The Councillor Charlie ('Flip-Flop') "Fox Freeway" FLOPS! 8 to 1 Vote NO To FOX

The front page Langley Times photo/story shows Councillor Charlie Fox standing on 16Th ave. with his hand holding on to a 60 kmh speed limit sign. Looks to me like he can hardly wait to change it up upwards and away starting with 70 km an hour as he suggests!

And of course, the Times Editor really likes Councillor Charlie Fox's idea of adding lots of expensive 4 way stop lights along 16Th Avenue, at every intersection and even raising the speed limit and synchronizing the lights so that we can all relive the Indianapolis 500 experience as we barrel unopposed through south Langley without ever stopping. I wonder what effect his motion will have on 16th Ave property values when he tables his motion next week (wow, am I glad I never bought a home on 16Th or anywhere near it! ) ?

Someone suggested a silly joke and told me today that if it was Cllr. Richter's idea the Times Editor would perhaps be trashing the idea instead! LOL. In any event, I digress. I didn't know that Charlie and the Times' Editor had degrees or extensive qualifications in traffic engineering, did you?

So are these two now the vanguard advocates that are basically in my mind's eye creating the start of a freeway through south Langley on 16th Avenue essentially cutting South Langley into two? Hm.. I wonder which side will become the bad side of the tracks so to speak? I'm betting the north side of 16th (mental note, don't buy property there either!) . Who knows, 70 kph today maybe a 4 lane at 100 kph tomorrow with cloverleaf interchanges too? Why not just put cute little streetcars down 16th too and get rookie councillor Jordan Bateman in on this extravagent spending spree just before an election to help get him some South Langley resident's votes too?

I wonder if the 16Th Ave residents and all the south Langley residents will embrace this? I think if this goes ahead, 16Th Ave. should be renamed the "Fox Freeway" in honour of this sudden out of left field pre-election strategic idea (which is the exact opposite of his previous preelection motion to put roundabouts in! Let's hear it for "Flip-Flop Fox"!) The Freeway name is catchy isn't it and very apopos too. Cllr Fox should love this tribute.

One thing for sure, the less densely populated ZERO Avenue residents who lobbied for and now have beautiful rocket launching capable speed bumps will now be relieved to hear about the "Fox Freeway" (another mental note - Reminder safe and now wise to buy property on 0 Ave.) . Any more talk about a professional well planned and thought out east - west permanent South Fraser connector road along the border "0" Avenue will now be history, won't it? What a relief for them.

Abbotsford, Chilliwack and Surrey residents will be thrilled with the "Fox Freeway" because they won't even have to stop at all while breezing through Langley if they go fast enough and the lights are synchronized enough of course as Charlie wants. Let's see if they can syncronize through all lights without stopping at 70 kph. Imagine how fast they can get through Langley at double the speed or more! The 16Th ave residents may want to even consider 10 foot high concrete noise barriers along thunder alley then. The truckers will love the idea (and you thought you saw lots of trucks on 16th now?) . Translink and the Province will love it too because we will be funding at least 50% or more of the "Fox Freeway" after all won't we? BTW that means us the taxpayers.

I especially liked it when the Times apparently asked Councillor Fox how much his "Fox Freeway" would cost the taxpayers, he replied that he "isn't sure how much it would cost." ! Hm.. too bad he's a armchair traffic planner as opposed to an armchair financial planner. So what else is new though? This council has never given much thought to spending or our tax burden dollars because they simply always come back to the tax trough as their easy solution to their every whim, wish and monument to their egos. Nuff said I tire of these council financial business planner jeniuses! Now we have to live with traffic jeniuses too! So this November remember a vote for 'Flip Flop' Charlie is a vote for "Fox Freeway" on 16th Avenue!...

OPEN COMMENTS - Dump your opinions here! - Be Bold & Daring unlike the Establishment Rags! - Any Topic - Use YOUR SOAP BOX

Let's experiment with an open line free-for-all! All you LFP Editor & Richter haters go for it too! Who knows maybe even a well known newspaper man who clearly is not fond of both above may even write! I will regularly just below post exceptional and witty excerpts as well from YOUR comments.

