Children and Spouses of Public Officials Debate

We brought this out of the comments below for all to see. The ball is in Councillor Richter's court. Will she take the high road or ???

 Jordan Bateman said...

While I appreciate your kind words and support, I do truly believe that it should be off-limits for people to talk about the children of public officials. We can debate politics and policy without resorting to that kind of gutter activity.

It's unfortunate that my council colleague has chosen to allow certain comments on her website, but if she chooses to engage in such personal attacks there's not much I can do. She has to deal with her own conscience at the end of the day. 

I would ask those of you who have respect for me and/or my public office as a councillor to refrain from mentioning things about my kids. I also ask you extend the same favour to Councillor Richter. 

Whether you feel she deserves such respect or not, her children are not public figures and should be off-limits.

Jordan Bateman

May 3, 2009 4:18 PM

 The Langley Record Editor said...

Jordan,

Nice to see you are reading here, as we've not seen you since the inaugural. We appreciate your comments and have no concluded a straw poll of our Editorial Board.

We have agreed that children of public officials should not be drawn into these discussions. Of course spouses that help write blogs and such are fair game. In the interest of doing the right thing, The Langley Record is willing to remove comments about the children of you and Cllr. Richter if she also removes the offensive posts on her blog. Let's see if Cllr. Richter can take the high road?

May 3, 2009 6:24 PM

FOR FRED AND OTHER MALCONTENTS:

And this is for Horny Toad who apparently could not read the other website traffic stats that we posted previously. Perhaps this chart will be easier for him to understand. If anyone is a broken record it's Fred (aka Horny Toad). We don't miss you buddy. Your constant re-questioning, despite our provision of facts and research we gracefully provided to you, consumed our time. The fact is that most of our posts are longer than on other blogs, complete with more links and indepth research. People come back to read and they read more pages. But by the time they have read all of these facts and links they run out of time to comment. What part of comprehensive don't you understand Fred?  

NDP "Tax Hioliday" Could Mean Permanent Vacation For Small Business and Workers

You may have heard Langley NDP candidate Kathleen Stephany offer a "Tax Holiday" to small business to help them cope with an NDP-proposed hike to the minimum wage. The NDP is saying that this hike in required because people are raising families on a minimum wage salary.  This is yet another clear indication that the NDP does not know how to be fiscally responsible in a good or poor economy. BC Liberal Mary Polak pointed out that Stats Can tells us that the majority of the people working for a minimum wage are under 25 years old and live at home. Here is more commentary on what this "Tax Holiday" alone will cost BC's small businesses. 

Commentary

The NDP's proposal for a one-time "tax holiday" for small business will do nothing to address the crippling effects of the NDP's additional new taxes and wage policies that could result in hundreds of business closures and layoffs for thousands of workers, says Finance Minister Colin Hansen.

 
"Small businesses employ more than one million people in our province and for the NDP to pretend to be the friends of small business with their latest platform is completely disingenuous," says Hansen. "This one-time, stop-gap payoff will do nothing to remedy the long-term effects of the NDP’s other taxes and their reckless commitment to raise payroll costs for small businesses."
 
The NDP platform commits to a "tax holiday" for small businesses that will lower small business taxes by half a percentage point for a single year, after which the tax will go up again.
 
Meanwhile, the NDP's commitment to raise minimum wage by 25 percent will result in a year-over-year cost of $450 million on small businesses. Their punitive $155-million tax on private liquor retailers will add further costs to those small businesses.
 
In contrast, the BC Liberals have already permanently lowered small business tax rate by 44 percent, and have committed to making them the lowest in Canada by April 1, 2012. This is a commitment the NDP have refused to honour if elected.
 
"The NDP isn't fooling anyone. Their platform and tax plan will be devastating for small businesses, their workers, and their customers. Thousands of jobs are on the line, pure and simple," says Hansen. "Small businesses are already working hard to stay afloat and protect their employees during this global economic crisis.  For the NDP to weigh them down with more taxes and costs is reckless and irresponsible."

Monday Topwnship Council Meeting

A different kind of schedule this week for Township Council. There will be the usual Special Meeting of ToL Council at 3:00pm, but NO evening meetingat 7:00pm.

For whatever reason there is no advance Agenda available on the Township website. There are also no public links to any of the information, memos or reports that will be discussed at this Special Meeting.

Special Meeting of Township Council

3:00pm - 5:30pm (?)
Fraser River Presentation Theatre
4th Floor, Municipal Facility

Agenda & Report: NOT AVAILABLE

Reason 493 Why Kim Richter Can't Be Mayor

We are with the comments here in this blog by TREVOR that Councillor Kim Richter cannot be mayor of Langley Township because of her vicious and heartless attacks on her fellow council members. For Richter and her Langley Free Press to allow hateful comments by Horny Toad (Fred McNeil) and Willynilly (Darlene Johnston) is despicable and abhorrent.  

We are talking about two very young girls here and it is 100% heartless to take a run at these children and their Dad, Councillor Jordan Bateman for attending a community event on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. It is interesting to note that Councillor Kim Richter did not attend Arbour Day, and skips out on many community events. For Kim Richter to allow this comments about Bateman's children on her blog is a huge indicator of the character (or lack thereof) of Richter and yet another reason why she cannot fill the position of mayor.

Last Night's All Candidates Meeting

Candidates Present:

Liberal

Mary Polak  - Incumbent

Green Party

Ron Abgrall

NDP

Kathleen Stephany

Last night's All Candidates Meeting at Kwantlen Polytechnic University was pretty basic. Kathleen Stephany refused to deviate from her NDP talking points/briefing book, literally going through the platform to answer questions, and reading from her notes.

Perhaps our favourite part of the evening was Kathleen Stephany's refusal to talk about the Property Transfer Tax,  as it wasn't covered in the NDP platform. Or when she said "I'm an intellectual." Hard to pick. For the record, Mary Polak stated that with the carbon tax in place, the Liberals can now look at cutting a long list of taxes and that she would like to see the PTT high on the list of cuts. It's a smart move Mary and one that is very likely to stimulate home sales and our BC economy. Nice!

