Prost's Perspective - Councillor Grant Ward Under New Management ?

After 6 years Grant Ward has finally chosen to be vocal about something! Grant Ward says the following about the voter's choice of our new Mayor, Rick Green, over the outgoing Kurt Alberts. He says in today's Langley Times:

"he (Rick Green) has put into serious doubt the abilities and integrity of the past three councils, by pulling a cloud of uncertainty and disdain over the Township as a whole, its current management, and present council."

"Mr. Green's inability to keep safe the good reputation of the Township of Langley."

"he continues to publicly decry the good name of the Township by making public the need to look into the financial books and also insisting upon an independent financial audit."

"Rest assured, I will not be standing still for any such heavy-handedness from the incoming mayor. We didn't have it before, and it will not happen now."

Meanwhile another letter writer, Darlene Johnston, responds with these comments to Cllr. Ward:

"Councillor Grant Ward has said that mayor-elect Rick Green is in for a bumpy ride from the pro-Alberts majority on Township council."

"This questioning of the voters' comprehension is rude and discourteous."

"Through his comments, Mr. Ward has clearly demonstrated his disrespect for voters. Many people I have spoken to are doubtful that he would even have a seat on the council, had he displayed this childish, bully-boy, we'll-get-him-for-you-Kurt aspect of his personality prior to the election."

Looks like an exciting 3 years ahead of us and they are not even sworn in yet folks!...

New mayor pledges tax freeze (The Province, 20 Nov 2008, Page A14)

Is Grant Ward right? Should Councillor Ward ignore the will of the voters? Will the voters punish Ward in 3 years in the next election? Ward says the following:

'..Coun. Grant Ward said Green is in for a bumpy ride from the pro-Alberts majority on council.

“Alberts was one of the finest mayors we’ve ever had. The electorate left council intact to hold Green in check. I don’t feel comfortable with the stuff he’s espousing, like zero tax increases. Zero budgets don’t work,” Ward said.

“It will be business as usual. Just because someone is new doesn’t mean things should change,” he said'

---

New mayor pledges tax freeze
BY KENT SPENCER STAFF REPORTER
The Province
20 Nov 2008

Langley Township mayor-elect Rick Green says he will end secret land sales and use the money created to give residents a tax freeze. “There is no public inventory of township land,” Green said yesterday. “There has been no transparency and public...read more...

Tech Tags: The Province newspaper News

SOCIAL MEDIA - The Langley Free Press Style & Blog - New Media Renegades? And Your Edited Freedom of Speech

This posting talks about two things that are key top of mind with this Editor. Social Media, which includes you, the public's input to and with us, LFP, the definition New Media or rather Social Media. The 2nd point I will discuss are your comments about editing in our Social Media on LFP and other similar sites!

Editing & Caution in the Social Media

First, apologies for those about our editing. Your most recent corrections, bitches and concerns are valid and I acknowledge them all and thank you for them.

Sometimes we have to edit out the things that are said personally about people herein. Fair & even angry comments about politicians are OK. But they can and do cross the line especially when references are made to their personal lives and things about politicians about legal or police matters or even questioning their moral and legal ethics. Secondly we also get a lot of personal comments about individual unelected bureaucrats in various levels of government. They are not politicians and are individual private citizens that attacking them individually can be very unfair and libelous. Please see this link of ours that outlines some of the dangers in expressing yourself publicly.

http://kimrichter.com/Blog/Links/Comment-Content-Abuse-Violations.pdf

I especially draw your attention to these specific comments below,

"Fair comment is allowed to express statements on
matters of public interest, as long as the statements are not
made with ill will, spite, or with the intent to harm the target
of the comment."

"Fair comment is permissible as a statement of opinion
(no matter how ludicrous or irreverent) based on facts which
are correctly stated, and which does not allege dishonorable
motives on the part of the target of the comment.
Libelous, defamatory, injurious, slanderous & harmful
comments tending to maliciously discredit, malign or be
harmful".

Take specific note of the fact that comments made with ill will, spite, or to maliciously discredit, malign or be harmful or with the intent to harm the target of the commenter are the keywords to be leery of when writing! I will ALWAYS edit these! Attack the issue vehemently that a politician makes not the politician personally and maliciously!