LFP ED - July 17 - 10:36 pm : "There is a lot here that stinks so far that even any half witted amateur can't miss and question and this time it can't simply be blamed on a rookie reporter can it?"
Critic - July 16 - 8:21 pm : "..wonder if the Langley Times Editor will be critical of you because you once again reported what you saw in the big boy's regional media chain (re: MLA Coleman Auditor report)?"
Les Leyne of the Time Colonist - July 16 - 8:02 pm : "The report (Auditor's)he released yesterday will cement Coleman's place as the most hapless forests minister in modern history."
Walnut Grovian - July 16 - 6:36 pm : " Why would MLA Rich Coleman ever endorse Mayor Alberts with a record of compounding escalating tax increases over the 9 past years?"
Anon - July 16 - 5:55 pm : " ...BC Auditor essentially trashed the Vancouver Island Forestry land sale under previous Minister Rich Coleman..."
Methinks - July 16 - 4:26 pm : " It is by now very obvious that both of the Langley blogs are stirring up a lot of controversy where little existed before."
Informed - July 16 - 1:58 pm : "There is little to no investigative journalism going on here, they are two safe newspapers."
Eagerbeaver - July 16 - 12:30pm : "..love your perspective on 'the boy that would be king'. Could come back to bite him in the foot."
Anon - July 16 - 12:29 pm : "Is he (Cllr Bateman) BITING THE HAND THAT FED HIM FOR MANY YEARS, THE LANGLEY ADVANCE?"

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Here’s hoping Doyle sinks his teeth into ICBC scandal (The Province, 20 Jul 2008, Page A4)

An Example of How Editorials Not Biased by Advertising Dollars Are Written - LFP EDITOR

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Here’s hoping Doyle sinks his teeth into ICBC scandal
Michael Smyth
The Province
20 Jul 2008

The B.C. Liberals have demonized new Auditor-General John Doyle as the meanest piece of work to come out of Australia since the dingo that took that poor woman’s baby. But is the accounting world’s Thunder From Down Under really the unprofessional,...read more...

Related:
Shame on Bell, buddies for their dirty tactics
Surplusvs.risingdebt: Hansentriestoskate overthebottomline

Tech Tags: The Province newspaper News

Fantasctic Four and a Half Advertising Budget Has NO Effect On Local Media Opinions

Today's Langley Times Editorial titled "Few answers in report" once again not surprisingly at all seems to be tending to support former and in my opinion failed forestry minister Rich Coleman one of the LANGLEY FANTASCTIC FOUR and A HALF, the chummy political tag team of Alberts, Coleman, Polak & Warawa and their boy robin Council member Jordan Bateman.

Then I read the Victoria news paper and their Editorial titled "Editorial: Government betrayed the public interest". Most critics all undisputedely agree to the fact that the BC Auditor says that the issue here is that the residential development decision was ultimately approved by former forestry Minister Rich Coleman with apparently very little information of only short briefing notes and without ANY public consultation. Both of which the Times Editor neglects to mention at all!

But then it hit me. How silly of me! In Langley Township development decisions made with little or adequate solid information or thought and pathetic public input is normal isn't it? Hence I can not accuse the Times Editor of once again blindly supporting one of his Fantasctic 4 and a half as he always seems to lean to in my opinion, can I? He is simply endorsing the standard modus operandi that is used by the Langley Township Mayor Alberts "Good Ole boy's Club" slate isn't he?

P.S. Note #1: This LFP Editor especially likes this Times Editorial line excerpt; "...it’s hard to see how an auditor-general, whose expertise is mainly in accounting and financial matters, can properly rule on whether a cabinet minister has allowed enough consultation on a particular issue." The Times Editor is obviously correct that the BC Auditor should stick to his area of expertise and be limited to auditing pure $ only, despite his clear mandate to be our, the taxpayers, watchdog over Government mismanagement! Betcha that the much quoted windfall property developement of $140,000,000.00 that former forestry Minister Rich Coleman approved have no financial accounting errors at all! Damm the torpedos, damm public justification and damm public input! BTW maybe the Times Editor should also stick to his knitting and area of expertise too. Maybe he really knits great sweaters!

P.S. Note #2: So I can now safely say that the combined advertising dollar of the Fab 4 and a half have no input in the local media opinions can't I?...

