Injector's Incredulous Inserts! - Letter To The Editor - Langley's Federal Debates So Far

LFP Editor invited Injector loved by one and all (lol) readers of LFP for his read of the recent federal candidates debate. So here it is!

OK, here are Injector's bottom line of the debates thus far by candidate:

MARK WARAWA - Conservative
Part Read from his tab-indexed party binder like a good choir boy would. Nothing new and touting the same old party line and rehash of spending to date. Claimed to have worked on many issues close to Langley, but I think the audience was left scratching to see where. Talked much about sending people to prison and being tough on crime. The funniest comment at Kwantlen last night was made by Mark during a discussion about genetically modified foods. Mark claims that broccoli is a GMF. A 20 year old study laughed out loud and asked if he was serious. Pretty much summed up what everyone was thinking. Mark was able to get his student organizers to nicely line supporters up at the microphones to only ask Mark questions. This lead to more choir practice from Warawa and the party song sheets (yawn).

RON GRAY - Christian Heritage Party
Some good points raise from a practical standpoint, but sometimes uses some hair-brained facts and statements to get his points out there. Ron claims that there is far more abuse in couples outside traditional marriage (including domestic partners and gays). When he furthered this at Kwantlen there were significant booing from the audience. He had no binder to sing from and spoke from his heart I believe. Ron claims that global warming is a myth and that the ice cap is actually expanding. He says that farms actually need the carbon that we are trying to get rid of!

ANDREW CLAXTON - NDP
Andrew is a young ESL teacher that seems like a genuine nice guy and by appearance and the way he speaks, reminds me of Robin Williams. I would say he is the spitting image of a Langley version of Patch Adams. Andrew is strong on the education and transit parts of his platform and managed to not dig into his binder. A nice guy in the wrong party.

PATRICK MEYER - Green Party
Patrick also seems like a nice guy, but as he uses long lead-ins to his answers he never seems able to give a whole response to things. He prefaced many of his answers with, "that's a difficult question" or "that's a real good question". I don't see him standing in parliament and raising a fair argument for something.

JAKE GRAY - Liberal Party
Jake is young and sometimes comes off as a cocky kid. But the more I listen to him, the more I see Jake as someone who could and would represent LANGLEY in Ottawa. He knows the subjects fairly well and doesn't require a party song sheet or adult supervision. He brought forth meaningful ideas and discussion on a host of issues. I'm starting to like this guy.

Tomatoes and other vegetables were handed out by the Kwantlen horticultural program in the lobby before the debate. I think our MP should be thankful that no one decided to create a food fight. I'm certain his arrogance and old party lines would have turned his suit into something that Carmen Miranda would have been proud of....

Vecchiato's Voice - Is The Township of Langley a Big Fat Liar?

Who can forget Al Franken's book, specifically the chapter titled Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Liar? Franken, known as 12-stepper Stuart Smalley on Saturday Night Live make the easy transition from SNL to politics and is currently running for Minnesota U.S. Senator.

So is the Township of Langley a big fat liar, too?

In the September 17, 2008, edition of The Province, the lead story is about the reprehensible mutilation of 100 turkeys at a farm on 24th and 196th. From what I understand, the owners practice ethical animal husbandry, and the violation exceeds any act that would be socially acceptable. Their land sits right on the border of what used to be Stokes Pit, which is slowly transforming into Campbell Heights.

I happened to be at "The Pit" walking Wally the dog on Tuesday, and emerged to find CTV, City TV and the Province retreating from the desecrated property. We got into a conversation, and I'd thought about who could do such a thing. You think teens, then satanic cults, and then stories I've heard about Fernridge came to mind: Fernridge is being bought up on spec with hopes for fruition increased since Township endorsed sewer to run down 200th Street, thus opening the door for development. Intimidation tactics are nothing new. In the Willoughby area, a landowner who would not sell (for parcel assembly) received an anonymous note in his mail box saying, "He who sells last gets the least." The water wars of Southern California depicted in the film Chinatown realistically recall the dirty fights that go on in the monied world.

Our Director of Community Development is quoted in The Province as saying that there are no development plans for the area. Why, then, are ads like the following being run in the Langley Advance's real estate section (9/10/08)?

2.49 ACRES

FUTURE DEVELOPMENT

20552 24TH AVENUE

… Located in Brookswood/Fernridge NP and designated 4 UPA

Excellent holding property … live here until time to develop and then enjoy the benefits of principle residence tax treatment.

Because I live in the area, I go through Fernridge a lot, and every week, there are more signs posted in front of forests. Development potential! The most joyous moment of the speculators was the approved sewer. Prices have skyrocketed and I'm sure that buyers will be more fortunate than those of us who bought Nortel.