Ron Abgrall is a nice guy, but he didn't know what the PPT was. He admitted that he is not familiar with many of the issues. At least he was honest about that. Abgrall also got carried away with talk about providing recreation for children and building playgrounds, when asked what he would do to help local business thrive and survive in this economic downturn.

Kathleen Stephany appeared very nervous, stiff and angry at times, although without a sound system, one could excuse the animation. Still, the dotting eyes were creepy! The Sarah Palin look is getting old and Kathleen should hang that up before someone thinks she's part of a Saturday Night Live skit. Still, she did let the people of Langley know that Langley is no longer a safe BC Liberal seat. Remember to get out and vote on May 12th.

NDP Lies About Facts Again

Today, NDP leader Carole James again demonstrated she doesn’t have even a basic understanding of B.C.’s economy. Rather than announcing policies to support workers, James continued to promote a reckless economic plan that will destroy jobs. Here’s what James said, and the facts behind the spin:

NDP CLAIM: “One of the best ways to stimulate B.C.’s economy is to put money in the pockets of the families who will spend it. A $10 minimum wage will put millions of dollars back into local economies.” - WRONG

FACT: If Carole James had bothered to read the research paper on minimum wage that she cited in her own news release today she would know this claim is not true. The Fraser Institute study cited by the NDP says that, based on conservative estimates, the NDP’s proposal to increase the minimum wage would result in up to 52,000 jobs lost. The report goes on to say that “Increasing B.C.’s minimum wage to $10 per hour will have a profoundly negative effect on employment opportunities for young and low-skill workers, and will have almost no effect on those most in need of income and a job.” You can read the report here. Only the NDP would think adding $450 million in new costs on small business, destroying over 50,000 jobs and introducing polices that will have a “profoundly negative effect on employment” would somehow “stimulate B.C.’s economy.”

NDP CLAIM: “Raising the minimum wage will not result in job loss.” - WRONG

FACT: Again, the only research cited by the NDP in their news release and at their event today says that increasing the minimum wage to $10 would result in up to 52,000 jobs lost. The report goes on to say virtually all “existing academic research from Canada and around the world.... finds the overwhelming consensus is that increasing the minimum wage has a significant negative impact on employment, particularly for younger workers.” Again, the report is right here.

NDP CLAIM: Ontario's five-year, 50 per cent increase to its minimum wage has not caused job losses. - WRONG

FACT: A separate study prepared for the Ontario Ministry of Finance on exactly this issue determined that a 25 per cent increase in the minimum wage would result in youth job losses of between 7.5 to 30 per cent. In B.C. this would conservatively mean losing over 50,000 jobs: Read it for yourself here. Furthermore, according to Statistics Canada, the same year Ontario began increasing the minimum wage (2003) employment growth dropped by almost 50 per cent. In fact, employment growth in that province went from the highest in country in 2003 to below the Canadian average every following year. Check out the stats right here.

Yet again the NDP are basing one of their major economic policies on a report they clearly have not read. If they had, they likely would not cite a report in their own news release that clearly demonstrates every claim they make is simply not true.

NDP and Richter Slate Allies At It Again

Editorial

You may have already read this article in The Langley Times about Lyle Pona (husband of former Langley School Board Trustee Diane Pona) cuss out School Board Trustee Stacey Cody. This despicable public act of shouting out "liar" to Cody and then calling her a "f******bitch is unacceptable behaviour in a civil society. 

This sort of nonsense is an indicator of just how far our public meeting decorum and civility has fallen. It has been witnessed under at Township Council meetings where Mayor Rich Green and Councillor Kim Richter encouraged and allowed Mufford overpass opponents to scream and shout at council, call them names, and bitch them out after the vote (and while an official meeting was still in progress). Green and Richter could be seen laughing often at their fellow Council members. 

What you may not realize is that Lyle Pona led the Regional Electors of Aldergrove Langley, an NDP "farm team" slate that was very active in the 1990's. Diane Pona ran on the very same slate as Councillor Kim Richter. Is it any surprise that this sort of behaviour spills out into a public School Board meeting? This is the mentality and bullying you get from a Green/Richter slate and their allies. It is also a clear look into the NDP and their smear tactics. Perhaps this is why Pona has lost the last two elections? Maybe Langley residents have gotten wise to the NDP and their inability to get anything of substance accomplished? 

NDP Up To VERY Dirty Tricks - Cllr. Kim Richter Thinks Its OK To Meddle

NDP Removes Logo From Attack Advertising

The NDP removed their party logo and branding from at least two U.S.-style attack advertisements currently running on television in their continued attempt to cover up their negative campaign strategy from voters, says Minister Mike de Jong.
  
  “This is a new low for Carole James and the NDP. They have decided to run a series of attack ads on television but refuse to take responsibility for them,” says de Jong. “I don’t ever recall an NDP campaign where they were so ashamed and embarrassed by their own party label and their campaign of smear and innuendo that they feel compelled to hide their identity from the public.”
  
  Currently the NDP are running at least two advertisements on major television broadcasts, both attacking government and the Premier. Neither advertisement mentions the NDP in any way, nor is the NDP logo shown in any way. The only identification that remains is a brief, small-font financial authorization which identifies the NDP as the funding body.
  
  “NDP candidates are embarrassed by this cowardly and duplicitous denial of their attack ad strategy, and we have seen candidates already distancing themselves from the party and these tactics,” says de Jong. “Frankly, those candidates should be embarrassed – these are personal, negative attacks that the public overwhelmingly rejects. Candidates on the ground know it’s the last thing families want to see during a Canucks game or any other family programming when they are worried about their jobs and the economy.”
  
 In particular, de Jong refers to comments made last night by the NDP candidate for Prince George-Valemount, Julie Carew, who when confronted with questions about their attack ads blamed the head party for the decisions: “What they [the party] do provincially and what I do locally are two different things ... So you need to call our provincial office and ask them what their strategy is about that.” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wg439-ar3hs)
  
  This is in stark contrast to an April 26 fundraising letter sent out by NDP President Jeff Fox appealing to NDP supporters to send more money to the NDP party to continue this negative attack campaign, stating: “The biggest single cost in our campaign is purchasing advertisements .... I am emailing you today to ask you to make your final donation of the campaign, right now, to ensure we most effectively spend our budget...”
  