Critics want Coleman removed from cabinet, deal suspended (Times Colonist, 17 Jul 2008, Page A1)

Shouldn't Rich Coleman Resign As Minister,
At Least Temporarily? - LFP

LFP Must Read Recommended links:

Victoria Times Colonist - Forest deal lacked 'regard for public interest'
Victoria Times Colonist - Les Leyne column Victoria Times Colonist: A botched job
Editorial Victoria Times Colonist - Government betrayed the public interest
Vaughn Palmer, Vancouver Sun - Auditor- general's land-use report sparks a brawl with the Liberals
Michael Smyth, The Province - Shame on Bell, buddies for their dirty tactics
Vancouver Sun - Auditor-general rips government over land deal
Vancouver Sun - Conflict watchdog looks at ex-forests minister

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Critics want Coleman removed from cabinet, deal suspended
JUDITH LAVOIE
Times Colonist
17 Jul 2008

Critics called for Rich Coleman to be removed from cabinet after a damning report by B.C.’s auditor general yesterday slammed the former forests minister for a decision to remove thousands of hectares of land on Vancouver Island from tree farm...read more...

Related:
Forest deal made without ‘regard for public interest’
Forest deal made without ‘regard for public interest’
Forest deal made without ‘regard for public interest’
KEY DATES IN THE FOREST-LAND DEBATE
Coleman blasted for trees decision

Tech Tags: Times Colonist newspaper Front Page

How To Kill 2 Mosquitoes With One Swat - Letter To The Editor by Wally Martin

July 14 2008
Mayor and Council
Township of Langley

Re: How to kill 2 mosquitoes with one swat

Last Tuesday July 8 my wife Sharon and I spent the day in Fort Langley producing a Bridal Fair at the Fort Langley Community Hall. It was a very successful event with the participation of 100 business people and over 1,000 young ladies that attended. The day was perfect. Our attendance was up 40% from last year. The only negative thing we had was the mosquitoes. For many of the attendees it was their first visit to Fort Langley. We very rarely see any mosquitoes in Murrayville so it was a bit of a surprise for us.

I got thinking about the letter (copy attached)I wrote to council in the early spring regarding ground water in Langley. Fort Langley has too much ground water too close to the surface while the rest of Langley doesn’t have enough. The area surrounding Fort Langley is an underground lake. Taking this water would no doubt lower the water table slightly and help alleviate the mosquito problem. The Fort Langley basin is the perfect place to drill more wells.

Wally Martin
21628 48 Ave
Langley BC V3A 3M8

(Below letter written in early spring)

Langley’s Non existent Water Problem

There really is no crisis in water supply for Langley. There is a crisis in confidence in the leadership of Langley. The past few months have caused unnecessary anxiety as the population has been lead to believe there is a problem with the water supply.

There are a number of good alternatives to augment the water supply in Langley that have been advanced. These include the north shore lakes, Cultus Lake & Harrison Lake. Also more wells can be drilled in Langley. 2 other options have been overlooked. One is to build a desalination plant. The south west corner of Langley is 4 miles from tidewater. Thousands of cities around the world treat seawater to use it for drinking water. The process is simple and the distance to draw the water is close. Many cities draw seawater from much longer distances. Another alternative and probably the best is to draw water from the Fraser River. The Fraser River flows at a rate of 5,000 cubic meters per second. This is a flow rate that in one day can supply all of Langley’s water needs for 25 years. The good thing about the Fraser is the quality of the water. Fish live in the Fraser River. Living fish are always an indicator of good water quality. Needless to say the Fraser has better water than many of Langley’s wells. The fact is that Langley is already drawing water from the Fraser River. Some might be skeptical about this notion but I will explain.

Presently Langley Township pumps water from 17 wells to supply water to 85% of the Langley Township population. 38% of the Langley Township well water comes from the Salmon River well on 88 Ave at the west side of Fort Langley village. This is the best and largest producing well in the Township and far exceeds any of the other wells. It was drilled in the early 70’s and the press reports of the day were that it was a “gusher”. It also has excellent quality characteristics. The Salmon River well is a mere 60 feet deep. This well is actually drawing water from the Fraser River. A quick glance at the geology of north Langley shows that the water bearing material that supplies the Salmon River well is a one mile wide layer of sand that fills a crescent shaped basin that completely surrounds the village of Fort Langley. This crescent shaped basin is directly connected to the Fraser River like a giant pipeline. The Fraser River is also in a sand filled basin. The water travels thru the sand where it is constantly filtered. It is pumped at the well and we drink it. It is excellent water.

