David Wang For Nanaimo City Council: October 2022

Friday, October 14, 2022

Thursday Night (Oct 13th from 6 to 9 pm) was the Open Invitation to All City Council Candidates for A Debate at Beban Park.

Sadly, as many might have been predicted, only a relatively small number of Candidates participated.

As such, the Debate was instead a Q&A with the audience.

I still found it a really rewarding experience, and an opportunity to practice some real Grassroots Democracy.

Thanks to the Candidates who participated : Frank Pluta, Jeff Annesley, Mike Hartlaub, Brunie Brunie, David Wang, Derek Hanna, Nick Greer

Thanks to Dave Cutar and Norm Detillieux for Moderating the Event.

Thanks to Kevin for handling Time Keeper duties.

Thanks to the staff at Beban Park for setting up the Auditorium so nicely.

The Event really felt quite official thanks to the professional aesthetics.

Update (October 10th, 2022) : Moderator Found!!!

A kind Member of the Community has volunteered to be the Debate's Moderator.
Dave Cutar, a local Pastor. He is quite personable and apparently funny as well, so expect a bit of vamping maybe.
He is aware that there is the, sadly, strong possibility there will be insufficient Candidates for a Debate.
In this instance the Event will be a Q&A, but Dave could still be available to help guide the questioning, and maybe ask a Question from the Nanaimo News Now Survey if there is a lull.

Time Keeper Still Needed

The Time Keeper will simply keep track of how long Candidates speak and make sure they stay in their allotted speaking time.
The Time Keeper will have Green, Yellow and Red paper to hold up to alert Candidates to the amount of time they have remaining to speak.

Video 1 : On My Thoughts Regarding Nanaimo Becoming a Smart City

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Video 2 : On The Tragic Murder of Fred Parsons

- The Terrible Rise In Crime Nanaimo Has Seen Over The Past 4 Years

- Tough Love Nanaimo, My Platform For Addressing This Unacceptable Situation

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Video 3 : On Progressive Gender Ideology

- Gender Neutral Bathrooms At Harbourfront Library in Downtown Nanaimo

- Probable Installation of Gender Neutral Bathrooms In Other Nanaimo Libraries and Public Schools (as is the case in Cowichan Valley schools)

- Opposition to SOGI being taught in Public Schools, especially to Elementary School Students

- Opposition to Drag Queen Story Hour At Public Libraries

Low Voter Turnout

"It's just a City Election." This is the sentiment among far too many Canadians.
In the 2018 Election, Voter Turnout was 40.4% (https://www.civicinfo.bc.ca/election-results-v3/index.php?localgovernmentid=78&select-year=2018&select-view-by=municipality)
In the 2014 Election, Voter Turnout was 34% (https://www.civicinfo.bc.ca/election-results-v3/index.php?localgovernmentid=78&select-year=2018&select-view-by=municipality)
In the 2011 Election, Voter Turnout was 28.7% (https://www.civicinfo.bc.ca/election-results-v3/index.php?localgovernmentid=78&select-year=2018&select-view-by=municipality)
If one wanted to be charitable, one could say this shows an increasing improvement in Voter turnout, which is true.
But still...40.4% Voter Turnout being considered "good"...this is not what a Healthy Democracy looks like.

The Union Vote : CUPE

In 2018, CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees) endorsed Candidates for Nanaimo City Council.
In the message sent to CUPE Members, they were told to make sure to vote for the specific Candidates listed.
Those Candidates were : (Mayoral Candidate) Leonard Krog, (Council Candidates) Sheryl Armstrong, Guy Beaulieu (wasn't elected), Don Bonner, Tyler Brown, Ben Geselbracht, Erin Hemmens, Zeni Maartman, Ian Thorpe
8 of the 9 Candidates currently on Council were endorsed by CUPE.
CUPE is the Union of Nanaimo City Staff
During the first 7 months of the New Councils time in office they negotiated a Wage Increase of 2% Per Year for the 4 year period between Jan 2019 and Dec 2022.
City Tax Payers pay City Staff. It does make sense for City Staff to insure they have people on Council who will look favorably on Salary negotiations doesn't it.
People have to be paid a proper wage for their level of productivity. Raises are a natural part of the Employer / Employee Relationship. I love Capitalism. I love Incentives. I think this is fine.
But, in the case of Citizens' Tax Money being used to pay Civil Servants, and Civil Servants selecting and ENDORSING specific Candidates, who will be in charge of hiring, firing, salary increases...call me crazy, but this seems problematic at best.

The Union Vote : HEU

In this Election the HEU (Hospital Employee's Union) has endorsed specific Candidates.
These Candidates are : (Mayoral Candidate) Leonard Krog, (Council Candidates) Ken Bennett, Don Bonner, Tyler Brown, Ben Geselbracht, Erin Hemmens, Zeni Maartman, Ian Thorpe
Time for a Surprise 😮, Municipal Taxes collected are, in part, allocated for use by the Hospital.
In 2022, the city received a requisition request from the Hospital for an 88% increase over 2021 which already saw an increase of 34% over 2020.
To be fair, this was when Covid hit, and in all honesty is a perfectly understandable increase.
However, the central point remains.
The HEU, just like CUPE, has endorsed Candidates. These Candidates will have control over the use of Taxpayer's Money to fund their organizations and their salaries.

The BIG Problem

You see where I'm going with all this obviously.
Nanaimo has a very low Voter turnout.
City Council Candidates got Elected with Vote totals as Low as 8500 (out of more than 68,000 Eligible Voters).
With Vote totals so Low, and Unions Endorsing Specific Candidates, Unions with hundreds of Members, casting VERY VALUABLE Votes, in Elections with such low turnout, well, Council Candidates might feel a certain amount of...gratitude towards the Unions whose sheer numbers were a significant help to getting them elected.
This is all perfectly legal, and organizations are free to endorse whom they wish
I just find it concerning that Members of City Council might feel some sense of indebtedness to any group when they are in control of Resident's Tax Money.