Here’s more for everyone to debate, with Donald MacPherson’s goodbye message inside city hall that lays out pretty explicity what he thinks the problems are with drug policy. From: MacPherson, Donald Sent: Tuesday, September 08, 2009 10:31 AM To: CSG All Staff (COV) – DL; Mayor and Council (COV) – DL; Mayor’s Office Staff – […]

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Word will be coming out next week that Vancouver’s drug-policy co-ordinator — the only job with that title in any Canadian city — is going to be leaving. Donald MacPherson, a former Carnegie Centre manager who got interested in drug policy as a result of watching people overdose and die on his front steps, was […]

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It’s always interesting to see how those of us outside the bubble view Vancouver politics and personalities. The mayor is always the key character people like to focus on. I’d say that for those who cover city hall intensively, Gregor Robertson is still a conundrum. He’s kept mostly under wraps and only allowed out to […]

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The (relatively) new TransLink commissioner, Martin Crilly, issued his first review ever of TransLink plan’s yesterday and all media piled on, but it was interesting that we all got something a bit different out of it. I ended up focusing on his analysis that TransLink is not going to be successful in the future by […]

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The latest on our most absorbing civic issue Burrard Bridge commute times down going north; Slight increase going south during bike lane trial Vehicle commute times during the Burrard Bridge bike lane trial have decreased for northbound trips and slightly increased for southbound trips, statistics released today from the City show. “The first wave of […]

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An interesting post from Kennedy Stewart analyzing which kind of person makes a better city bureaucrat, someone who rises through the ranks or someone brought in from outside. He comes down in favour of the former, saying people like Judy Rogers and Ken Dobell ultimately do a better job of carrying out council programs than […]

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I’m not going to post every story on the city’s new enviro deputy city manager, Sadhu Johnston, but the alternative paper Chicago Reader does solid reporting and covers municipal issues seriously, so here’s their take on his time in Chicago.

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Just to service my Burrard Bridge crowd, here’s the latest update from the city. Don’t say I never did anything for you. Burrard Bridge traffic to increase Tuesday; Motorists encouraged to consider alternative options Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson is encouraging motorists to consider alternate routes and transit options in the face of heavier downtown traffic […]

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Like many a Vancouver wanderer, I’ve always admired the house styles of other cities, particularly the brownstones in New York or the Plateau houses in Montreal, which create house fronts and steps right on the street. Vancouver’s townhouses are an effort to replicate the idea behind those styles. Recently, I came across an interesting piece […]

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I got a chance to talk to Vancouver’s new deputy city manager, Sadhu Johnston, in Chicago earlier today. Here’s my Globe story about Johnston, who will be arriving here Nov. 2. He’s a very personable sounding young man (sorry if I sound like an old fart, but I am), who mostly avoided talking ecojargon with […]

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