Many of the Townships other 17 producing wells were actually drilled in bad locations. They were drilled too close to areas where many private wells were already in existence. This has caused problems for the private wells. This is not a problem in the area surrounding the Salmon River well because it is a flood plain and no one lives on the flood plain. Langley can simply drill a few more wells in the Fort Langley basin and phase out the other wells. Additionally the east and west water systems need to be connected. It is actually quite simple. The interconnect would need to run from 232 St to 248 St. a total distance of 4 miles and Aldergrove would then enjoy the same water quality that is in the west system.

There is a cost to all of this. Recently the Township of Langley was proposing to install meters on all private wells in Langley. At a cost of $10,000 per well (a conservative estimate) that would have been $50 million dollars. The interesting thing about this bizarre metering idea was that after spending the $50 million it would not have produced one drop of water for Township of Langley residents. The above ideas I am advancing will not cost anywhere close to $50 million and they will increase the water supply.

Another good idea would be to take water directly from the Fraser River and treat it. This would be the same process that is being used to treat the lake water from the north shore. The intake pipes could be installed in such a way as to take advantage of the sand filtration under the river. Not a difficult concept.

Langley does not have a water shortage but rather has numerous viable options to choose from.

Thank you
Wally Martin
21628 48 Ave
Langley BC V3A 3M8
sales@princessbb.com
604 533 5569

NOTE From LFP EDITOR: We will post 99.9% of all Letters to the Editor prominently on LFP. For more info on WHY & HOW TO SEND Letters to LFP to publish go to this link. If you find our sidebar haloscan comments too limiting or if you wish to deliver an important message, Press Release, or Public Info we invite you to send Email letters to us at;
mailto:langleyfreepress@canada.com

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Vecchiato's Voice - What To Do With Your $100 Carbon Tax Rebate?

I received the following information about the rebate checks in a forwarded email which is obviously tongue in cheek. It's good food for thought and can really show how patriotic we as Canadians are.
So, how should you spend your carbon tax rebate?
If you spend that money at WalMart, the money will go to the U.S.

If you spend it on gas, it will go to the Middle East or Alberta.

If you purchase a computer, it will go to Taiwan or Mainland China.

If you purchase fruit and vegetables, it will go to California, Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala.

If you purchase a good car, it will go to Japan or Korea or Europe.
If you purchase useless junk, it will go to China and none of it will help the B.C. economy.

The only way to keep that money here at home is to spend it on prostitutes and marijuana, since these are the only products still produced here in B.C.

Thank you for your help and support,

Gordon Campbell, Premier of British Columbia
Cathleen
Cathleen Vecchiato has been an outspoken environmentalist for many years. She is the recognized champion of the environment and a community activist in Langley and other adjoining communities. View her full bio and read all her LFP postings at this link. Editor-LFP...

Hells Angels: Langley Mayor Alberts Demands Apology From The Province & Langley Advance - Alberts Says:"I did not and never would make such a comment"

<--- Click on Image of letter to view full size.

The very same letter was also addressed to the Vancouver Province and Langley Advance newspapers.

More details at previous posting.

Langley expects Hells Angels to be ‘law-abiding’ during bash (The Province, 10 Jul 2008, Page A8)

Since there is clearly a dispute between the Mayor and the Papers about what was actuaklly said, in the interest of fairness we are and will be editing all comments until the matter is resolved. LFP EDITOR.

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Langley expects Hells Angels to be ‘law-abiding’ during bash
BY STUART HUNTER STAFF REPORTER
The Province
10 Jul 2008

Hundreds of Hells Angels are poised to descend on suburban Langley to celebrate the motorcycle club’s 25th anniversary. The party hosted by the Angels’ White Rock chapter is scheduled for the weekend of July 25-26. It will celebrate the 25th...read more...

Related:
RCMP PLAN TO ATTEND HELLS ANGELS PARTY

Tech Tags: The Province newspaper News

Township Taxes Result In Decline Of Tourism & Tapping The Gay Tourism Market? - Letter by Wally Martin

(editor's note: This letter also published in today's Langley Times.)

