The grades are in

Gay pride wa
issue for counc!

Terrace Standard reporter Jeff Nagel takes his
annual subjective and irreverent look back at Ter-
race city council's performance over the last year.

Jack Talstra B _—

‘Where are you, Jack? :

_The mayor’s dramatic 1999 election promises
to take the multiplex project aad make it work,
warts and all, are glacially slow in being real-
ized.- .

Aybar later it appears little has been accom- .

plished other than to set up a trust fund for dona-
tions and to ask the feds for money -~ which was
the main strategy alt along.

In a few months we'll see whether federal
Liberal. party bosses think Talstra's election sup-
port of Liberal candidate
Rhoda Witherly was worth
Mm enough to be rewarded with a
few million for the multiplex.
Taistra has also seen Braun’s
Islanders rebuff his suggestion
they merge with the city as
part of a convoluted plan to
tap into restructuring grants
for a water system, and pos-
sibly the multiplex. os.
And for a lawyer and a sea-
soned politician, it’s particu-

a larly surprising Talstra was
unable to recognize the mess that was coming
when council rejected a gay pride day proclama-
tion. A creative solution to get everyone off the
hook would have been to allow councillor Hull,
the lone supporter of the pride proclamation, to
proclaim it in the month he was acting mayor.

On health care, Talstra got ridiculed by the

Jack Talstra

likes of Health Watch attack dog Tom Sager, -

who accused the mayor and council, in essence, ”

of not jumping up and down enough at the height -

of the doctors’ strike. He said the city’s main
priority should be health, not the multiplex. _
Talstra has tried to be cautious about immer-

sing council in the Health Watch rallies, peti- ©

tions and high-temperature rhetoric. :
His style is to leave an opening for reconcil-
liation, even with enemies, in case. there are
gains to be made that way. ,
Likewise, the mayor does not tend to leap
from side to side. of the ship of state, repelling:

boarders. That’s the job of his councillors.

Instead he, sces, himself, as the steady hand On, .glection. campaign started. Perhaps he

the tiller with an ey¢ ta the loi g-term’ horizon.

This year Taistra lobbied for key government.
initiatives like the Kemess road, a northwest for-
est plan, and pushed with other mayors for a
counterattack against envizonmentalists target-
ting coastal logging.

Voters made it clear in the 1999 election they
didn’t want tazzle-dazzle when they picked Tal-
stra by a nearly 2-2 margin over challenger Linda
Hawes. So keep that hand on the tiller, Jack. Just
don’t fall asleep at the wheel.

Ron Vanderlee’ Cc.

Two years ago he was the invisible man. Now
he materializes out of the fog from time fo time
before fading from view again.

_ Ron Vanderlee’s first term was marked by ab-
sences Ke attributed to his employer’s work on
Y2K preparedness. With the once-a-millennium
event over, city hall has seen more of Vanderlec.

When he’s at his best, Vanderlee is passio-
nate in putting the spotlight on crime control and
law and order. ;

But what has really hap-
pened?

His pet project, Drug Free
Zones with increased drug
penalties in areas close to
schools, saw much activity
late in 1999, around election
time, but very little since.
Vanderlee tends to go with
A the flow in debate, rarely in-
fluencing the outcome of a
@ decision.

Theoretically council's spe-
cialist in dealing with the
RCMP, he’s had as little luck as anyone else in
sorting out the massive cost increases from the
detachment that threaten to force city property
fax increases.

On the issue of gay pride proclamations,
councillor Vanderlee didn’t take a real stand and
tell both the delegations and voters what he
thought. He first dodged the issue by saying the
original request from Rainbow B,C. wasn’t a
jocal group. When a local group emerged two
weeks: later to carry the ball, Vanderlee was
quiet as a churchmouse in voting down the idea.

" Yanderlee has periodically had to leave the
council table to avoid a possible conflict-of-in-
terest when debate has turned to issues regarding
his employer, Pacific Northern Gas.

‘He sat out the vote in the summer when.coun-
cil.decided not to take sides during PNG’s public
relations firefight with Methanex, ils biggest gas
customer. -

Vanderlee did, however, remain at the table
and voted with council at a Nov. 27 in-camera
meeting to not file an intervention challenging
PNG's natural gas rate increases at hearings
coming up in March. In fairness, this is probably
a’minor oops, because the council decision was
in line with advice it received that there were no
grounds for a ‘challenge, and that lobbying Vic-
toria for rebates is a better strategy.

Vanderlee

‘Vanderlce'helped organize the first-ever cele-

Aboriginal: Day.