Frank Bucholtz, editor of the Langley Times, wrote an editorial in March 2005, "Brookswood area could become a hotspot." He rightly says that "A sewer line down 200 Street will shape the future of South Langley, and it is hard to see how it won't involve massive urbanization...South Brookswood area (south of 36th) is...even more ready. Properties there are much larger and many have been held by investors for years. They were anxious for Vicwood (the old name for High Point) to go ahead in 1997, and I'm sure they are just as interested in development now."

In 2000, a Langley Times article entitled "South's development dreams return/Residents say perfect opportunity exists to tie services into Surrey's plan. To be fair, I must say that Mayor Alberts stated at the time that there was no time frame for development, and asked, "Why do detailed planning where development isn't going to happen for 10 to 15 years?" Despite has stand (and his stand has been to develop one area at a time), why is there a Brookswood/Fernridge Community Plan on the township website at all? Some of the information includes:

EXISTING.....PROPOSED RIGHT-OF-WAY....WIDTH LANES

24th Avenue.............. Arterial.............................. 4

32nd Avenue............. Arterial.............................. 4

36th Avenue.............. Arterial.............................. 4

40th Avenue.............. Arterial.............................. 4

196th Street.............. Collector............................ 2
In addition, the width of 24th is proposed to increase from 20 to 24 meters, and 196 is proposed to increase from 20 to 22 meters.

The Community Plan begins with the statement:

This Plan details the Township's policies for the development of Brookswood/Fernridge. The Brookswood/Fernridge Community

Plan conforms to the goals and objectives of the Langley Official Community Plan and provides more detailed land use policies.

and continues:

Brookswood/Fernridge is seen, in the long term, as a community of 35,000 people functioning

as a southern satellite of the Langley Regional Town (Langley City and adjacent Township

commercial and industrial areas). The Langley Regional Town because of its substantial

head-start in overall development and with its ultimate hinterland population will be the major

commercial and service area.

According to the file, this particular segment of Fernridge on 196th north of 24th has a proposed zoning of Service Commercial. The complete specifications for the area can be found on the Township of Langley website http://www.tol.bc.ca/files/web_files/planning/CommunityPlans/Bylaw_2475_Brookswood.pdf

Another reason I know the area fairly well (because talking to locals) is the carnage called Campbell Heights. Earlier this year, by default, I ended up leading a tour through what used to be Stokes Pit, with Ramin Seifi (Director, Community Services), Brad Badelt (Engineering), Mark Bakken (Township Administrator), and Councilor Kim Richter. Richter had already seen the poor quality of excavation--lowering the water table, building new canals (the old ones were fish bearing) without a tree in site because they were all dead due to the water table change, a move that has increased the water temperature and becomes useless as salmon habitat--and was concerned about its impact on Langley and the buffer between the two municipalities(according to staff, it is 60 meters). 24th Avenue sits amid the desert-like setting of Campbell Heights, just waiting to be pushed through to Langley. I also noted on the Community Plan that Item 2.6.4 Conservation Areas was deleted by #4485 27.03.06

Land assembly is a precarious venture in which only the big players can participate. Although I merely speculate that land may be the catalyst behind arson (further up the street) and animal desecration, suspecting players getting punks to do their dirty work holds an element of feasibility. Nothing surprises me.

Cathleen Vecchiato has been an outspoken environmentalist for many years. She is a very well recognized champion of the environment and a community activist in Langley as well as in other adjoining communities. Cathleen formed and leads the Langley Conservation Network. Editor-LFP...

Stealing The National Anthem? - Letter To The Editor by Wally Martin

Dear Editor
To all Canadians

Melissa and Paul of Port Coquitlam, recent guests at Princess and the Pea B & B, were unanimous in the opinion that no person or entity had the right to attempt to exclude others from using all or part of the national anthem. As a hockey player, Paul went on to say it was disrespectful to hockey players and all Canadians to attempt to 'steal or take' part of the national anthem for exclusive use. I agree 100%. Pride of country belongs to all Canadians. Does this mean we can no longer sing the national anthem?
Wally Martin
Langley

Elections Will Take Far Back Seat To USA Economic Meltdown - Depression Looming?

If you local Langley politicians and wannabe politicians were hoping for a bit of press attention, forget it. The US Government voted against the economic rescue plan just a few hours ago and the stock markets closed today and had the worst single day losses in history! Dow registered a loss today just over 777 -points! (The 777 numbers should really freak out the Asian markets and christian markets too given their symbolic bad luck numbers..lol) The TSX (torontro stock exchange) fell by a record 840.92 points and oil dropped to $95 US today! This is the news that will bury all attention about Municipal elections folks. Worse still the drop in the US caused an instant credit freeze which will cause at minimum any short term borrowing freeze that will cause missed payrolls, layoffs, defaults, bankruptcies and much worse. Folks, The Western economy is on the edge of a precipice so quite frankly the local elections will amount to a hill of beans. Old hat to us in Langley though since Township Council's Mayor Alberts' council slate has been also as bad with our tax monies on a much smaller scale obviously than Wall street and the US government. So get ready to hunker down folks. It's not going to be pretty....