  “The NDP and their insiders have no problem indentifying themselves when they are begging people for their hard-earned money to perpetuate this negative ad campaign, but they hide their face when those ads go in front of the public on the air,” says de Jong. “Carole James and the NDP can’t hide from their record, they can’t hide from these ads, and they can’t hide from British Columbians. People know it is them doing this, plain and simple. They can hide their name, but this duplicitous action speaks far louder about their party than any words could.” 

Councillor Kim Richter (NDP Cheerleader) OK With Meddling

Although Councillor Kim Richter slammed the two Langley MLA's for their support of local School Board candidates, Richter's blog now openly badmouths the same two MLA's for declining to attend an very clear NDP-organized teacher's union event. 

So, while Richter assails MLA's Rich Coleman and Mary Polak for their support work and ignoring the partisan rally, she has no problem telling other orders of government what to do and has no problem supporting provincial NDP candidates. More Richter hypocrisy and much more of Richters playing around across Langley. He provincial NDP loss with Glen Clark's crew should have taught her an important lesson, don't you think?   

Langley Airport Lease Rates Resurface

We find it odd that despite Township Council receiving the airport lease rates report on April 6, 2009, The Langley Times has just gotten around to publishing the facts for public consumption. We could understand The Langley Record not publishing the story until April 22nd, but not a newspaper that the community has depended on for it's local news! Note that this Times article by Al Irwin is dated April 24th! So a local blog beats The Times to press?

When the story hit The Langley Mimes, many of us received calls from friends who all opined that perhaps The Langley Record had shamed The Mimes into publishing this article? Perhaps until our story broke, this article just sat in a "To Be Published" file somewhere in The Mimes back office?

We couldn't help notice that this article appears in The Times Business section. But while it could be a business story, this would have been part of Al Irwin's Township Council reports. We know that the Business section of this newspaper is under the greater editorial control of long-time senior reporter Al Irwin. Could it be that this council story sat in the back alley of The Mimes while they published "more important" stories like a spring pig and piglets sucking a teet?

This airport lease rates information was a BIG issue for Mayor Green and Councillor Richter in the 2008 election. Former Mayor Kurt Alberts and Council were bashed big time over this, despite Richter voting twice NOT to raise airport lease rates. Mayor Green wanted to twist Council's arms to form an "Airport Commission" that now we see would only have wasted more tax monies with another commission and staff time. So why wasn't this important story published for 18 days? Looks like a certain Green/Richter Slate publicist is at it again!

"Kirk’s 38-page report includes values for industrial, non-airport lands, in the Township, with rents calculated at between $1.22 to $1.37 per square foot, based on a return of about six per cent of land value, noting that rates of return for industrial land has declined from the eight per cent prevalent through the 1990s and early 2000s.

Airport lease values range from 31 cents (unserviced) to 57 cents (serviced) at Victoria International Airport to a blanket rate of 0.0278 (unserviced) and 0.0483 cents per square foot for serviced land, in Fort St. John."

"During his election campaign Mayor Rick Green criticized the airport lease rates, saying they are only 25 per cent of current market rates, with long-term, 20-to-40-year contracts. He said this policy is potentially losing upwards of $1 million per year.

However, not only must the airport remain competitive with other regional airports, the land can’t be opened up to general industrial/commercial type business leases.

The airport lands are within the Agricultural Land Reserve, are designated in the Official Community Plan as Urban Growth, specifically Terminal and Agricultural within the Murrayville Plan."

-- The Langley Times

Bomb The Hell Out of the NDP

                                  

Thanks to Josef K. for making this new game for all to enjoy. You control fighter aircraft to help the BC Liberals bomb the NDP. The action is so fast that it's the one time that you won't hear Carole James bitching with that dreaded whiny voice.  

From Josef K. the game's creator:

In this game, you’re the BC Liberal in the CF-18 flying against the enemy with arrow keys as throttle, space as cannon and CTRL/control button as bomb release defending the skies over and roads of Langley, BC - Mary Polak’s riding from BC NDP (New Democratic Party, Negative Destructive Pessimistic) socialist hordes. Go ahead, make your mark! Strap on the BC Liberal CF-18 and KEEP BC STRONG!

V FOR VICTORY!!!

(This game by a BC Liberal fan, NOT approved or funded by BC Liberal HQ. Also no not-so-secret Twitter command to make this game.)

--Edited by site owner

The Provincial Campaign Trail

Solicitor General Get's The Lead Out...

Yesterday, BC Solicitor General John van Dongen held a press conference to announce that he has surrendered his driver's license over some speeding tickets. While we do not condone speeding and poor driving habits, this news makes us want to support the BC Liberals even more!

Rational people have to consider several facts that actually enhance the Liberal's position here:

1. John van Dongen did not use his position or influence to prevent any police officers from giving him any tickets.
2. John van Dongen fessed up to his poor driving record after his consideration of an appeal. He did so publicly and openly
3. John van Dongen voluntarily asked that his ICBC portfolio be given to another minister to head up, so as now to create a conflict of interest.
4. van Dongen did not use his influence to shift this problem 18 days forward to deal with the problem after the election. 

We see no good reason for the Solicitor General to resign. Although we agree that his driving habits need improvement, we congratulate John van Dongen on his openness and transparency. Hey John, time to shed the lead foot!

Mary Polak Get's Out In Public

Langley MLA Mary Polak was spotted earlier this week knocking on doors in the Murrayville area and today was spotted door-knocking in various Willoughby townhouse complexes. Polak is not taking this election for granted and has been very visible in the riding and on radio and TV. She has also been on the phones talking to folks that have called her campaign office with questions on issues. 

Other than a campaign office opening, NDP candidate Kathleen Stephany has been clearly absent from the public eye. We've also heard that Stephany has not engaged local leaders to discuss issues or the community. Either she professes to know it all, or it just doesn't matter to her. 

MLA Rich Coleman

Over at Fort Langley/Aldergrove MLA Rich Coleman's office (Coleman Country), Rich has been busy working the phones, talking issues and connecting with the public as various events. Again, other candidates being so visible? Not soo much. Why all the turtling folks?

