A Langley public forum for political & editorial opinions, discussion and news. Our priority is to share information and discussion about the community with the community. Bob Richter is the sole Editor, publisher and administrator of LFP.
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Last night was another very grueling Langley Township Council meeting and I walked out feeling like it was yet another night of banging my head against a brick wall. Council is elected by the residents to look after their interests and provide fair and balanced oversight. For the life of me, I don't understand why Council can't break out of the "if-the-staff- recommends-it-council-must-rubber-stamp-it-yes-man" mould. Some days I get really tired of always feeling like a salmon swimming upstream with this Council and I wonder if it makes any difference at all. Then I get letters like the one below that reaffirms my belief that what I am doing is not wrong.Thank you very much to this kind Township resident and the others who after last night's council meeting took the time to send me thank you notes. I appreciated receiving them very much and I will keep on fighting for you, and doing my job on your behalf.
Thank you for your support and encouragement. It means more to me than I can say.
Thank You for your Support!!
"Subject: THANK YOU Kim - I could not attend tonight's meeting due to being home with our children but my husband was there. I watched live on the iPad. Thank you so much for fighting for us. It was evident you tried every angle you could and we are forever grateful. Thank you for taking your job seriously and fighting for the residents. It is clear that you love Langley and appreciate those who live here. We are very grateful and I wish there was a way we could show it! Thank you -...." This LFP posting above is by Kim Richter - a 5 term Langley Township Councillor who was a management consultant and presently is a Business Management educator at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Kim also hosts Langley Free Press and is the LFP Publisher. View her full bio and read all her LFP postings at this link. Guest editorials are welcome and draft editorials should be forwarded by email for consideration of publication on LFP.
After watching the above video, if you are concerned about this restriction of democracy in Langley Township please write a letter or e-mail to The Editor of the local & regional newspapers and express your concerns about the anti democratic Ward-Sparrow Councillor Muzzling Motion.
Curious how Councillor Richter was the only Councillor called out of order yet the other Councillors spoke to the motion and were not called out of order.
Richter maintains the Ward-Sparrow Councillor Muzzling Motion violates Section 2B (Freedom of Expression) of the Canadian Charter of Rights & Freedoms.
After watching the above video, if you are concerned about this restriction of democracy in Langley Township please write a letter or e-mail to The Editor of the local & regional newspapers and express your concerns about the anti democratic Ward-Sparrow Councillor Muzzling Motion.
Curious how Councillor Richter was the only Councillor called out of order yet the other Councillors spoke to the motion and were not called out of order.
Richter maintains the Ward-Sparrow Councillor Muzzling Motion violates Section 2B (Freedom of Expression) of the Canadian Charter of Rights & Freedoms.
This LFP Editor is preparing my editorial commentary that will be posted herein in a few days. Visit LFP regularly to read my upcoming editorial comment at this location on these results and my analysis of the numbers. - LFP EDITOR Langley Township Election Expense Summary Nov 2011 Election
This LFP Editor is preparing my editorial commentary that will be posted herein in a few days. Visit LFP regularly to read my upcoming editorial comment at this location on these results and my analysis of the numbers. - LFP EDITOR
The Langley Township Council's new term was kicked off with this past Monday's Inaugural Mayor & Council swearing in ceremony. This LFP Editor was quite surprised and frankly quite disappointed overall with the speeches made at this first new council meeting of Township Council.
Yesterday I expressed this very concern with our LFP Publisher, Kim Richter, who suggested I give this new council some slack, which I will. We should not forget, that as Times Journalist Natasha Jones says in her article: "In sharp contrast to the hostile atmosphere that dominated Langley Township politics for the past three years, Monday’s inaugural meeting of Township council was an exercise in civility." Very much so. How very refreshing.
I did congratulate Richter on her speech as I also equally do for Councillor Charlie Fox and our new Mayor Jack Froese. These three were the only ones on council who expressed what they each hope to champion in their new 3 year term in office. And only Richter & Froese spoke about the visions that they each had for Langley Township.
I mentioned to Richter that the swearing in ceremony was certainly a great event for the Council members as always, especially for the newest council members and their families, friends and supporters. But it was sadly lacking, in my opinion, in any commitments or vision from most of Council to the Township taxpayers and voters that elected them! This lack of commitment and especially any common vision was the single greatest tragic failure of the previous Green Council. So where was the promise of meat, especially for us Township taxpayers who elected this council?
Upon reading the Langley Advance's Mathew Claxton Langley Advance article, it struck me that he too was perhaps indirectly highlighting the same lack of promise and commitments as well. One reasonably should have expected that three points would have been included in the individual council members speeches:
A brief re-cap of their past accomplishments (especially incumbent Councillors)
Generous thanks to all that supported and helped them get elected
But most importantly to provide an outline, summary and hopefully a vision of what they hope to champion and accomplish in their upcoming three year new term.
As I said the 2nd was overwhelmingly exacted with tons of thank you's and the third was totally absent in this Editor's opinion except for Richter, Fox & Froese. Kudos to those three for that and talking about the future and their concrete commitments to us the taxpayers.