Secret Poll Shows Kim Richter Would Beat Alberts for Mayor's Chair - LFP NEWS EXCLUSIVE!

(Note: Double mouse click right on Pictures (3 of them) to the left to expand and view graph pictures in large readable format.) A large brown paper envelope containing a thick booklet of poll results was anonymously delivered to Kim Richter's election camp. It contains extensive poll analysis about the upcoming Municipal election including who could win Mayor and Council seats as well as identifying key issues. All information about when the poll was taken or who commissioned it as well as which polling organization were blacked out. LFP has posted only three of the many poll questions and the corresponding results here which you can individually select and enlarge pictures for better viewing.

This Editor assumes that either someone is trying to be helpful or harmful by sending this to Richter's election camp. The question is helpful and/or harmful but to whom?

The poll documents leave a few questions open for discussion. Is it real and who sent it & more importantly why?
1) Are the poll results real or perhaps at least doctored? Well having read the whole booklet I must say it certainly looks and reads like a professional commissioned poll that I have seen in the past and the amount of detail and information within the booklet is quite astounding as well.

2) One wonders if perhaps Mayor Alberts' campaign would send it? This scenario seems highly doubtful though. One would assume that his camp would not want Richter to run at all for Mayor and limit the Mayor's race to Rick Green and Alberts only. The poll shows Alberts will easily beat Green.

3) There are rumours that a local BC Liberal group with obvious Township council connections has sent this to try to convince Richter to enter the Mayoralty race to open up another seat on council. They don't really care if Richter or Alberts wins as Mayor as long as one of them is eliminated to provide a glide path for another one of their candidates to get on council to join sitting BC Liberal candidates already there thus providing a farm team for future provincial elections. Not to mention that this strategy allows them to control all levels of politics in Langley. Yet another rumour has it that there is an unholy alliance tentatively forming between the local BC Liberal camp and the Mayor Alberts camp. Boy, this is a real trustworthy relationship isn't it? (Particularly if one camp or the other is leaking secret poll results to the competition!)

The big question is should Kim Richter run for Mayor or not? This Editor thinks she should!...

Langley Times Editor Finally Comes Clean - Mayor Alberts Had And Does Have A Slate! Alberts is clearly NOT an “Independent Candidate”

After at least 3 years (and more likely 6, if not 9 years) Langley Times Editor Frank Bucholtz finally admits that Langley Township Mayor Kurt Alberts ran a slate in the last two elections.

It’s about time.

Has journalistic objectivity finally won out over advertising dollars? Will a new political day now dawn over Langley? Or will the annual Township big dollar advertising budget still reign supreme?

Today, Bucholtz’s Langley Times editorial and his article say: "... Alberts endorsed a group of candidates in the 2002 and 2005 elections — most of whom were elected."

This admission is remarkable especially since Bucholtz virtually ignored the Alberts’ slate and its implications in the last two municipal elections (2002 and 2005) while allowing Alberts to conveniently hide behind a so-called ‘independent’ label. Bucholtz has continued to do so right up until today.

In a November 18, 2005 Langley Times article, Bucholtz wrote: “Kurt Alberts said after the [November 16, 2005 All Candidates] meeting that the list distributed...and published in an ad contains people he can work with cooperatively on council... ‘As an independent, my bias is naturally towards those candidates I see as free of pressure group influence or affiliations’”.

Really? (So how does Frank justify Township Council’s consistent 8-1 voting record over the past 3 years? Is this really truly “independent thinking free of influence and affiliations”?).

Bucholtz’s November 18, 2005 article also says that Alberts’ list was based on recommendations from a group of people throughout the Township. It references an “advisory panel of citizens” that helped come up with the list that Alberts published in an ad in the same issue of the paper. Interesting how this particular Alberts’ ad appeared under the same article that Bucholtz wrote on the day before the November 19th election. (See Langley Times, page 5 – November 18, 2005).

One member of Alberts’ so-called “advisory panel of citizens” admits in the same article that “he did not help select the list and should not have been included in the ad” (i.e. nobody asked him for permission or told him otherwise).

Isn’t it funny how this Langley Times 2005 “breaking news” story was never really followed up on?

Did Bucholtz and the Langley Times take the time to ask other members of Alberts’ so-called “advisory panel of citizens” if there was in fact a panel? How many meetings did they have? Were there any face-to-face meetings?

If you check back issues of the Langley Times, there is no more on this story after the November 18, 2005 issue. It just died. How’s that for investigative journalism?

