Green Bullies His Way Onto UDI Agenda

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

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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
   
3. 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.
4. 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

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?

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

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!

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:

1. Lands across from the Gloucester Industrial Estate
2. Lands in Aldergrove
3. Tuscan Farms
4. 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.