Another Credibility Issue For Mayor Rick Green

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?

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.....