Wednesday, January 30, 2008

UNITE the CITY - WHO CAN?

Oldtown News
Vancouver, BC

UNITE the CITY - WHO CAN?

A new initiative started by Peter Ormesher, the outreach chair--on leave-- of the NPA, called Unite the City, is coming together and for very good reason. As a result of the increasingly partisan nature and subsequent partisan attacks happening within our municipal governance structure, city business has become so bogged down in continuous council spats, which isn't at all serving the citizenry well.

Mr. Ormesher has set about to change this and soon his group will be bringing folks together from across the political spectrum who are deeply concerned about our City's future.

Unite the City has started a Facebook group, http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8426216273&ref=mf and I'm told that a social 'party' will soon be held.

Until the 'party' starts, in the meantime, check out the Facebook group and posted below is an excerpt from the Unite the City manifesto---JLH

UNITE the CITY

Unite the City' is a social 'party' being formed to connect the people of Vancouver in anticipation of our civic elections in November 2008. We embrace the ideal that good ideas and worthwhile solutions come from the entire political spectrum, not just the left, right or centre. There is no sustainable social progress without a strong economy, and no complete sense of community well being when so many needlessly suffer. The human spectrum is not divided; it stands together to face the scourge of poverty, environmental threat, crime and homelessness. Further, we all seek happy and meaningful lives, regardless of income, race, colour or religion. A city divided by its leaders is missing the greatest opportunity to solve the problems we face, especially from getting the most from its many talented people. We will support candidates that embrace this ideal.

3 Comments:

At 11:42 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Could this be Peter Ladner's front group for his Mayoralty bid? I see the themes emerging already.
"I had hoped Carole Taylor could be the force to unite the city. But as she's not running I have been forced to take the step of running as an independent for Mayor to unite the city, and escape the partisan divide that permeates city politics between Vision, COPE, and Sam Sullivan's NPA".

Could it be?

 
At 1:12 PM, Blogger Peter O said...

Ah, what would an initiative be without a conspiracy theory!

While it might be a clever move, this is not the case. I have started it without discussion with Peter L, or anyone else for that matter. I think that would defeat the point of my mission. This is what I believe.

I want to raise the bar for our leaders, if needed, and reward the truly broadest thinkers.

BTW, Jamie Lee, thank you for the note, but I need to clarify that this is not an NPA sponsored initiative, and I am currently on leave from the NPA Board and from serving as its Chair of Outreach.

Having said that, I do hope NPA, Vision, and COPE members (and those with no party affiliation) find this a worthwhile effort, and useful for connecting with good people with other good people.

Best wishes, Peter O.

 
At 2:12 PM, Blogger Jamie Lee Hamilton said...

I hear you Peter O.

Thanks for clarifying re: your NPA board position.

I thought it was an independent initiative and I was only providing background info on your municipal involvement.

I'm glad that you are on leave from the board because this demonstrates to the public that it isn't a party-driven initiative.

Jamie Lee

 

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