate everyone further. Most especially the general public in no time at all. In fact, we hear that this process is already happening in a big way out there in the ToL.

Sorry Kim, but this is one time that one person doesn't put any meaning to tens of thousands.

Monday Township Council Meetings

2009-10-04T19:14:00.000-07:00

Two Township of Langley Council meetings this Monday:

Monday, October 5, 2009

Special Council Meeting
Begins at 3:00pm

Special Agenda and full Council package - click here

Regular Council Meeting
Begins at 7:00pm

Regular Agenda and full Council package - click here

Commentary...
The VERY partisan Motion from none other than the Chief Politico Councillor Kim Richter will be proudly presented in the Regular Meeting by none other than Kim Richter, while Big SOB and Sonya Paterson (the Tag Team) watch and film. Come watch and even boo Kim and Sonya as they once again try to rub the rest of Council's face in this issue decided long ago and forced into two votes by Mayor Green. If you miss it, The Langley Free Mess will have the censored highlights for your viewing pleasure, as The Idle One finds work for his feeble hands and juvenile mind. But hey, at least they can't throw him and his camera out like that PAC meeting eh? How demoralizing and how damaging to The Governess.

Maybe if all the people that were in favour of the Mufford Overpass would come out to Township Council, perhaps these people will get a life and realize that not too many support them and most do despise and loath them! Un-elect Kim Richter and send a clear message to the rest of the tag team that they need to hang it up.

Some people really need their medication doses increased to compensate for the mania. We've heard from quite a few people that have viewed the activity and public displays and have declared it all as "unusual" to say the least. Some have suggested a few diagnoses.

Strange Bedfellows Indeed Sherlock!

2009-09-26T16:48:00.000-07:00

Just off a recent social event at the Langley Events Centre. Yes, that very same Langley Events Centre that Cllr. Richter was dead set against each and every step of the way. Well, it now seems that Cllr. Richter (at the Township's good will and expense) provided tickets so that Big Sob) and two Richter-aligned guests (Glen Tomblin and Sonya Paterson) could attend a hockey game. The deuce of spades accompanied the the deuce of Hades to show their colours ahead of the next election. Firstly, one would like the question answered as to why those two got free tickets courtesy of the Township taxpayers? After all, what have those two ever done for the ToL, but to slam staff and never support any Township endeavors or initiatives? One only has to listen to their speeches from the last election(s) to see that this deuce of spades has done absolutely nothing good for the Township of Langley. This is why the taxpayers didn't elect them to Township Council. Kim Richter always opposes things, only to then spend OUR money to entertain her friends and cronies. Let's investigate how Richter was able to invite guests on our dime, while other Councillors we not.

Now that Cllr. Richter has formally cut ties with Mayor Rick Green, we see her starting to form another slate with political alliances like these two as a precursor to the next election. But since the LLT days, Richter prefers to keep her slate appearing as a non-slate. Didn't Paterson and Tomlin learn their lessons the last election when they blew their money away to see only the Green and Richter portion of the slate elected? The financial disclosures were equally dodgy as we know for a fact that expenses were not accounted for in order to save face for at least one of the losing slate members.

As reported earlier Sonya Paterson made a poorly prepared and quite nonfactual presentation to Mayor and Council, challenging the root meaning of 'tens of thousands'. Last Monday this cause was championed by Cllr. Richter in one of the most politically charged and uni-dimensional motions ever seen at the Council table. This after Richter accused her fellow Councillors of "partisan politics". But Richter and her Langley Free Mess blog has it all wrong again, as their reference to a "six pack" of Councillors is inaccurate at best. You see, everyone (including Mayor Green) voted for the workshop/review, except Richter who was out to lunch and misjudged what would transpire. So, they better update The Langley Free Mess to include the "Eight Pack". Apparently Big Sob wasn't paying attention again.

Richter has clearly established herself as a loner on Council by not supporting the motion to get a consultant's advice on how to function better as a Council and be more focused and collaborative. Moving in a positive direction we gather is not her cup of tea, even though she professes to teach organizational behaviour and team building to her students. Now reaching out for old friends and alliances Richter not only courts Paterson and Tomblin on the taxpayers dime, BUT at a venue she never supported from the start. Vocally bashing the LEC and not voting for budgets to properly fund it.

