Ex-NPA campaign manager Bob Ransford, former mayors Harcourt and Campbell endorse Robertson
Vancouver Civic Election 2011: High-profile public-affairs specialist says NPA's Anton is reckless and has a poor grasp of economics, so he's switching sides.
Former NPA campaign manager Bob Ransford has announced that he is supporting Gregor Robertson and Vision Vancouver in the 2011 municipal election -- due to the inexperience of the current NPA.
"I've been impressed with Vision ... I like the fact that that they are thinking of Vancouver for the longer term," Ransford told The Vancouver Observer Monday. "The quality of the candidates at Vision are head and shoulders above the quality of the candidates that the NPA has assembled."
Ransford, a public affairs consultant and Vancouver Sun columnist who specializes in urban land-use issues, was the campaign manager for Peter Ladner's mayoral nomination in 2008. He worked with several of this year's NPA candidates last election, including mayoral candidate Suzanne Anton. But he said Anton doesn't have a strong enough grasp of city planning to earn his support.
"[Anton's] limited understanding of planning and urban land economics scares me," he said. "I think both developers and residents alike should be concerned about her sort of reckless approach. [The NPA's] approach so far to density has been to build buildings higher. Well, higher buildings aren't the answer to density."
Ransford also said in a press release that Robertson provided "strong, steady leadership on issues like affordable housing and public transit".
"Vancouver faces some serious challenges in the coming years, whether it's making smart planning decisions or addressing our affordability crisis, and Gregor Robertson and the Vision Vancouver team are the ones with a plan to meet these challenges head-on," he said.
On the topic of challenges facing Robertson in his re-election bid, Ransford said that the Occupy movement could pose some risks.
"I think Occupy is a very volatile issue, but I think the mayor has handled it quite smartly so far," he said. "I've seen a de-escalation of tension over the weekend." He said that the Mayor should work to see that the issue does not become any more volatile before people head to the polls election day.
In addition to Ransford, former Vancouver mayors Mike Harcourt and Larry Campbell, have announced their endorsement of Gregor Robertson, according to a Vision Vancouver press release.
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Bob doesn't like Suzanne, who didn't support Peter Ladner, during last election. Payback time (not that I blame him on this one).
He's also working with City Hall on development issues and projects.
He won't bite the hand that's feeding him.
On 1 Nov 2011 the Vision-NPA axis sold out 3 acres of single-family East Vancouver to 3 tall towers and 1114 condo units. The two COPE councillors voted against. Not even one of those many units is for affordable housing. Here is an example of what Robertson means by "leveraging" City land! Megaprofits for developers. (That large assembled parcel includes City land.) Guess who packaged that deal? Bob Ransford! He owes Robertson and Vision big-time now and is starting to pay back.
Having been an avid supporter of the NPA for the past 6 years, I can say that Bob Ransford's endorsement means nothing. What the general public doesn't know is that guy was divisive. Even though Ladner had a slim chance in hell of beating Gregor last election, Ransford as his campaign manager was the final nail in his coffin before Vancouverites even hit the polls. That guy even tempted me to vote for Gregor because Ransford's made Ladner (a rather level-headed, business saavy and genuinely friendly guy) untouchable even to his own party.
When offered help from within the party (with people who genuinely wanted change from Sullivan and actually backed Ladner) and from people who were heavily involved in the 2005 major NPA sweep, he turned his nose up at the very people who wanted to see his candidate win. The guy chose to hire from outside the party and mostly inexperienced people who were willing to work for cheap. If Ladner actually had the persevering, die-hard NPA supporters helping him on his mayoralty campaign , then maybe he would have had a better chance. It left a bad taste in my mouth when I even offered to help and was turned away all together because he wanted to vet every single person. What the hell was he looking for? No idea! Tons of NPA supporters were turned away for no reason and yet he complained about not having enough people to help, especially on E-Day.
Bob Ransford's endorsement is as good as gum on my shoe. Who cares!