So apologies, but often, especially during an election, I have had to be brutal in my editing and as such may have inadvertently changed your intent of your comment but the alternative was to not publish it at all! Sometimes in my haste in publishing I have also allowed or perhaps created spelling and syntax errors as well. Again my apologies. I draw no paycheck and don't have much help so permit me my errors please.

The New Social Media

I do this for the love of democracy & free speech and because of striving for an ALTERNATIVE voice in the Langley political and media wasteland & wilderness to especially counter Councillor Bateman's political and his political promotional web presence in his what seems like 4000+ websites (LOL) and the partisan and often times pathetic local news reporting and especially their obviously partisan editorials at times.

As media mogul Rupert Murdock recently said in this news link:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10787_3-10098194-60.html

"It's not newspapers that might become obsolete. It's some of the editors, reporters, and proprietors who are forgetting a newspaper's most precious asset: the bond with its readers,"

Murdock further described it as a culture of "complacency and condescension" in some newsrooms.

"The complacency stems from having enjoyed a monopoly--and now finding they have to compete for an audience they once took for granted."

"It used to be that a handful of editors could decide what was news--and what was not. They acted as sort of demigods. If they ran a story, it became news. If they ignored an event, it never happened," Murdoch said. "Today, editors are losing this power."

"The Internet, for example, provides access to thousands of new sources that cover things an editor might ignore. And if you aren't satisfied with that, you can start up your own blog, and cover and comment on the news yourself. Journalists like to think of themselves as watchdogs, but they haven't always responded well when the public calls them to account."

"Far from celebrating this citizen journalism, the establishment media reacted defensively," Murdoch said.

A recent American study reported that many editors and reporters simply do not trust their readers to make good decisions. Let's be clear about what this means. This is a polite way of saying that these editors and reporters think their readers are too stupid to think for themselves."

So please, apologies and allow this Editor the occasional error. But do continue to shoot the LFP messenger if and as you wish but in any event please also continue to view, read, comment and share your Langley political and otherwise concerns about me, our biases (we do have many!) LFP and especially the local politicians and media.

Sincerely Yours,
Your lonely, misunderstood and very fragile (LOL),
---LFP EDITOR---...

Langley Civic Election Results of Nov 15, 2008

2008 Langley Township/School Board/City Election Results
(Unofficial Results - Candidates with highlighted names declared unofficial winners)

LFP Will Post a "The Night After" Overview, Thoughts & predictions in the next day or two!
Stay Tuned and meanwhile, give us all your comments & views on Langley's elections outcome!

Township Mayor - Votes

Rick Green - 7842
Kurt Alberts - 6588

Township Councillor - Votes

Jordan Bateman - 9273
Charlie Fox - 7956
Kim Richter - 7906
Bev Dornan - 7663
Bob Long - 7433
Steve Ferguson - 7155
Mel Kositsky - 6935
Grant Ward - 6402
Sonya Paterson - 5934
Dan Sheel - 5331
Glen Tomblin - 4701
Murray Jones - 2908
Janet Megahy - 2759
Sukhi Dhami - 2746

Township Trustees - Votes

Wendy Johnson - 6643
Joan Bech - 5902
Steve Burton - 5760
Alison McVeigh - 5403
Rod Ross - 5327
Hattie Hogeterp - 5101
Diane Pona - 5075
Graeme Shepherd - 3781
Kari Medos - 3610
Karen Peterson - 3182
David Petipas - 2878
Michael Parker - 2045

City Mayor - Votes

Peter Fassbender - 2683
Ron Abgrall - 822

City Councillors - Votes

Gayle Martin - 2079
Terri James - 2052
Rosemary Wallace - 2002
Jack Arnold - 1955
Dave Hall - 1937
Rudy Storteboom - 1849
Darrell Krell - 1298
Shannon Assion - 1034
John Mark Archibald - 918
Marika Van Dommelin - 877

City Trustees - Votes

Rob McFarlane - 1680
Stacey Cody - 1215
Kirsten Shaffer-Charlesworth - 987
Diana MacNeil - 733
Paula Clark - 547
Aaron Fedora - 436
Alex Hagen - 425

"Your # 1" Langley's Election Central - Voter's Information, Reference & Resource Guide

LFP Editorial Board's Endorsements & Recommendations of the Langleys' Municipal Election Candidates
To Print out LFP Endorsements - Mouse click pictures below and Print or choose & print Township here or City here.