Airport Lease Rates Within Market Average

With the local newspapers starving for advertising dollars and the mayor imposing a gag order on them reporting all the facts, Langley residents can only rely on the Langley Record to give them the straight scoop on the real news in the Township of Langley.

On April 6, 2009 Council received a presentation and report from an appraiser that has significant experience in assessing lease rates and terms of regional airports. There was some local newspaper coverage on this presentation, but that coverage did not pinpoint the politics that caused the study to be conducted.  This memo from staff on Langley Regional Airport Lease Rates and Terms was received this past Monday and quietly approved in the Special Township Council Meeting.

Mayor Rick Green campaigned hard, along with his side-kick Councillor Kim Richter, that airport lease rates in Langley were extremely low and that the community was being short changed by then Mayor Alberts and Township Council. This, even though Richter had voted twice against raising airport lease rates in the past. Councillor Richter has openly attacked Langley Airport Manager George Miller, despite Miller being respected far and wide in the aviation community.  

The presentation and staff memo clearly indicates that in actuality, Langley Township has been served very well by our airport and it has had a very favorable impact on our local economy with some very good paying aircraft maintenance jobs. The review and report vindicates former mayor Kurt Alberts and Airport Manager George Miller, who clearly knows their stuff. It also once again casts a significant cloud on the credibility and irresponsibility of the two local slate members (Green & Richter), for lashing out on a subject they have been very ill-informed on. Clearly a public apology by these two should be issued forthwith. Mayor Green quietly accepted the staff recommendations with the rest of council this past Monday. 

Councillor Kim Richter was noticeably absent from this week's Council meeting and this editor wonders if her absence was meant to help her distance herself from this airport issue (that she has often spouted off on). Of course it could have also been that she didn't want to be around to vote against yet another budget, thereby being perceived as being irresponsible for failing to properly fund the Township of Langley. One thing is certain, Richter will offer a passionate appeal and excuse for the absence. 

The Langley Record must however offer praise to Mayor Green for coming around to realize that the airport operations have been professional and reasonable. At least Mayor Green attended the meeting, and didn't find a lame excuse to be absent.  

  

Gymnastics, Flipflop, Noticed Absence and Bateman Rules

Last weekend a very important event happened in Langley Township that has gone unreported.

The innaugral event of the new Langley Events Center was celebrated in Willoughby, the BC Gymnastics Championships.

Township Mayor Rick Green gave a speech along with Premier Gordon Campbell, praising the building. After the ceremony one senior sports group member was heard to say that; "Bateman should be unveiling the Events Centre, not Green, because there would not have been any Events Centre in the Township yet if it wasn't for him."

This Editor is amazed that only Cllrs. Bateman, Ward, Ferguson, Dornan, Kositsky and Fox joined Mayor Green at this Events Centre unveiling reception. This did not go unnoticed by the sports attendees and many considered this a snub by the missing Richter. These sports families live and vote in Langley and the last Langley municipal election showed they were particularly supportive of Bateman and his efforts for local sports. This Editor wonders if the sports groups will endorse his team and him for Mayor come November 2011, punishing Cllr. Richter for her snub and Mayor Green for his obvious flipflop?

With apology to http://www.kimrichter.com/Blog/2007/10/only-3-from-township-council-of-9.html

Monday Council Meeting

Monday, April 20, 2009 Township Council Meetings and Public Hearing

Here is your documentation, agenda, minutes and reports so that you can see what Township Council is doing on our behalf. Click on the links to access the documents.

Special Council Meeting 3:00pm - 6:15pm

Minutes from April 6, 2009 Special Meeting

Agenda for this meeting

Doc 1

Doc 2

Doc 3

Doc 4

Doc 5

Doc 6

Doc 7

Doc 8

Doc 9

Regular Township Council Meeting 7:00pm - 11:00pm

Minutes from April 6, 2009 Regular Meeting

Agenda for this meeting

Doc 1

Doc 2

Doc 3

Doc 4

Doc 5

Doc 6

Doc 7

Special Meeting of Township Council (following the regular meeting)

Public Hearing and Development Permits 7:00pm - 11:00 PM

Agenda for this Public hearing

Doc 1

Doc 2

Doc 3

Doc 4

Doc 5

Doc 6

An Open Letter to Kathleen Stephany

*** Update *** 

Council Agenda and documents posted tomorrow

Check out the fire post below for an update

Recently, Langley NDP candidate Kathleen Stephany has made several YouTube videos talking about crime and rail service in the Valley. We have now reviewed the statements by Ms. Stephany on this and other subjects and we are puzzled.

1. Langley MLA's Rich Coleman and Mary Polak both supported more police and more prosecutors and we got them and are getting more. The BC Liberals delivered on that promise in short order. With that in mind, how many more police and how many prosecutors will BC need to satisfy her needs, and allow her to walk the streets of Langley once again? Please tell us how many and how much that will cost in hard dollars please.

2. It seems that the official NDP platform does not address rail in the Valley whatsoever. Are you telling us that you will go against official NDP policy and move to immediately build train service throughout the Fraser Valley and out to Vancouver as the group that you protested with advocates? Please tell us clearly if you will move against official NDP policy and also let us know when we can expect the trains to operate (assuming you are elected), and also how much in hard dollars that train service will cost the taxpayers of BC.

We look forward to receiving feedback from Ms. Stephany and also from the Valley's NDP spokesperson as to their position on candidates and official platforms.

Pot Calls The Kettle....

After all these years of Kim & Bob Richter bashing ToL Councillor Jordan Bateman for his support of the BC Liberal Party, once again they do exactly what they accuse others of doing. 

Everyone is well aware of the fact that Kim Richter ran with Glen Clark's BC NDP's and always comes back around to supporting her treasured NDP friends. This provincial campaign is no exception, as Kim Richter's website started pre-election with full video coverage of Langley NDP candidate Kathleen Stephany's delegation to Township Council. An event that Stephany termed as "non-political". Stephany used this "non-political" (wink) event to grandstand against the BC Liberals and all that jazz. We'll leave it at that, as we hear the NDP camp fully knows they will loose Langley and would rather fund law suits than campaigns.  