_Moters-‘natrowly chose Vanderlee in 1999

5

the ‘final council seat ahead of contenders

brations in Terrace in June to mark National

for
like

"Joely Viveiros and Frank Hamilton.

| R

ae FISGAL PRUDENCE

’

eport Card

CITY COUNCIL IN 2000

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, January 17, 2001 - AS

Vanderlee initially hadn't planned to rua
again, but then decided to enter the race as the
i should

haye, followed. his. first. instincts...-

ay

David Hull A-

David D. Hull once used to liken himself to
Ralph Klein and invoke the Alberta premier’s
budget-slashing, tax-cutting rhetoric.

But really, if there’s an alter ego out there for

. Hull, it’s more likely Minnesota governor and ex-
wrestler Jesse Ventura.

_ Like Ventura, Hull's head has taken a few hits
playing rugby but seems none the worse for wear.

And like Ventura, Hull is a fiscal conservative
and a social liberal: fighting to control taxes and
expenses while insisting the state has no busi-

- ness in the bedrooms of the nation.

Therefore it was no surprise that Hull emerged
as the Jone councillor to champion the local
homosexual community and =
their requests for proclama-
tion of a gay pride day.

To him it was simply the
right thing to do, plus he
could see the pointless fire-
storm of trouble brewing if
council rejected it. (A human
rights complaint seems likely
to end with the city being, hit
with fines, legal expenses,
and an order to send council
to sensitivity training.)

Hull stands on his princi-
ples and doesn’t shy away from a fight or a clear-
eyed open look at difficult topics. '

Entire debates would never take place without
Hull on council.

Hull continued the work of Linda Hawes on
the city’s Social Planning Commission and

_ pushed successfully for composting pickup here.

But he also drew the ire of unionized workers
and supporters when he voted with Vanderlee in
the spring 10 contract out city garbage collection

David Hull

to Canadian Waste Management to save close to »

$60,000. The rest of council defeated the idea
and city staff have since reorganized the in-
house service to achieve major cost savings
equa to what privatization would have delivered,

Hull proved to be a bit too radical for the B.C.
Liberal party, which refused to approve his nomi-
nation papers to run in Skeena after he criticized
leader Gordon Campbell’s virulent opposition to
the Nispa’a treaty. ;

Chalk that one up as the city’s gain and the
Liberals’ loss.

Rich McDaniel C

The Year 2000 presented a mix of triumph and
disappointment for councillor Rich McDaniel.
The triumph came in the long-awaited com-
pletion of the largely volunteer-built skateboard
park — his longtime pet project — albeit with sev-
eral thousand dojlars more from city coffers to

finish the job. (Note to Rich: we're still waiting:
" to see you ride a board.)

The disappointment came in his inability to
‘:¢limb much higher up the political ladder.”
+ MeDaniel sought the B.C. Liberal nomination
‘in Skeena, but lost by a huge margin. to. Roger
Harsis. .
He managed to narrowly hang on to one ‘of
two city’s seats on the regional district board

‘which is supposed to be

. lenges of health care admin-

(half of council backed Hull instead).
That leaves his other claim to fame the presi-
dency of the Yellowhead Highway Association.
_Bven that, proved troublesome in November at
a tesly budget meeting with Terrace; Tourism; extra; for: some: of the :asphalt.in front-of aheit

4

Council répresentatives. They hadn't realized the

‘tourism group could get benefits and cost savings ©

attending conferences through the city's Yellaw-
head membership. Councillor
Power pointed out the appar-
ent communication break-
down between the tourism
bedy and McDaniel, who as
president should have been
able to tefl them.

McDaniel is a compassio-
nate man, who presents an
image as a community buil-
der and charity mover-and-
shaker whose network extends °
to the aboriginal community.

Some locals thought the
fact McDaniel’s garden
centre supplied trees for the city’s linear park
amounted to a conflict of interest. This is non-
sense — his simply happened ta be the low bid
and the contractor building the park was in
charge of purchases anyway, not council.

For a multi-term veteran, McDaniel remains a
bit of a stumbler in public — particularly when he
takes the mayor’s chair in Talstra’s absence.

Olga Power C

LIVE BROADCASTS from Olga TV have been
truncated of Jate, after other councillors cffect-
ively pulled the plug.

Councillor Olga Power developed a habit in
her first year of using the new business portion of
televised council meetings as her own liitle
community announcements channel.

The rest of council even went so far as to pass
a new policy at its spring think-tank banning any
item that wasn’t absolutely new and emergent
from the items raised under new business at the
end of council meetings.

That was the Olga poticy, in effect aimed at
curbing Power (and McDaniel) from lengthy re-
ports about the last seniors’ tea she allended,

Seniors issues are Power’s forte.

Power was reluctant to support the idea of a
city task force on health care expectations, fear-
ing it would cut into interest
among locals to serve on the
community health council,

Rich
McDaniel

charge of the hospital.

