City councillors and mayor’s office staff were in mild shock yesterday after it turned out that only three non-profits put in bids to run the three city-owned buildings at the Olympic village, and then Housing Minister Rich Coleman publicly stated that none seemed to be bidders the province deemed acceptable. Full story here. (To be […]
City scrambling after Coleman says none of the bids to run Olympic village housing good enough
September 29th, 2010 · 18 Comments
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New blogger from the left goes on the attack
September 28th, 2010 · 15 Comments
I noted one of Ian Reid’s previous articles in Vancouver Observer a month or so ago, but it now looks as though Mr. Reid is going to be providing regular blog fodder from the left, copying the Citycaucus@ TM style — FOIs left and right and accusations of impropriety. The latest is a front-“page” story […]
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Downtown business association comes out officially opposed to bike lane
September 28th, 2010 · 53 Comments
This just out. DVBIA – Hornby bike lanes
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City rental buildings at Olympics village too challenging for many operators
September 28th, 2010 · 11 Comments
A story a day on the troubles at the Olympics village, that’s our motto here in media/bloggerland. There is no shortage. The envelopes will be opened today to reveal how many bids were received to run the three rental buildings the city has at the village. Here’s my story on what people had to say […]
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As AGM approaches, VAG director sends out staff memo to rebut union leader’s points
September 27th, 2010 · 18 Comments
As some of you will recall, I wrote a story earlier this summer about the fact that the head of the union that represents Vancouver Art Gallery workers was planning to go to the gallery’s annual general meeting with some resolutions asking for explanations of how the gallery is spending its money. The sore point: […]
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HST will be shadow at annual municipal politician get-together
September 26th, 2010 · 2 Comments
The usual topics will be debated at the annual Union of B.C. Municipalities convention this week, ranging from the Canada-goose problem to a looming RCMP contract that could boost policing costs for almost every city and town in the province. But, as several municipal politicians told me this weekend, the biggest topic is one that […]
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Bike lane debates, part 33: City’s poll finds many support Hornby lane
September 26th, 2010 · 82 Comments
Fighting fire with fire, the city has done its own poll on public opinion about a Hornby bike lane. Alert readers will recall that the Canadian Federation of Independent Business released poll results a couple of weeks ago indicating almost 100 per cent of businesses were opposed to the planned bike lane on Hornby. Now […]
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Mayors, province sign new MOU on how to pay for transit — but what does it mean?
September 23rd, 2010 · 46 Comments
Here is the actual text of the memorandum of agreement between the province and mayors, which many are hoping will end the food fight that was going on between the two sides last year. But it’s a little hard to figure out, just from looking at these words, what it all actually means. I’ll have […]
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Vancouver hires “change manager” as it struggles with employee backlash
September 23rd, 2010 · 24 Comments
Vancouver city hall continues to be a workplace under stress. News broke earlier that the non-union staff had issued a memo outlining their concerns about the new style of management. While I know there are some people who are really enjoying working with new city manager Penny Ballem — they like her directness, willingness to […]
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What would the Marine Gateway project look like elsewhere? An architect shows us
September 21st, 2010 · 47 Comments
Architect Nigel Baldwin, who was always a thoughtful and rigorous evaluator of development projects when he was on the urban-design panel has also weighed in on his concerns about the Marine Gateway project. Besides his words, which I will include below, he has also provided visuals: what the Marine Gateway project would look like if […]
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