Stephany and the Browns Pitt group all remained silent (and refrained from any letters to editors and blog posts) after the provincial government, with significant Rich Coleman advocacy, reviewed the ecological impact of using the old gravel pit. As Transportation Minister Falcon promised,  the Liberals decided to preserve the pit and not risk impact to the aquifer. Thanks Rich, its a thankless job sometimes, especially with fair weather constituents, eh?

The full press court is now viable on the Richter website with video after video of the NDP candidate and events. A loyal Richter insider held his meet & greet for the NDP candidate as well, this past weekend. Interesting that we don't see the photos or videos of Richter shmoozing with the NDP candidate as of yet.  But rest assured as evident with the website work, Richter is right there to lend her support.

Of course its fine for council members to support whichever party they wish. By why bash Bateman and others, and be a hypocrite about it all? This is an old Richter game and it just goes on and on. Her vocal (few) supporters don't see any problems with it, just as long as it is Richter and not Bateman. Wink. Wink.

So folks, The Langley Record is your ONLY independent blog in Langley Township... just kidding. We all know that MLA Rich Coleman and Mary Polak are the best darn MLA's and Ministers that Langley has ever seen and we don't intend to let them stand alone after all their hard work for this community. Certainly no rookie with twisted ethics, nor any candidate-for-hire could come anywhere close to filling the shoes of Rich and Mary. 

Keep BC Strong.  Keep loudmouth opposition politicians at bay. The NDP likes to order off the extensive provincial menus to and just like their local Political Whip, they always seem to skip out on that darn bill.    

Langley Township Fire Department

*** UPDATE *** Saturday, April 18, 2009 - ToL 2008 Fire Report Released

This Monday Township Council Receives this 2008 Fire Department Report for Fire Chief Doug Wade. The report contains a wealth of information related to our fire/first responders service to the community. 

Report Highlights:

• Call Volumes were up by 25% over 2007
• They met their commitment to respond within 8 minutes 90% of the time to areas served by fulltime firefighters.
• At the end of 2008 there were 132 paid-call firefighters and 51 career personnel
• In 2008 paid-call firefighters continued to provide the majority of emergency response to Fort Langley, Walnut Grove, Murrayville, Brookswood and Otter. Traditionally there has been a turnover rate of 10-15% within the paid-call ranks.
• In 2008 Emergency Response was a major focus of department operations with nearly 56% of calls related to medical and/or motor vehicle accidents. 
• Fire calls increased slightly from 2007. 
• Overall, the department responded to 5,083 requests for assistance in 2008, a 25% increase since 2007 and a 53% increase since 2006. 
• In the past 5 years since 2004, call volumes have increased 68%

Two Interesting Charts From This 2008 Report:

  

From Previous Post:

FIRST RESPONDERS NOT ONLY TO FIRES - As you can see from our last post, there are many opinions offered on our fire department program. In an effort to allow for more public input, we are putting up this post for all your fire department comments. 

Please be respectful in your comments and those you may disagree with. Please try to stick to facts and not speculation or rumor. We would also like to comment that although some fire fighters may have offered their personal (off-duty) time to posting some candidate signage, we see no evidence of any fire apparatus or on-duty personnel being used for this task. Unless you have pictures and evidence to prove otherwise, please refrain from any speculation.

Now with these ground rules in place, please post your comments on our fire service in the Township of Langley. Also, it would be great to hear from some full-time fire chiefs (or retired chiefs) on these issues. Commenters may want to list any qualifications they may have in this field. Post away!

Watch Those Closed Door Municipal Meetings

Recently, the Township of Langley held several closed-door meetings for the Mayor's Standing Committee on Finance. Mayor Rick Green spoke to the Bylaw/Terms of Reference that created the committee and although the Bylaw talked about all meetings being opened to the public, Green invoked a Community Charter section to substantiate the closed door meetings. 

Unlike Council that must disclose in a public meeting the broad item headings discussed (Land, Legal or Labour), the Finance Committee never did this in any public meeting thereafter. The mayor flip-flopped by calling these meetings workshops and meetings interchangeably. But we cannot be certain if ANY closed door meetings by this committee were in fact legal. The Green-Richter slate talked extensively during their campaigns about open and transparent government. These back alley meetings are not very open and transparent, are they?

Now word out of Seattle (great Seattle Times article here) is that municipalities had better be VERY careful about closed door meetings in the future. Seattle is facing a $43M shortfall in this year's budget and the mayor's office decided they should have a closed meeting with mayor and council to discuss how to deal with it. They planned to skirt quorum rules (that would then require an open public meeting) by limiting council participants to four at any one time.

"City Attorney Tom Carr said he sent an e-mail to the City Council on Friday morning. Citing attorney-client confidentiality, he declined to share the contents of his e-mail. However, the day before, he told The Seattle Times he had concerns that the meetings might violate state law.

Carr said Friday that he didn't know why council members decided to stop the private meetings, adding, "It might have been your article. It does show their commitment to try to adhere to both the letter and the spirit of the law," he said.

The state's Open Public Meetings Act requires that meetings of public governing bodies be open. The law applies to their votes — and discussions and deliberations leading up to votes.

The mayor's office and the city council defended the meetings this week, saying it was important to them to be able to speak privately about budget decisions out of the public eye."

                    -- The Seattle Times

You can read more damage control from Seattle here. Maybe we need an "Open Government group" in the Township of Langley? Perhaps the Green-Richter slate should come clean as to what was discussed at their secret budget meetings and how their proposed .93% tax increase is nothing less than acting irresponsibly with their fiduciary responsibilities to the Township of Langley and the taxpayers? 

The Green-Richter Slate Is Irresponsible

Talk on the street from the everyday Township citizen is that Mayor Rick Green and Councillor Kim Richter have been deemed by informed residents to be irresponsible. 

A Witch Hunt commenced at the direction of the Green-Richter slate. This Witch Hunt was named the Mayor's Standing Committee on Finance. Mayor Green ruled as Chair of this committee, with Cllr. Richter being appointed as Vice Chair by the mayor (sort of a King and Queen of the finance ball). 