Judge for yourself and watch my edited video with all the council's platforms/promises that I could find and scrape together. I reviewed and edited in as many and all references to ANY visions, promises or commitments made by each and all members of this new council. Quite frankly I had to stretch it to find and to include any promises or commitments from most of this new council. Watch the relevant Council member's promises in this video and Richter's speech/promises can be viewed separately at the top of this posting.
The next and final two LFP videos are just ceremonial footage that shows the new council's entrance and oath signing ceremony highlights and the last shows both Pastor Brent Cantelon's invocation and the Kwantlen First Nation's blessing ceremony.
After Watching the videos in detail, this Editor has eight unsoliticed suggestions to Township Council that could help make this Council a success:
Drop past affiliations/IOU's with the defeated VLN & the so-called 6 pack.
Get a quick grip on any power tripping, personal egos & agendas. There is no "I" in team!
Share the information wealth and duties equally and leave no council member behind.
Use your individual council member's strengths. Never fear or shun them.
Immediately work towards a joint council list of reasonable and doable common goals for this 3 year term and a consensus for a longer term vision for Langley Township
Get taxpayers input and buy in to this council's goals & vision.
Make the 3 year goals a reality and start building on the long term vision.
Always, always, ALWAYS listen to the taxpayers!
P.S. Let's be very clear here. This is the Editor's opinion. Not the Publisher's. This Editor simply wishes there had been more meat and commitment to action in the speeches. It is not a criticism of anyone on the new Council. But it is a criticism of content. I am as thrilled as everyone else is with this new council and I am very hopeful for this new Council's future progress and achievement. But I will always hold any council's feet to the fire. So enough of the fluff. Now get on with the substance of governing. >>>>LFP EDITOR<<<<
This LFP Editor has just had enough of the Green VLN slate-mates in unison parroting their ridiculous deception attempt trying to convince us that they are Independents yet also a Slate! It becomes even more ludicrous when they line up and repeat this one after another at every debate. So I decided to finally highlight and point out this inane Green VLN slate attempt to word craft and word weave this B.S. to us, the Langley Township voters, in the above very short 47 second video. I hope you find it as amusing as I did.
Banquet Hall at Langley Events Ctre.
At last night's last election event at the Langley Event Center which by-the-way the Green VLN Slate and slate-mates continually criticize, the Langley Township Election candidates had their final public hurrah before this Saturday's election. One by one they introduced themselves and there after mingled with the audience answering individual questions. This event was organized by an election candidate herself, Sonya Paterson. Good job Sonya. Unfortunately there were far too many empty audience seats. I'm told that the poor weather may have been the issue.
Murray Jones, Suhki Dhami and Kim Richter
There was even a Gang-Green anti-slate protester in attendance who parodied the Gang-Green slate's red stop sign ads. Well known anti Gang-Green VLN slate critic Suhki Dhami wore a sandwich board imprinted with our own LFP designed Rick Green anti-slate stop sign. He downloaded this from LFP and had it blown up onto the sandwich boards. Very creative Suhki.
This picture of Suhki wearing the sandwich boards almost brought tears to this Editor's eyes! One can only Imagine what emotions Gang-Green must have had tonight upon first seeing Suhki wearing the sandwich boards at the all candidates meet and greet tonight. Pictured wearing the sandwich board is the frequent Green VLN slate critic Suhki Dhami flanked on both sides by two election candidates, Murray Jones and our very own Publisher and Langley Township Council re-election candidate Kim Richter. By LFP EDITOR
Share your opposition to Municipal slates, especially Langley Township's Rick Green Slate! Print, Share or Email this posting to your own lists of Email, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, etc. friends.
At the bottom left side of this LFP Posting are convenient and simple buttons to automatically Email, Blog, Facebook and Twitter to your friends to more easily share this LFP Posting. Anyone & everyone can then get their own copy of this Langley Anti-Slate Poster to proudly display where you stand on slates.
Get your own poster by clicking on this following link: "I Don't Want Slates In Langley!" Then simply print it out (use keyboard Ctrl & P to print it out after clicking the link). Print it in either colour or B&W. This same poster link is also available on this LFP sidebar on the upper left sidebar by clicking the STOP SIGN and then keyboard Ctrl & P to print it out. This poster/flyer prints out on a full 8.5 x 11 inch standard sheet of paper. If you want, maybe even consider a local printer to get hundreds of flyers or posters!
Keep in mind that the deadline is election day this Saturday & the last candidates meet & greet debate is tomorrow night at Langley Events Center! Bring lots of flyers!
You can then tape these posters to the inside of your windows, car windows, any wall, or just share or hand them out at least to your immediate neighbours, friends, etc. If you wish, Email this link or deliver this link to any T-Shirt provider like Dogs Ear in Willowbrook mall and get a T-shirt, mug, etc., printed! Enjoy and help Langley stay truly independent by going Viral with "I Don't Want Slates In Langley!" by LFP Editor
Langley beauty pageant makes the national news! Watch Langley Township School Trustee Candidate Megan Dykeman (running for election this Saturday) who was featured on last night's CBC National News (November 13, 2011) :"Putting on the Glitz" . Mouse Clik"Putting on the Glitz"to view it.
