Chris Parry at the Vancouver Sun wrote about this earlier and I followed up this week to see whether there’s any likelihood that the city’s UFC event would pave the way for future MMA bouts.

Apparently not, because any other events would likely be put on by smaller promoters and no one sees a way for them to be able to fulfill the financial demands the city puts up the way the UFC did.

Yikes. What is happening to municipal politics when councillors have to be reminded not to drink excessively while out socializing?

West Vancouver Mayor Pam Goldsmith-Jones posted this comment today on an earlier string, but I’m re-posting here to make sure everyone sees it. History: West Van has been trying to experiment with some different housing forms than giant single-family, which I wrote about in an earlier Globe story. Subsequent to that, the couple featured in the story — Rick Gruneau and Shelley Bentley — wrote to me to say they were withdrawing their proposal to build a small house on an irregular small lot attached to their main property — because after spending $18,000, they went to a council meeting where they felt there was no certainty that council would give final approval to the project at a future point after they’d spent even more money.

This is the mayor’s response today.

Last week Council voted 6 to 1, at 3rd reading, to amend the OCP to allow for Housing Pilot Projects, provided a proposal goes through the established – but not yet tested – process. I fully expect that the OCP amendment will be adopted by Council this coming Monday (July 19). This is the proper first step and, I believe, quite well supported by the community.

I was very disappointed that the Gruneau/Bennett application was withdrawn. The Downs “Lantern House” and the application still has my full support. Going first is not easy. Creating a process and a policy that honours neighbourhood context and the changing housing needs of families isn’t easy either.

I respect that certainty is needed to invest in a pilot project. That is why I committed to placing the OCP amendment before Council before any applicant went any further down the path. As well, I had expected that both recommended applications would be on our agenda in July for rezoning approval, following the OCP amendment . Council has followed through. We are ready for good applications to come forward.

The community has expressed its interest in trying a few pilot projects. Council has taken a solid first step by amending its OCP. We are learning, and we will endeavour to make positive change by listening to people like the Gruneau/Bennetts, in spite of the turns in the road.

The latest in this summer storm

Because I clearly have no life, I took the trouble to listen to the whole hour and 40 minutes of the Thursday night meeting about the West End housing controversy that led to the mayor’s much-reported remarks today. It’s worth a listen, in order to puncture some of the little spin bubbles going on. [Read more →]

The story of the mayor’s use of the F word while referring to West End residents has been a rolling story all day. Here’s the latest version with stuff I gathered over the past few hours.

The West End Neighbours group, which has managed to eclipse the longstanding West End Residents Association when it comes to militant activisim, has shown remarkable tenacity and willingness to use guerilla tactics in their fight to block the Vision council’s rental towers from coming to their area.

I don’t always agree with their interpretations of what’s going on, but I have to admire their dogged energy. The latest result of their dedication is this YouTube clip that they managed to catch on the city website before it was eliminated, which records the mayor and other Vision councillors speaking when they think the mikes are turned off. They’re griping about the people who came out to oppose the mayor’s sudden creation of a West End advisory committee (the latest attempt to appease the WEN group).

In case you don’t catch it, the subtext is that the councillors clearly think that most of the people in WEN are owners, not renters, who form the majority of residents in the West End. And the inference is that owners always oppose new building, because it doesn’t help their property values, while renters are more accommodating because they know that more space means more room for other renters. (That’s why the mayor’s committee is being appointed and they’re making sure that a majority of the people sitting on the committee will be renters.)

For me, the most fascinating part of this is hearing our mayor sounding relaxed and natural, using the F word and expressing an opinion. He’s frequently so scripted in public that it’s extremely difficult to get a sense of what he’s like away from the spotlight. Now here’s a clue.

If you can’t pick everything up, here’s their transcript of the relevant bits.

[Read more →]

The city announced the 17 winners of the food-cart lottery today. The list is below. I expect all the dedicated posters here to go out and test each one of these carts (they’re supposed to be in action as of July 31) and then write up reviews.

[Read more →]

I’ve been expecting the news that the chair of the Vancouver Athletic Commission was going to be fired for the last month and it finally happened yesterday.

As I noted in my Globe story a month ago, chair Mirko Mladenovic engaged in some fairly unusual behaviour at the commission, the likes of which I’ve never heard of any commission member doing in my 15 years covering the hall, as the city was grappling with how to regulate the recent UFC match.

According to various media reports, he argued with city manager Penny Ballem at a meeting about what level of insurance should be asked for from the UFC match organizers. He openly talked about insurance numbers, saying they should only have to pay $5 million instead of the $12 million Ballem was asking for — numbers that the city was trying to keep confidential. He brought his own lawyer in to one meeting. Et cetera, et cetera. And he repeatedly told media that the city was being obstructionist and endangering the chances of having a match.

A sign of what was coming is that the vice-chair, Dr. Jerome Yang, became the commission spokesman in the week before the match.

I’m sure some in the sports blogger world think he’s a hero. But just from a city-hall watcher point of view, it was astonishing behaviour from a city-appointed member of a city commission.

Mr. Mladenovic has been on the commission for three terms, so some are asking why he would fall afoul of the city only now. But the reality is that the athletic commission meets rarely because there are very few events for them to monitor. The UFC match really tested the abilities and skills of both city staff and the commission members in a way that was unprecedented.

The city is working to have former chief city engineer and head of Olympics preparations, the now-retired Dave Rudberg, put on the committee and made chair. Awaiting more news on that.

If you’re interested, more on this issue at Civicscene and the Vancouver Sun.

This region has been talking about building the Evergreen Line for so long — and not doing it — that it’s hard to believe that it might really be on the way.

But it appears that it is, as the province moved this week into the first phase of the bid process, which is asking bidders to show they’re qualified to take on a project of this size. I talked to Larry Blain of Partnerships BC about what the prognosis is for financing the line — financing both from the private bidder and from TransLink. Good on both counts, apparently.