After 10 weeks of work, this Finance Committee (with questionable qualifications) proposed nothing concrete that one could immediately implement to drastically impact the budget, taxes, nor produce any significant savings. The report is an absolute joke to anyone with prior business and budgeting experience. Any finance professional would be ashamed to put their name to it, especially when the conclusions don't align with the spreadsheets. We've checked with some reputable accountants that said they would never put their names to such political nonsense. 

Both Green and Richter have very clear fiduciary responsibilities to all the residents of the Township of Langley. Both have ignored the needs of the municipality, in favour of political posturing and rhetoric. Kim Richter has never voted to approve any Township budget, so it is no surprise that she would reject this one and cast the finger of blame squarely at her council colleagues. This is the same Kim Richter that spoke on council inauguration night about working together with these same colleagues. 

Shame on you Rick Green and Kim Richter for your reckless and irresponsible behaviour in council. As the picture well states, no single rain drop believes it is to blame for the flood. But your rhetoric is catching up with you and the lies are being dispelled weekly. Council did not abdicate their fiduciary responsibilities nor their concern for the long-term viability of this Township. Shame-shame on you two for being irresponsible with our finances.  

The Green Richter-Slate Can't Fool All of The People All of The Time

By Special Features Editor Reed Fraser

It was a bad week for the credibility of Township council’s minority of two, the Green-Richter team, and it started with 3rd reading of the 2009 budget, which contains a five per cent tax hike, with no speakers coming to the microphone at the 4 p.m. council meeting, one of the last opportunities for the public to complain about a tax hike that adds about $65 a year to the average homeowners tax bill.

An at the 7 p.m. session, only one person answered the call for submissions, a man who wondered whether or not a $50,000 ceramic tile item was listed in the right place under recreation. Not exactly the shit-fire storm Richter-Green would have had us all believe would blow up over this budget. But Green launched into his now familiar diatribe about the hard work of his self-appointed “standing committee on finance” three civilians one at least of whom helped run his election campaign.

Green praised the work of this threesome -- one of whom went off on vacation and submitted his ideas via email – as if their hard eight weeks on a steep learning curve required that the duly elected majority on council were obliged to adopt their rather mediocre ideas which included a less than one per cent tax hike, borrowing money from sewer and water funds to prop up general revenue, axing a hybrid vehicle program upon which Township carbon credits rely; and cutting almost $1 million from Township computer maintenance. No mention of the grant money the ToL got for hybrids and can continue to get to pay for the hybrid additions. No mention of Mayor Green himself heard boasting about the fuel performance and saving of his privately-owned hybrid. I guess he'd rather save money personally and not see the Township save anything?

Green seems to rely on the premise that if you say something often enough people will believe it, and both he and Richter have at least convinced themselves that staff raises, a new and expanding full-time fire force, extra police, recreation playing field maintenance and a myriad of other spirally costs can be met with the 0.93 tax hike. Other councilors weren’t buying it, and pointed out that such drastic cuts will gut all capital expenditure, put the Township into a $770,000 deficit in 2010, and run that figure up to $6.4 million by the end of the Five Year Financial Plan. Residents clearly want these services and are willing to pay for them.

Next, airport manager George Miller introduced David Kirk, a professional aviation industry appraiser, who told council lease rates at Langley Airport are very competitive with community airports around the province, and that if the airport starts charging rates to other industrial lands, no one will be using this airport. That ‘s another blow to the credibility of Richter and Green, who campaigned on issues that included airport lease rates being just 25 per cent of market rates. See the full presentation here.

And council released from in-camera a legal opinion obtained four years ago, which says the Township doesn’t have a leg to stand on in an argument, based on a 100 year old Inter Urban rail right of way bylaw, to make the railroad cease or reduce Roberts Bank freight through downtown Langley. Another Green position, that the trains can be rerouted, but the other members of council and senior staff just haven’t been trying hard enough for the past four or five years, shot to tatters. Read the full legal opinion here.

And in a final humiliation, what Green said during the election was one of the worst violations of private property rights he had ever witnessed, the rerouting of a creek in Willoughby, is apparently perfectly legitimate, according to another legal opinion released by council Monday. Green’s stance on this creek got him a stern warning of a pending law suit if an apology was not forthcoming, but the developer, now that Green is in the mayor’s chair, seems to have reconsidered. (It will be interesting to see how many landowners will see Green’s municipal revenue for upzoning their property, as a violation of property rights.)

Yes folks, it was a very humiliating week for the slate, but don't expect to see these details on the other blog, nor reported in such details in your local news. But the facts are here and clear on the Langley Record for you.

This week's revelations are unlikely to fluster the absolute arrogance of Mayor Green or the obstinate smarter than thou attitude of Councillor Richter, but as Abe Lincoln said, "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some times, but you can’t fool all the people all the time."

Twisting It

It is very interesting and very predictable that Councillor Kim Richter's website would blame the 5% property tax increase on the rest of council. This after Richter has ordered off the menu many times over and then always votes against budgets in the Township.

BUT, there is another perspective on this budget that one should consider. A Motion for the 5% increase was on the council table for first to third reading. Councillor Charlie Fox proposed an amendment to the Motion to set the increase at 3.95%. Both Councillor Richter and Mayor Green voted against the 3.95% amendment. Therefore, Green and Richter voted for the 5% tax increase. Now they try to lay blame as they said they would.

ONE member of the public spoke during the open microphone and it was related to why a $50K floor tile project came under the parks & rec budget. That's it.

Stay tuned as Special Features Editor Reed Fraser exposes the madness, and significant blows to the credibility of the Green/Richter slate based on campaign statements and recent events. You won't want to miss this one!

Something to Chuckle About

We found this article by The Langley Times on the internet. We can only assume that Sonya Paterson agreed with this assessment during the last election. It indicates that Councillor Kim Richter agrees with her council colleagues and also may be in the process of becoming a BC Liberal:

"I was somewhat surprised at how incumbent Kim Richter seemed to be on the same page with many of her council colleagues at the meeting. Throughout her nine years on council, Richter has often been a voice in the wilderness, decrying the decision of the majority.

I was equally surprised to see Richter and her husband Bob at the Rich Coleman BC Liberal fundraiser on Thursday. Richter is a former NDP member who ran for the federal Liberals in 2004, but to the best of my knowledge has never been active with the BC Liberals. Her attendance at the Coleman dinner indicates that she may be moving more to the right."