So let’s fast-forward. It’s 2008. The current Mayor and his “I-don’t-really-have-a slate” slate has been busy spending money on polls. They’re endorsing replacement “non-slate” members for the next round. Money is apparently no object. Just like our tax dollars.

In today's same Langley Times editorial and article, Bucholtz quotes Mayoralty candidate Rick Green statements and says: "He [Green] is firmly independent”. Bucholtz writes that: “Green also made it clear that he is running by himself, and is not involved with formal or loose alliances with any other candidates".

So how on earth can the Langley Times Editor Frank Bucholtz ever reframe this reversal of his without questioning the integrity of Mayor Kurt Alberts and his silent slate? Curiously, integrity and leadership were centerpieces of Albert’s Election 2005 campaign ads (see actual above pictorial Alberts' ad). The other centerpiece theme in Alberts' 2005 election ads was ‘Solutions’. I guess this means lots of advertising for an Alberts’ slate (Keyword: Advertising).

In any event, Frank Bucholtz’s long overdue admission about an Alberts’ slate is welcome and needed in this community. It’s time for some fresh and truly independent faces on Council who don’t misrepresent themselves. That includes the Mayor....

Warawa: Another Conservative Candidate Foot in Mouth Faux Pas?

Without getting into too much detail, our local Langley Conservative MP Mark Warawa's son, Ryan Warawa, who's running in Vancouver East, also as a Conservative candidate, has been widely today reported in multiple web sites about his personal blog postings of past that has Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca Liberal MP Keith Martin now being quoted by CTV British Columbia, that he considers that; "..the words in the blog (Ryan Warawa's) posting as slanderous." Ryan is a former Young BC Liberal. He also previously failed to win the Conservative nomination for a potentially winnable seat in Burnaby. Ryan Warawa is also quoted on his blog to have said; “I in principle favour government legalizing prostitution — forcing the sex trade into brothels.” As well as; “I favour decriminalization of both marijuana and prostitution…”. Imagine, a Conservative candidate stumping for legal paid sex and pot. What is this world coming to? For more information search Google.

NEW! LFP's CPAC-NANOS Daily Updated National Election Poll

In the next few days this Editor will be posting in an LFP spreadsheet chart as below with daily election poll results from Nic Nanos. In the last national election, of all the polls, only the Nanos daily poll was amazingly dead on in predicting the actual final results. No one else came remotely close.Therefore I have created a spreadsheet & chart that will automatically update daily and will put it's link on our LFP sidebar. If you look at results above up to September 22 you will see the drop for the conservatives, slight upwards stabilization of the Liberals and a pretty good jump for the NDP while the Greens still irrelevantly languish below 10%. The side bar link also shows two more links about regional & leaders daily poll details summary and an archives commentary summary. To view all Nick Nanos sidebar links make sure you are on the LFP HOME page.

On another note this Editor today saw a 4' by 4' Liberal Jake Gray (Langley's where's Waldo?) sign and I was amazed to see that one could hardly read Jake and Gray was only about 1/6th across the sign. Liberal was even smaller. In other words just a big empty red sign! How sad....how stupid!...

Rick Green Vies For Langley Township Mayor With Kick-Off Rally

Photos courtesy of Bob Richter

116 people which also included Rick Green's family, friends, campaign team, reporters and probably spies attended his campaign kick-off rally at Murrayville Hall at 2 pm today. The LFP photographer only stayed about 20 minutes, but while there saw no other Langley politicians at all. Incumbent Mayor Kurt Alberts also was conveniently holding his rally/fundraiser at the same time however. To date only these two are confirmed Langley Township Mayoralty candidates. Councillor Kim Richter has still not officially announced her intentions insofar as also becoming the 3rd Mayoralty candidate except for saying that she will definitely be running to be a member of council. Deadline for officially filing for Mayor or councillor is October 10Th....

Does Kurt Alberts Private Business Receive Special Treatment at Taxpayers Expense? - Letter To The Editor by Wally Martin

I recently viewed a web site http://www.explorelangley.com/Experience/Heritage-and-Culture/Galleries where I noted that the art gallery 'Birthplace of BC' operated by Mayor Kurt Alberts and his wife received special prominence yet the web site states there are galleries galore in Langley.

The web site is operated by Tourism Langley Association which receives tax payer money from the Township of Langley.

Why does Kurt Alberts private business receive special treatment at taxpayers expense?

Why does the private society Tourism Langley Association receive taxpayer funding when it is not accountable to the taxpayer?

Did Alberts excuse himself when funding to the society was discussed?

Tourism Langley Association meets in secret, does not have audited finances or any kind of public records and yet still receives taxpayer money? Is there something wrong here?

Why does Kurt Alberts get FREE advertising for his private business?

Wally Martin
Langley BC...