Monday, June 05, 2006
How Larry Campbell got his groove back
By Allen Garr
Vancouver Courier
November 22, 2003
In the middle of B.C.'s endless drought, Mayor Larry Campbell was making his way back from his annual pilgrimage to his in-laws' farm in Saskatchewan.
The plan was to get his "inner bully" under control and recover from the longest nine months of his life: the election, the Olympic referendum, COPE's first city budget, the RAV line debate.
His trips to the prairies were usually a tonic, even though this summer, grasshoppers wiped out the flax crops. He dipped down into the States and was heading west and about to cross the Missouri River at Williston, North Dakota when the engine on his Jeep blew up. Amtrak brought him the rest of the way back to the coast.
To his staff, if anything, he seemed more tired than when he set out on holidays. But over the summer, Campbell had decided to back away from ideological battles and just get stuff done.
Within weeks of his returning, the safe-shooting site opened on East Hastings. Finally. He would consider it his greatest accomplishment.
His passion for his work was rekindled and, for the first time since he stumbled into the job as Vancouver's accidental mayor, he thought about running again.
It may seem hard to believe a year has passed since Campbell and COPE swept into power, capturing every seat they contested on council, school board and parks board.
At city hall, the staff first held its breath waiting to see if the new government would cut a swath through their senior ranks to put its own stamp on the bureaucracy. But not one head rolled, although it was anything but business as usual. Forced by a council with more energy and ideas than experience, the bureaucrats were yarded out of a decade of relative lethargy and driven forward.
Yet for every staffer who grumbles about an onerous workload, there's another who rejoices that new ideas are encouraged like never before.
Much of that has been going on beyond our view. What we did see was a shocking amount of public brawling. Not between the political parties on council, but within the governing COPE caucus. It was COPE Classic versus COPE Lite.
They fought over the RAV line, the Olympics, squatters. Larry led the forces of Lite, including Jim Green, Raymond Louis and Tim Stevenson, all of whom took shots openly and behind closed doors at their Classic comrades: Fred Bass, David Cadman, Tim Louis, Anne Roberts and Ellen Woodsworth. The two NPA councillors were on the Lite side more often than not.
Yet in spite of frequent skirmishes, things got done. Lots of things. They resolved the squat at Woodwards after months of intransigence by the NPA, and went on to buy the building, then begin a development project that will dramatically change the face of the city.
The war with the Chinese community over the city's drug policy and a kind of benign neglect over Chinatown's economic plight has ended. There is an accord. Campbell and Louie did most of the work there.
Like it or not, there is a bylaw protecting low-cost housing in the Downtown Eastside. And the RAV project has hopped through all the hoops the city has so far put up. It will fail or succeed all on its own now.
Daycare was subsidized in the face of provincial cuts. A child and youth advocate was appointed. And, for better or worse, they got control of the PNE. There will be more late-night buses, more bicycle paths, legal skateboarding and even, possibly, a ward system, depending on the outcome of the electoral reform commission that was created a few weeks ago.
As for Larry Campbell, folks love him even though his inner bully rears its ugly head. The safe-shooting site has prevented 25 possible overdose deaths. And in his better moments, he still figures he'll run again.
By Allen Garr
Vancouver Courier
November 22, 2003
In the middle of B.C.'s endless drought, Mayor Larry Campbell was making his way back from his annual pilgrimage to his in-laws' farm in Saskatchewan.
The plan was to get his "inner bully" under control and recover from the longest nine months of his life: the election, the Olympic referendum, COPE's first city budget, the RAV line debate.
His trips to the prairies were usually a tonic, even though this summer, grasshoppers wiped out the flax crops. He dipped down into the States and was heading west and about to cross the Missouri River at Williston, North Dakota when the engine on his Jeep blew up. Amtrak brought him the rest of the way back to the coast.
To his staff, if anything, he seemed more tired than when he set out on holidays. But over the summer, Campbell had decided to back away from ideological battles and just get stuff done.
Within weeks of his returning, the safe-shooting site opened on East Hastings. Finally. He would consider it his greatest accomplishment.
His passion for his work was rekindled and, for the first time since he stumbled into the job as Vancouver's accidental mayor, he thought about running again.
It may seem hard to believe a year has passed since Campbell and COPE swept into power, capturing every seat they contested on council, school board and parks board.
At city hall, the staff first held its breath waiting to see if the new government would cut a swath through their senior ranks to put its own stamp on the bureaucracy. But not one head rolled, although it was anything but business as usual. Forced by a council with more energy and ideas than experience, the bureaucrats were yarded out of a decade of relative lethargy and driven forward.
Yet for every staffer who grumbles about an onerous workload, there's another who rejoices that new ideas are encouraged like never before.
Much of that has been going on beyond our view. What we did see was a shocking amount of public brawling. Not between the political parties on council, but within the governing COPE caucus. It was COPE Classic versus COPE Lite.
They fought over the RAV line, the Olympics, squatters. Larry led the forces of Lite, including Jim Green, Raymond Louis and Tim Stevenson, all of whom took shots openly and behind closed doors at their Classic comrades: Fred Bass, David Cadman, Tim Louis, Anne Roberts and Ellen Woodsworth. The two NPA councillors were on the Lite side more often than not.
Yet in spite of frequent skirmishes, things got done. Lots of things. They resolved the squat at Woodwards after months of intransigence by the NPA, and went on to buy the building, then begin a development project that will dramatically change the face of the city.
The war with the Chinese community over the city's drug policy and a kind of benign neglect over Chinatown's economic plight has ended. There is an accord. Campbell and Louie did most of the work there.
Like it or not, there is a bylaw protecting low-cost housing in the Downtown Eastside. And the RAV project has hopped through all the hoops the city has so far put up. It will fail or succeed all on its own now.
Daycare was subsidized in the face of provincial cuts. A child and youth advocate was appointed. And, for better or worse, they got control of the PNE. There will be more late-night buses, more bicycle paths, legal skateboarding and even, possibly, a ward system, depending on the outcome of the electoral reform commission that was created a few weeks ago.
As for Larry Campbell, folks love him even though his inner bully rears its ugly head. The safe-shooting site has prevented 25 possible overdose deaths. And in his better moments, he still figures he'll run again.
# posted by Larry @ 1:50 PM 