Green and Richter Buckle Under Pressure

Monday night's Township Council meeting went as we had blogged. The Green & Richter slate trying to uphold a mere .93% tax increase, with Green's rants of how things could be done differently. No mention of the slim report after 10 weeks of public and secret meetings. No mention of the lack of numbers to support their .93%. It all flies in the face of reality and what a SPIN it is! They had no concrete answers to council questions and this time Green could not defer to staff. What a shame. We think council should have unanimously voted for .93% and then watch as Green & Richter fall flat on their faces. What a sight that would have been, except these councillors care about the ToL and the slate very clearly does not. 

The Langley Times did not disappoint the slate, claiming that the 5% tax increase had nothing to do with municipal funding realities and more about Township residents wanting services and willing to pay for them. The editor's article seems to slam the council members who voted for the increase, makes Green and Richter out to be heros, and then talks of what ToL residents want and expect. Now just how to all those worlds collide Frank? Wow, that is a far stretch indeed.

We also have now confirmed that the other blog has published blatant lies and continues to keep them posted. These accuse some people of living off the "public teat", and that is 100% false. For several years now, Jordan Bateman has been self-employed and continues to develop a very productive business. His campaign finances have been out there for all to see, and there was never any raffle.  

The Real Public Teat

Perhaps rants about the public teat and the other energies of the slate should now be focused on a certain Murrayville B & B that leased their land from the ToL for 99 years at $1? Let's do as with the airport leases and re-open this sweetheart deal and hike the rate up, shall we? Someone needs to investigate how this lease has been allowed to continue. Let's crack the books open on this land lease now!

 

Monday Council Meetings

Monday, April 6, 2009 Township Council Meetings

Get involved in your local Township Council and let your informed voice be heard. This week the evening meeting at 7:00pm will include an open microphone on the proposed budget. Council will then vote on the first three readings in order to approve a budget in accordance with the provincial deadline. Click on items to access documents below.

Special Council Meeting

3:00pm - 5:30pm

Agenda 

Minutes of Special Council Meeting March 23, 2009 here

Minutes of Special Meeting of Council for Budget Purposes March 24, 2009 here

Documents that support Special Agenda items:

Doc 1

Doc 2

Doc 3

Doc 4

Doc 5

Doc 6

Doc 7

Doc 8

Doc 9

Doc 10

Doc 11

Doc 12

Doc 13

Doc 14

Doc 15

Doc 16

Doc 17

Regular Council Meeting (including public input on proposed budget)

7:00pm - ?

Agenda 

Minutes of March 23, 2009 Meeting here

Documents that support Regular Agenda items:

Doc 1

Doc 2

Doc 3

Doc 4

Doc 5

Doc 6

Doc 7

Doc 8

Doc 9

How To Buffalo The Public

*** Saturday Update ***

Word today is that Councillor Kim Richter has done it again on her blog. A fairly sizable group of people are very pissed off that a comment clearly posted by someone close to Richter (guess who?) attacks a group of non-profit community-minded people for using their very own mailing list. 

More political baggage for Richter as she alginates the general public with her blog. Keep up the good work Kim! These people are VERY pissed off at you and it is likely that your slate cohort will be negatively impacted as well because, well you know why.

The budget debate will take place at Monday's Township Council meeting. If you attend, pay close attention to the smokescreens of Mayor Rick Green and Councillor Kim Richter. If you watch carefully you will get one great lesson in how to buffalo the public.

First, you sit back and let council talk about their concerns. After all, what do you care, so let them debate the issues. Next, because you went through the motions by forming a "Finance Committee", you can now use that as an excuse. But wait, wasn't the report very slim and in reality said nothing concrete that would help us? Yes, but why does that matter in politics?

Next, when the vote is taken on the budget, you simply vote NO to everything from 5% to anything but .93%. Councillor Kim Richter is the master of this ploy. Kim loves to go to the expensive Dim Sum buffet and order away at those snow removal buns and the extensive staff study dumplings. But when the bill arrives, the hot mustard is all gone and Cllr. Richter has left the building. It is very easy and actually very cowardly to vote against 4 budgets, but alas, this will be her fifth. Watch Richter in action and watch her take the easy way out with slate cohort Green at her hip.

We've heard that during council meetings Mayor Green and Councillor Richter have been seen many times writing notes on a desk pad and then pointing to the note so that the other could read. My oh my, just little girl school days, eh? They also have a tendency to comment over each others shoulders just like two birds in a mating ritual. Watch the old school days excitement and the head wagging at Council's budget debate meeting. But most importantly, watch the two slate members gingerly extract themselves away from paying the bills of our Township.

Budget Input Reminder

Just a reminder that Township residents should study the proposed ToL budget and comment. A loyal reader just advised us that the form has changed slightly, as the Township would like to have the name and contact info for those who wish to sign their comments or for follow-up. The updated form link appears below. Please disregard the old form and we have updated the link in that article as well.

Here is the public input form that will be available to you at the budget input sessions to take place on the 4th Floor of the Township Municipal Facility on:

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

3 - 8pm

Thursday, April 2, 2009

1 - 6pm

Location: Township Civic Facility

20338 - 65 Avenue

4th Floor Presentation Theatre Foyer

Review the budget details below and pay close attention in the budget input sessions to "Contributions to Capital", which is how much we will invest in our roads, parks, etc. The lower that number, the less we get as taxpayers and citizens in a growing community. The proposed 5% will allow for proper funding to protect our community assets, as well as to help with any emergencies that may pop up.

Wise Words On A Much Needed Overpass

By Guest Editor Patricia Revill

I grew up in the fifties and remember annual treks out to Lulu Island at harvest time to buy our fifty pound bags of veggies for the winter. As everyone knows that farmland is now condos and hotels ad nauseum throughout the roads en route to YVR.

For the naysayers to rant on about saving the farmland in Langley in the area in question is ludicrous. The area in question hosts a small herd of cattle, a waterfowl and tree sanctuary and a couple of tree farms. The time for worrying about the food supply was about forty years ago when Langley was mostly rural. This is not that time. Most of the properties in the rural area east of 216th are not farms either but have small acreages where they keep a few horses in the genre of hobby farms, and once you reach 64th and 232 there is a blueberry farm, hardly what one could call a secure food supply.