(After reading below letter & posting comments, for the real facts and less fiction see these 3 & related previous LFP postings, ONE - TWO - THREE)

Letter to the Editor from Wally Martin,

The notion that high fuel prices will benefit the local tourism economy is a joke.
Langley residents live 10 minutes from the border and motor fuel in BC is 50% more expensive than in the US.

Every weekend there are huge border lineups as Canadians head south to escape our high taxes.
US visitors are not headed to Canada due to our high taxes.

Tourism from the US to BC is down 70%.

The premier of the province has long been an advocate of holidaying in the US and BC residents are following his lead.

The current marketing blitz that "BC is the best place on earth" is only true if you enjoy being over taxed.

BC has the highest hotel taxes on the continent and if you like that than you do enjoy punishment.

2 years ago councilor Bateman lead the charge to increase local hotel taxes by 25%. He insisted we needed 'a socialist style' of government marketing plan. Free enterprise wasn't smart enough to do their own marketing and the government needed to do it for them. He said at the time we would all thank him for that. This increase in tax has resulted in the decline in tourism in Langley as residents flee to lower tax destinations. I suppose we can thank councilor Bateman for higher taxes.

It was refreshing to know that at least some council members voted against the extra tax (Richter and Ferguson voted against the tax).

Tourism Langley recently launched a new logo. This logo is in rainbow colors. The rainbow has long been the symbol of the gay and lesbian movement. Does Langley really think it can compete with places like Toronto and San Francisco that have large gay pride events and numerous gay bars. It seems to me that Langley would be better off with a pumpkin logo or something to promote the farm. Since Mayor Fassbender and Councilor Bateman are directors of Tourism Langley I ask 'In what direction are they trying to take us?'.

The 10% hotel tax has been in affect for a year now and we are still waiting to see some tourists brought here by Tourism Langley. Where are these tourists? Are there any tourists? Are they being sent to stay with special friends and insiders? Will the experiment in socialism work?...

Susan Semonick On Schools - How Sad - Summer Election Thoughts - June 29, 2008

AHHH !!! Election Madness.

I cannot believe that Alison McVeigh would not stand and run in the City to remain accountable to her electorate for her decisions. Instead, she has chosen to run where she is not known. Her excuse that she got flack the last time for running in the City is just that, an excuse. If she believed it to be right to do the last time, then none of the facts have changed, so why the switch?

She put a motion forth at the last board meeting to change school boundaries in Walnut Grove that really didn’t need to be changed. All the students wishing to go to West Langley Elementary were already attending the school because of the available space due to low enrolment there. It will not affect the enrolment at either school. Was this an action taken to get votes, in the hope that people in the north area would vote for her because she did what a few asked of her at a consultation meeting? Will she be able to make the hard decisions for the north area if there are any? Would she run back to the City in three years if the Township voters are not happy with her, hoping they have forgotten how she voted on the HD Stafford Secondary issue, especially since it does require substantially fewer votes to get elected?

There were a large number of voters asking her to vote differently than she did during this past year, at the very least to alter the process to a more respectful one, and it appears to some that she ignored their request. According to her announcement, she has no intentions of changing her ways. She is proud of what she has done Trustee Hogeterp is proud of what has been done this year also and will stand steadfast to ensure nothing changes. Were their decisions the best for the students? Time will tell, but till then public officials are to represent the wishes of the electorate.

The question to ask is - have the four involved in the major changes to the district done what the majority of the community wished? Or, have they voted with limited direction and personal opinion? If you are of the latter opinion, then don’t vote for them. It is time for change and there are an increasing number of people showing interest in replacing the current board. Whether they follow through is yet to be seen.

If McVeigh had stood her ground and faced the music, many more would respect her. I wonder if her advisors should take a hard second look at whether running from the music is a good move or not.

This type of thing only makes my suggestion of amalgamation of the electoral ballot even more important for the people to attain voter parity. The public officials who do not wish to remain accountable for their decisions would not have an easy out. You would have public officials accountable for their decisions on the district as a whole, (as it should be) instead of being able to slither into an alternate political office seat.

Voters - sign up at http://members.shaw.ca.amalgamateschoolboard/. This is where you can officially sign up to support this initiative to attain accountability and voter parity for the election of Board of Education trustee seats in School District #35. Let’s be the leaders in ending this lack of voter parity in government.

Respectfully
Susan Semonick

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Township July 2nd Tax Protest Pictures

Photos Courtesy of Bob Richter