(P.S. On another topic this Editor thanks you the LFP readers, as Langley Free Press celebrated a new high yesterday of over 800 views in one 24 hour period alone! That's about 25000 a month. Thank you!)
The Langley Township Firefighters after extensive research officially published their list that they support for council in Langley Township.Their 4'x8' signs pictured here were sprouting up throughout the Township.
In addition the Firefighters are expected to advertise in the local newspapers as well as drop literature throughout the Township. Before they came to their conclusion the Firefighters had questionnaires that all candidates answered. They also hosted a debate where all the candidates were able to provide their credentials/policies and they also answered pre-prepared questions that they all got in advance. No ambush there unlike at the three community group's so-called pro Green VLN debate. In addition all the candidates were able to mingle-meet-greet the firefighters and guests at that debate. All the council incumbents except for Councillor Bev Dornan and incumbent Mayor Rick green were endorsed. The Firefighters instead endorsed Mel Kositsky for the Mayor position. New candidates Rebecca Darnell, Michelle Sparrow & Dan Sheel were also endorsed.
Last night's debate was hosted by three groups: Salmon River Enhancement Society, The Fort Langley Community Association and the new Yorkson Community Association.
There are no words to adequately describe this Editor's disgust at the travesty pretending to be a genuine and legitimate Mayor's Candidate debate held at the Brookswood Secondary school gym. The debate was promoted as a non partisan forum to hear the views of the three Langley Township Mayor candidates on legitimate community concerns: the environment, development and community input to council decisions. The reality was far removed from this description. The event was not a debate but a "Rick Green VLN love-in" by very partisan debate organizers.
While the beginning was innocuous enough with opening statements from the three Mayor candidates, it rapidly disintegrated into a "bash Mel Kositsky and Jack Froese" session as evidenced by the questions posed by the event organizers themselves and their partisan supporters. Every question asked was designed to showcase Rick Green at the expense of Mel and Jack. How sad that legitimate community groups would allow their credibility to be so badly damaged. As a small sample watch the following video.
Discussion by many during the break and after the so-called debate expressed
What amazes this LFP Editor is that formerly rational people, respected people, old friends and political pundits in the Township (who now fervently write in comments to LFP, the Times, etc.) still desperately cling to a seemingly messianic devotion to a Mayor whose true personality and attributes have been revealed time and again over the past three years by several independent consultants, lawyers and others. Yet these pundits are still willing to throw out the
Watch all 3 Videos of Councillors Richter, Fox & Ferguson below here in this LFP posting. These three Councillors had the most significant Council responses to Cllr. Grant Ward's Motion calling for a formal Committee of Inquiry into the complete Mayor Green Brownshack Affair. Mayor Green's response was his standard deflection and attempts to ignore the facts.
At tonight's last council meeting of this Langley Township Council before the election on Nov 19th, Councillor Kim Richter voted against any more money being spent by taxpayers for an inquiry as proposed by Councillor Grant Ward to inquire into the Mayor Green Brownshack fiasco. Council voted 6-2 to defer the decision to the new council to decide on an inquiry. Only Richter & Green voted against the motion. Obviously not for the very same motives! Richter essentially said that the Township taxpayers should be the court of final opinion on Election day November 19th . See her video above and a complete transcript of her speech also below where she specifically said:
"The Lidstone Report concluded the Mayor misled several times.
The Mayor misrepresented and his actions were dishonest.
The Mayor was caught.
He was punished.
It’s over."
Richter continued:
"Had the Mayor been honest from the outset, not one dime and not one minute of legal time would have been spent on this matter. ...This matter needs to be left with the electorate for final resolution."
Richter concluded her brief remarks by saying the following:
Staying true to form, Mayor Rick Green continues to promote “misleading information”. Over the past week, he has been running a series of political advertisements in all the local newspapers in support of himself and his Vote Langley Now (“VLN”) Slate. These political ads definitely contain “misleading
Sunday Oct 30Th at 1 PM and for the rest of the afternoon many people wandered in and out of Councillor Mel Kositsky's new Walnut Grove campaign office on it's grand opening to which the public and politicians at large were invited to. Mel is hoping to beat the rookie Incumbent Mayor Rick Green and the political newcomer/challenger Jack Froese to become the next Mayor of Langley Township in what could well be a tight 3 way race.
Ironically Mayor Green praised Councillor Kositsky before Mel himself announced his intention to challenge Mayor Green. Green said he was running a slate against all the incumbent council except for Mel because he essentially only endorsed and
This LFP posting above is by Kim Richter - a 5 term Langley Township Councillor who was a management consultant and presently is a Business Management educator at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Kim also hosts Langley Free Press and is the LFP Publisher. View her full bio and read all her LFP postings at this link. Guest editorials are welcome and draft editorials should be forwarded by email for consideration of publication on LFP.
