What's Wrong With This Picture?

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

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

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?

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

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.

Mayor Rick Green - More Proof of Our Regional Shame

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

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

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^th 7:00pm – 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

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?

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?

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

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.....

They Had Him Surrounded

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

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....

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

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