Embarking on a new strategy of having these old 'friends' drop by Council and requesting delegations under false pretenses, all so that Richter can grandstand. Of course Paterson, lacking any tact and wanting desperately to become a real public official, enters Council like an obedient blind lamb to. Hasn't she learned from the last painful campaign that the general public loathes her and is tired of Paterson and her buddies? She was unelected for a clear reason and those 20 year old photos of her in The Langley Mimes is growing old. What is it with this old slate and old pictures anyway? It's a clear sign that Paterson and Green are not at all happy with their present selves. But neither is the public.

We have to hand it to Kim Richter...she is the master of opposing anything good for the Township of Langley. But she is equally good at getting the public feed bags out for her and her buddies, working the public teet to a science. This should lead to her getting a PhD in hypocrisy in short order.

What a folly Councillor Kim Richter has made of the governance process and the attempt by the rest of Council and the Mayor to at least try to foster a constructive 2.5 years going forward. This is a strategy that will backfire on Richter and stew her like a prune. The Langley Free Mess is a great tool to ensure she will never obtain the mayor's seat or other higher political ambitions. Glad to see The Mess back in action, damaging her polical career and further cementing her reputation as a Council who has accomplished NOTHING in all these years. Just a clanging gong that people have grown tired of hearing. And you know what they say about birds of a feather (Richter, Paterson & Tomlin).

A Spirit Rises

2009-09-16T20:00:00.000-07:00

Under the watchful lens of videographer B.R. a whispering spirit arose from beneath the white cloak (five posts down) of one Mayor Green. Fresh off indulging on the good gratitude of the Township graces having attended an event at the Events Centre with a free ticket courtesy of Councillor Richter, once school trustee and defeated Council candidate Sonya Paterson applied and was granted a late delegation request to speak to Council.

Why Council allowed this, the Editorial Board has no idea because clearly it was based on a very false pretense. For all her experience and supposed knowledge she showed absolutley know knowledge of the Community Charter and the clearly stated roles and responsibilies of a Mayor. In her written words, she states, "the Mayors presentation reagrding the overpass." Now the Mayor states he was NOT presenting to the ALC as the mayor but as a private citizen. Well even his good friend Sonya is confused and hasn't figured out what role he was presenting to the ALC under. For someone who so desperately wants to be a member of Council she really and truly needs to attend some course work on good goverance and the implicit meaning of the Community Charter. This Editorial Board will research opportunities for her to get buffed up so to speak prior to any further public speaking engagements.

In her application to be a delegation she states she will speak publicly and further states;

" I will present a letter to Mayor and Council at the time of my presentation."

Well this Editorial Board would infer that would mean the letter accompanied her presentation but not so. She presented at 4:00 p.m. and the letter with the question arrived in Council's hand at about 6:00 p.m. One would believe she was not preapred as she stated in her delgation request but rather formulated the letter once she got home and then drifted it off through the cyber network.........hum, well prepared!

The Editorial Board has since got a copy of her presentation and the question are as follows;

.....The letter includes comments stating the “VAST MAJORITY of Township residents support the project” and “the community supports this overpass” and the largest exaggeration of all is the comment “the tens of thousands of citizens of the Township of Langley who support this overpass”. Where is the data that supports these comments?

It was interesting to note that Sonya Patterson's presentation was made before her party faithful as the likes of Eric Bysouth, Peggy McClay, Darlene Johnson and others were present and left shorlty after she finished. The irony of this all is that through the last Provincial Election all of these folks campaigned vehemently (letters to the Editor, sign campaigns and the like) against Mary Polak and Rich Coleman because of their support for the Mufford Overpass. Well Sonya, what don't you get about this picture?

Mary and Rich both made considerable gains in their numbers well in to the 'tens of thousands' of voters who supported THEM and the Overpass.......do you get it NOW? They won by garnering the most votes ever, so the answer is quite simple......tens of thousands of voters like them and the Overpass - end of discussion. They didn't like you and therefore they didn't elect you. Why don't you take the hint and find another community to move into and rant to. Langley has grown tired of Patterson, Bysouth, Mufford, et al. Time to get off the soap box you never had and stop the broken record.

Monday Council - Cllr. Steve Ferguson Proposes Making it Right

2009-09-12T18:50:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-11T13:02:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-09-08T21:01:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-09-07T11:15:00.001-07:00

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

2009-09-07T03:00:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-09-06T21:00:00.000-07:00

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.