As a former hospital board
chair, Power knows some of
the complexities and chal-

istration ~ particularly the
fact that it’s easier to be on
the outside throwing rocks
than inside trying to fix the
damage.

Power sometimes has a mischievous streak
that prompts her to set the cat among the pi-
geons, .

Take the gay pride proclamation issue.

The motion by Hull to proclaim a gay pride
day was met with silence and appeared certain
to die a quict death without a seconder. Then
Power seconded it “for discussion purposes”.

For her part, she opposed the proclamation on
the most spurious grounds — initially thal a cele-

Olga Power

s trickiest |
| in 2000

bratory day might conflict with Riverboat Days.
"When local gays then said they'd take any

. day in the summer, Power said she opposes the

proclamation anyway — because it might. some-

how lead to a gay pride parade, which could in

tum somehow lead to violence in the streets.
Sounds like it would be a good TV script.

Val George A-

If there’s one councillor who has sharpened
his personal performance in recent years it has
been Val George.

More than ever before, George does his home-
work — reading reports, looking at proposed deve-
lopments and the like prior to council debates.

George has been city rep at the Community
Facilities Society and at the often-heated Kalum
Land and Resource Management Plan talks.

He insisted the land-use plan must include es-
timates of how many jobs could be lost, arguing
without those stats it won’t be supported by the
public. It was also there he fought efforts of other
table members to exclude the media so the talks
could be conducted in secrecy. ae

' He likewise has been an advocate of greater
openness on council and insisted the city refuse
to meet behind closed doors with the Terrace and
Area Health Council. ,

George has been a yvacal critic of health care
regionalization efforts. ; _
He was the only councillor to
openly base his opposition to
a gay pride proclamation on
his moral convictions. He
alone had the guts to say how

he felt. Others hid behind var-

ious veils and excuses for
their opposition.

Councillor George pushed for.

aid for airport businesses that

saw huge property tax hikes

after the city extended its
Val George _ border to take in the airport.

George was the councillor most strongly in: fa-
vour of increasing the city’s subsidies for paving
residential strects under Local Improvement Pro-
jects. Council did boost the city’s portion of pav-

.ing a non-arterial street from 40 to 60 per cent
this year, while homeowners are expected to
come up with the remaining 40 per cent. George
said the city should go even further and gradually
eliminate LIPs ~ even if it forces higher taxes
overall — adding locals shouldn't have to pay

house when they already pay taxes! +; rye
‘A voice of stability and reason, council could
get into considerably more trouble without coun-

cilfor George’s presence.

Lynne Christiansen B-

Council’s newest member launched her run for
office in 1999 just weeks after her lengthy battle
with city council over its idea that the farmer’s
market relocate.

As the underdog who beat city hall, Lynne
Christiansen tapped support that ranged from
market supporters, to anyone who’s ever felt
wronged by council, to fellow Catholics.

Christiansen smartly took her time absorbing
council procedures before saying much at all.

Since then she has brought a new perspective
to debates and actually comes back from confer-
ences with a written report summarizing ideas
that might be useful here. This has shamed some
other council members into doing likewise.

Still there is room for considerable improve-
ment. Precision isn’t Christiansen’s strong suit as .
she sometimes shows a fuzzy grasp of details. .

Councillor Christiansen opposed requests for a
gay pride proclamation, but unlike her Catholic
parish colleague councillor George, she didn't
give a very cogent reason, other than she. dis-
liked being threatened by legal action. ,

She ‘also irritated feminists by being the only
councillor to oppose bumper stickers for city ve-
hicles opposing violence against women. ,

Christiansen went further than most others in
opposing spending increases.

She was the only councillor to oppose a grant
to the airport society to subsidize a sharp in-
crease in property taxes for businesses there.

She was also alone in op-
posing the final injection of
$10,000 to finish the skate-
board park, saying she dis-
liked the position in which
organizers had placed the
city.

Christiansen practically
worships the cnergy that
comes from big groups of ci-
tizens massing together to
protest something. Hence she
revelled in her battle against
council to stop city plans to
move the Farmer's Market -
her springboard to a council seat. And she has
been the most enthusiastic councillor to embrace
and even organize the rallies and petitions of the
Health Watch group, while others favour more
separation.

This suggests councillor Christiansen still has
much to learn. There’s a time and place for going
to all-out nuclear war on an issue. But most ve-
terans prefer to keep some of their political ar-
senal in reserve for later stages of battle.

Wily politicians (think mayor Talstra) are
also reluctant to jump. aboard a moving train
when they don’t have control of the destination.

There will be times in her political career
when councillor Christiansen will have to go
against ihe tide of a crowd and tell them they’re
wrong. And that's the moment of truth for any po-
pulist politician.

Lynne
Christiansen