LFP Editorial Board's Endorsements & Recomendations of the
Langleys' Municipal Election Candidates
Backgrounder & Rationale

Election Candidate Debate Videos

• Langley Township Council & Mayor Candidates Videos
• Langley City Council & Mayor Candidates Videos
• Langley City & Township School Trustee Videos
• ALL Langley Candidates Videos

Basic Voting Day Tools

Langley Township Where & When can I vote? - Who can vote?
(Don't forget to print it out after opening this brochure )
Langley City Where & When can I vote?


Are There Slates on Township Council & School Board? Who are they?

1. Mayor Alberts Had And Does Have A Slate!

2. Rod Ross Ad 'We're All In This Together' - A School Board Trustee Slate?

3. NEW - Re: MLA's Slate Endorsement of School Board Trustees, Has This Happened before? You Bet ! Read This previous LFP Posting.
   

Questionaires With Candidates Responses From Various Media & Special Interest Groups

• Langley Advance 20 Questions for Township Council Candidates

• Langley Advance Expanded Questions of Langley Township Council Candidates

• The Rail for the Valley questionnaire for Township Council candidates

• The Salmon River Enhancement Soci ety questionnaire for Township candidates
• Canadian Federation of Students questionnaire for Township candidates

• Langley Advance 20 Questions for Langley City Council Candidates

• Langley Advance Expanded Questions of Langley City Council Candidates

• The Rail for the Valley questionnaire for City candidates

• Canadian Federation of Students questionnaire for City candidates
• Langley Times City Trustee Candidates Questionaire
• Langley Teachers Association Endorsement List

• audio recordings from Langley DPAC's All Candidates mtg. held Oct 29th
• Twsp Council respond to Langley Times Questions - NEW
  

Previous LFP Postings that Highlight Mayor Alberts' Township Council Slate Tax, Spend & Borrow Excesses
(Stay Tuned - More shocking links may be posted before Election Day)

• Council Tramples Property Rights - Langley Times Letter by Lee Lockwood
• Debt Has Increased Dramatically - Langley Times Letter by Kim Richter
• Mayor Not In Sync With Taxpayer's Interest - Langley Times Letter by T. Bratten
• Tax, Tax & More Tax by Cathleen Vechiatto
• Another Historic Tax Increas by Kim Richte r
• Dickson Pit Land Sale by Vancouver Province
• Public Land Sales Should Be in The Open - Vancouver Province
• Langley Toley Township Land Sale Has Boggy Smell - Vancouver Province
• Dickson Pit A Rare Bog Sold In Secret - Vancouver Sun & LFP
• Another "Hush Hush Langley Land Deal" Vancouver Province & Sun & LFP
• LFP's Take On Water Meters & Quacking Ducks
• Fort Langley's Township Council's New Seniors Threshold!
• Sweet Deal; Has Neighbours Riled
• How Stupid Is Stupid?
• Township Pushing Through Water Management Plan
• Langley Taxpayer's 49% Tax Hike! - Vancouver Province & LFP
• Cllr. Jordan Bateman's Historic Tax Hike
• Councillor Kim Richter Censored Again?
  
• Hang Up On Tax Hikes
  
• Cllr. Richter Taxpayer's Inquiry Ignored By Rest Of Council
• Where's The Tax Value? - Kim Richter
• Out Of Control Property Taxes - Win Bromley
• Tax Borrow & Spend Addiction
• Taxpayers Now Own A Restaurant As well as A Golf Course !
• Airport Sweetheart Deal Approved by Boys On Council- Van. Province
• Mad Hatter's Tax Party
• Tax & Spend Games Begin
• Township Grandstand Doubling In Cost - Vancouver Province & LFP
• Communications Costs - by Kim Richter
• Richter Slams Secret Pay Hikes - Vancouver Pro vince
  

  

Prost's Perspective On City's Bandshell Controversy

LFP welcomes Prost who will join us with his satirical and unique cartoons "Prost's Perspective". Our photog, Bob, reported that the two major issue he saw at last night's Langley City Municipal debate was about a bandshell and homelessness as a distant contender! Bob' s videos of all the city Council Candidates will be published in the next 24 hours. Hopefully this will help those who have not met the candidates to help make their ballot choices. I understand that Dave Hall provided the best counterpoints. Dave would you care to expand on this for our readers?...

