Brennan or Ruttan?

[titan5]

Doesnt everyone start with one issue that gets them into politics?


i think this election needs some stirring up.

Make people think and do their homework.

Lots of things coming out of the woodwork.

Familiarity does not always breed content

Diane seems to be in the forefront says the word on the street.
i wish John had run for council first as i havent had much opportunity to see him in action

John is a very capable man who exudes integrity. I like the fact that he is coming in fresh with NONE of the previous baggage, and as far as I am concerned all the incumbents are carrying baggage.

I hear the conference centre is coming in now at over $100 million. No hotel and no viable hotel partner and as of yesterday according to the Daily News, the PNC retail space that we the taxpayers were told, sold for $4.0 million has not even been paid for and a payment due last week had not been reported received yet.

Story here:

http://www.canada.com/nanaimodailyne...f-6ae8230f4273

Do any of these incumbents deserve to be re-elected? Does the leader of this cronyism seeking clan deserve our support?

I say NO!

[Rickj]

John is a very capable man who exudes integrity. I like the fact that he is coming in fresh with NONE of the previous baggage, and as far as I am concerned all the incumbents are carrying baggage.

"exudes integrity"??? I am sorry... but I do not think that he is discharging or emitting integrity.. nor in my opinion does he exhibit integrity in abundance.

Frankly looking through the list provided by yourself on October 29th, John has been focussed almost exclusively either on the downtown core which is where his business is( Downtown Nanaimo partnership, City Centre Association, Downtown Development Committee etc) , on mega projects(Airport, conference centre, harbour commission) and deep in bed with the old boys network (Tourism Nanaimo, Chamber of Commerce, Port Authority etc)

I think John is a one sided individual who exclusively has concentrated on business related items with a complete lack of contribution to the social side. As queen of the waterfront had said, if John had gone for Council first so people could see if he has any interest at all in the social side then I would be more confident in him.

Getting back to integrity, I fail to see what specifically he has done that exudes it....

[Smokey©]

Immediately after this election City Council has the right to give the hotel developers 30 days notice. I hope we have an educated council to do that right away which is another reason why I am voting to have less then 39% of council as new members.

[Rickj]

Immediately after this election City Council has the right to give the hotel developers 30 days notice. I hope we have an educated council to do that right away which is another reason why I am voting to have less then 39% of council as new members.

Just curious Smokey... where did the 39% come from?

So you are suggesting that a majority of Council be the old guard. What makes you think they will pull the plug after being given so many chances to do so in the past?

[Smokey©]

You caught on quick on that one Rickj.

[titan5]

Immediately after this election City Council has the right to give the hotel developers 30 days notice. I hope we have an educated council to do that right away which is another reason why I am voting to have less then 39% of council as new members.

Smokey© are you really suggesting the only changes on Council should be the 3 empty seats that are guaranteed to have new members? You want the other six to be re-elected?

[Rickj]

Smokey© are you really suggesting the only changes on Council should be the 3 empty seats that are guaranteed to have new members? You want the other six to be re-elected?

I can appreciate where Smokey is coming from regarding continuity however I think it will just result in more of the same. I think you can do the shake up with 50% new councillors as it will force the Mayor to practice concensus building rather than having the "old guard" freezing out the new members.

[Old Hippy]

You know we don't know much about John Ruttan. He has never been elected to anything. He has just had been appointed to boards. But I have heard that he has a bad temper. I heard he was hauled into the city council to explain why he wasn't representing their interests on the Port Authority after they appointed him. The story is he got so mad that he insulted one of the councillors by saying that he made more money than the councillor. Anyway, he had to come back and apologize to everyone. This temper thing confirms what we saw at the NALT all candidates meeting. I wonder how he'll get along with people if he gets elected (most everybody has less money than him). I wish we could have seen him in action in an elected position because now all I have to go on is rumour. And it doesn't sound good.

[titan5]

You know we don't know much about John Ruttan. He has never been elected to anything. He has just had been appointed to boards. But I have heard that he has a bad temper. I heard he was hauled into the city council to explain why he wasn't representing their interests on the Port Authority after they appointed him. The story is he got so mad that he insulted one of the councillors by saying that he made more money than the councillor. Anyway, he had to come back and apologize to everyone. This temper thing confirms what we saw at the NALT all candidates meeting. I wonder how he'll get along with people if he gets elected (most everybody has less money than him). I wish we could have seen him in action in an elected position because now all I have to go on is rumour. And it doesn't sound good.

Another "I heard" a story story.

While on the Port Authority John was appointed Chair. In this role as chair his fiduciary duty was to the Port not to Council. In that role he met the obligation as is expected of the Chair. As I would expect him to do as our Mayor during any negotiations, to look after the best interests of Nanaimo.

John took his role as chair very seriously and as a result at times butted heads with the City. But then I would also think that board members are obligated to represent the best interests of the board they are on.

Like I said earlier, Korpan's implication that he has single handily improved relations between the City and the Port are hogwash. They have always negotiated through conflict and Korpan has led that conflict.

I don't believe an apology has ever been sought by council nor given by John for doing the job expected of him. I can only guess that is why he was the City appointee more than once.

There was a time when a previous councillor was invited to Vancouver with John to a regional Port meeting and in front of hundreds of invited guests that Councillor referred to the Port as a benevolent colonial power whos time is long gone and have no business interfering in the lives of Nanaimo residents.

I think John took offence at this as the Councillor in question was there as a guest of the Nanaimo Port Authority.

If you have "proof" to the contrary Old Hippy, I suggest you post it.

[HenryHackett]

You know we don't know much about John Ruttan. He has never been elected to anything. He has just had been appointed to boards. But I have heard that he has a bad temper. I heard he was hauled into the city council to explain why he wasn't representing their interests on the Port Authority after they appointed him. The story is he got so mad that he insulted one of the councillors by saying that he made more money than the councillor. Anyway, he had to come back and apologize to everyone. This temper thing confirms what we saw at the NALT all candidates meeting. I wonder how he'll get along with people if he gets elected (most everybody has less money than him). I wish we could have seen him in action in an elected position because now all I have to go on is rumour. And it doesn't sound good.

Hippy: I am afraid I don't think your rumors are going to carry much weight with me, especially since you have only been a member of this forum since... oh yeah TODAY! Your a member for one day and you felt the need to tell us what you heard. Come on Old Hippy its hard to take you seriously.

There was once a very long standing rumor that Korpan was.... In fact, I heard it was true. So it must be, right?