There are also several large parcels that haven¹t grown anything other than crab grass for over 25 years. Why haven¹t the naysayers been in an uproar why these "valuable lands" haven't produced anything but weeds all these years? On the southwest side of 216th and 64th there are a few small acreages and then continuing south on 216th, voila, you hit the mighty sports field with the blinding lights adjacent to LSS.

The Green Emperor has no vegetables and no clothes and hopefully before too long he will have no place to sit. One additional thing though, I have thought of a great name for the new overpass: The Veggie Tales Overpass!

100% for the Mufford/Glover Overpass,

Patricia Revill
Langley Township

Township Budget

There has been much talk about the ToL budget and lots of speculation about how any increase in this tough economic time will hurt people. But the truth of the matter is that no Council member wants to vote for a tax increase if it is not needed and we as citizens need to realize that the Township is not a business.

We as a community have assets and needs that require cash. We don't have the corporate options to cut staff, empty inventories, or reduce the number of widgets we manufacture. The decisions we make can impact public safety/lives, health and well being of our residents, and the future quality of life for our children.

ToL Council have looked at the resources and assets we have and have taken into account current economic realities. They have come up with a proposed budget that they feel is reasonable and helps to maintain service levels that are conservative, as compared with other municipalities our size. The proposal is for a 5% tax increase and if you don't use certain user-pay services like water, sewer or ToL trash pickup, you don't pay for it. Here is what 5% looks like from the old 2008 rate and the proposed 2009 rates based on the average home assessed at $473,000. The average household will pay $64.00 more per year and preserve what we hold dear to our Langley Township.

User Pay Utilities:

The biggest thing that Township taxpayers MUST consider and which the local newspaper editors and a certain blog will NOT tell you enough about, is the Contribution to Capital that would be contained in a .93%, 1% or 5% tax increase and how Township Reserves would be depleted to compensate for a lower tax increase. We will publish more on these another time, but wanted to give you this information to digest.

Here is the public input form that will be available to you at the budget input sessions to take place on the 4th Floor of the Township Municipal Facility on:

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

3 - 8pm

Thursday, April 2, 2009

1 - 6pm

Location: Township Civic Facility

20338 - 65 Avenue

4th Floor Presentation Theatre Foyer

Selective Conflict of Interest and Lame Newspapers

We find it very comical that both local newspapers, the mayor and his Disgruntled100 / Slate blog all accuse Councillor Jordan Bateman and others of having conflicts of interest.

Did Langley lawyer Calvin Patterson give Mayor Rick Green a donation of $1,000 during the 2008 campaign? Yes. Did Mayor Rick Green wine and dine Mr. Patterson and others in the mayor's office on inauguration night? Yes. Did Mayor Rick Green appoint Calvin Patterson to the Mayor's Standing Finance Committee most recently? Yes. Mayor Rick Green and his Disgruntled 100 supporters have a very selective view of what conflicts of interest are, and that is putting it kindly.

The Langley Times Hates Blogs

It is very interesting that Langley Times Editor Frank Bucholtz cannot write a single editorial these days without mentioning those darn local blogs. Friday was no exception, with Bucholtz writing this week,

"All those people who profess such concern about municipal spending and operations need to make their views known when open houses on the proposed budget take place next Wednesday and Thursday. They need to let members of council know, in no uncertain terms, where they stand.

It’s one thing to verbally complain about spending, write a letter or make nasty remarks anonymously on a blog. It’s quite another to come out to an open house, listen to what is proposed, and offer an informed opinion about how the Township should spend tax dollars"

While we can certainly agree with Mr. Bucholtz that people should come out and learn about the budget and speak to the Langley they desire to see (which budgets may or may not pay for), there is a place for blogs in our community and Mr. Bucholtz needs to get with the times (no pun intended). Perhaps more and more people are coming to blogs like this one because editors like Bucholtz are failing to allow them a voice. Especially if their opinion say, opposes Mayor Rick Green?

Shortly after taking office, Green was overheard on Douglas Day telling Sonya Paterson that he had the Langley Times editor in his "back pocket". We can therefore understand why we would be hated, as we tend to undo any publicist assistance that is afforded to the good mayor. We gather that reporters of a certain newspaper have been fitted with duck tape, hence our Langley Mimes comments.

Mr. Bucholtz and his Langley Times needs to wake up and realize they are in 2009. The Langley Advance is trying out blogs for their editor and reporters (smart move) at a time when the print news is going the way of the dinosaur...quickly. Many people under 30 have no landline, simply using their cell phones as their only phone. The e-mail address has replaced the physical address for many, many people. The IP address has become more important than the postal code. People are dumping cable TV and watching programming on computers.

People are sick and tired of reading the local fluff. You can only read so many "happily ever after" stories before you long for professional journalism and a healthy dose of investigative reporting. Time for the local rags to grow a pair and quit being lazy. Do your job or go home with your tails between your legs an allow the bloggers to give it to you straight, just as we have done here.

Mayor Green's "I" Problems Continue

Wonder why this mayor just can't seem to work with his council? Is the problem with council or is it with our mayor? We opine that the problem is Mayor Green's constant "I" problems. An ego that constantly needs to be stroked and fed. Here are some examples:

THEN: Corporate letterhead under former Mayor Kurt Alberts (click images to enlarge):


NOW: Corporate letterhead under Mayor Rick Green:


Notice that back then, council was recognized and listed as part of the team. Now, council is not represented at all and this letter sent by Rick Green was to advise this lady of a council decision.

The old Township website also listed Mayor & Council under a Corporate tab. When you clicked on the main tab you would have been greeted by a picture of mayor and council all on the same page. Now this is what you see below and unless you click on the council tab, you will not see anything more than Mayor Rick Green and his various ramblings:

Yes, these are minor issues. BUT, they are part and parcel of a larger systemic problem with this mayor. Mainly, it is his "I" problem that gets him in the way of cooperating and working with our Township council. We wonder what slate cohort Councillor Kim Richter thinks about having her name removed from the corporate letterhead?