Videos of Langley City Candidates for Mayor & Council - Public Debates Nov 6th

All candidate videos are in same order of election ballot placement. Mouse click the video adjacent each candidate's name to see their videos. Or go to the LFP youtube playlist for all City candidates videos.

Langley City Council Candidates
(Vote up to 6 only)

John Mark Archibald - Video 2:11 Minutes
Jack Arnold - Incumbent - Video 3:02 Minutes
Shannon Assion - Video 2:35 Minutes
Dave Hall - Video 3:35 Minutes
Terri James - Incumbent - Video 1:54 Minutes
Darrell Krell - Video 2:09 Minutes
Gayle Martin - Incumbent - Video 1:51 Minutes
Rudy Storteboom - Video 2:54 Minutes
Marika Van Dommelen - Video 3:14 Minutes
Rosemary Wallace - Video 3:21 Minutes

Langley City Mayor Candidates
(Vote 1 only)

Rob Abbgrall - Video 5:42 Minutes
Peter Fassbender - Incumbent - Video 5:03 Minutes

To get more info or to contact any candidate, mouse click on their names to go to their website or email, if they have one. If any candidates want to provide updated website addresses/emails email this Editor or simply ad a correction by way of comment. Feel free to embed LFP video on your sites.

UPDATED Nov 11 - Rod Ross Ad - "We're All In This Together" - What Slates?

UPDATE Nov 11 - Note that in today's Langley Advance Mr. Ross now added his City Trustee endorsements of MacNeil & Fedora. Any thoughts on this ad in yesterday's Langley Times folks. Just to help you out check out this previous LFP Posting related to this. And then check out another ad previously written about in LFP.

What I don't understand is why all the silent slates in Langley Township? Why don't they just all come clean finally? Imagine what they could save the environment with just one sign and 5 names on it. But let's go further and include their sister slate just like the times of old when the LLT ran a joint slate for school board and council, imagine if Kurt Alberts' silent slate along with these 5 ran single ads, literature and signs? As I said before "If it looks like a slate & quacks like a slate, it is a slate." Who's kidding who?...

Videos of Langley Township Candidates for Mayor & Council - Public Debates of Oct 30 & Nov 4

Candidate individual debate videos are in actual ballot order top to bottom. Double mouse click each individual video selections to the right of the candidate names to see their individual debate videos. To get more info or to contact any candidate, also double mouse click their names to go to their website, if they have one, or to go to their email, again if they have one.

Langley Township Councillor Candidates
(Vote up to 8 only)

Murray Jones - Video 1:54 Minutes

Kim Richter - Video 2:18 Minutes
Bev Dornan - Video 1:51 Minutes
Dan Sheel - Video 2:07 Minutes
Sonya Paterson - Video 2:21 Minutes
Janet Megahy - Video 2:23 Minutes
Charlie Fox - Video 2:08 Minutes
Bob Long - Video 1:31 Minutes
Grant Ward - Video 2:17 Minutes
Mel Kositsky - Video 2:10 Minutes
Glen Tomblin - Video 1:45 Minutes
Steve Ferguson - Video 2:08 Minutes
Sukhi Dhami - Video 2:07 Minutes
Jordan Bateman - Video 2:34 Minutes

Langley Township Mayor Candidates
(Vote 1 only)

Rick Green - Video 2:14 Minutes
Kurt Alberts - Video 2:09 Minutes

You can also view all Township council candidates at youtube. Also view all LFP videos at this youtube. If any candidates want to provide updated website addresses/emails email this Editor or simply ad a correction by way of comment. By the way feel free as well if you wish to embed your specific LFP Video on your own campaign website or blog if you are a candidate too. See Glen Tomblin's website as an example. It's easy to do. If you are having problems email this editor for help.