So… Royce Pollard announces for re-election, eh?

Fortunately, I don’t live in the Soviet Socialist Republic of Vancouver, proper… nor would any amount of money make me so inclined.

In all my years of government service (roughly 20) and all the countries I’ve traveled, I have yet to come into contact with a government so arrogant… so dead set on muting the voice of the people… so determinedly set on putting their agenda… their vision… of what Vancouver should be ahead of the demands of the population they would govern.

The City of Vancouver has a Keystone Cops history of mismanagement and misjudgment… stretching back for years. Everything from the idiocy of having two police chiefs at the same time to the blatant abuse of power represented by the city’s decision to sue the voters to silence them… all actions that turn my stomach.

And the captain of that ship? None other then Royce Pollard, Lt. Col., Army (Ret.)

Pollard’s unspeakable conceit is legendary. His inexcusable “State of the City” speech of two years ago was the height of insufferable arrogance. Clearly, those elected to power in the city of Vancouver are incapable of grasping the simple concept of government service: that it is truly a privilege to hold a post of faith and confidence, not a throne where you can attack those who happen to disagree with your vision. Successful government is, as a much wiser man then I once said, that government which governs LEAST. It should be a government of INnclusion, not the arrogant narcissism of EXclusion… the typical attitude and action of the government of the city since my arrival here… some 20 years ago. In everything from the boondoggle and imminent disaster of the special events center to the bizarre idea that it’s OK for a Port Commissioner’s daughters to operate a restaurant on city property for free to a voracious appetite and nonsensical demand for annexation against the will of the People… all for bragging rights (and increased revenue).

At first, I supported Pollard’s ascendancy. Who better to bring sanity to the chaos that Vancouver’s administration represented?

But soon, it became clear that the Mayor’s view had been co-opted. That the desires of the people were meaning increasingly less. That the arrogance of government and the Identity Vancouver old boy types had a strangle hold on city government.

Downtown Vancouver becomes a larger ghost town by the day. Empty stores and shops… larger populations of homeless… all accompanied by ever-larger monuments to governmental stupidity, avarice and arrogance… those are the order of the day.

Leadership stuck on ideas of the past that will cost us billions and accomplish nothing. Ideas such as loot rail, a plan the “leaders” of Vancouver simply cannot let go. Ideas such as suing your constituency when they attempt to get you to act in their best interest. The pure idiocy of putting tolls on the interstate bridges… not to finance other bridges or bridge maintenance, but instead to finance other pet projects of the Identity Vancouver types infesting that government.

While Pollard is not entirely responsible for all of it (frankly, I don’t believe him to be that bright) he has had a hand in those twisted visions.

His continued occupancy in the Mayor’s office will tend to mean higher taxes (because the people of Clark County WILL have to make up the millions his grand special events center scheme will cost us) and more arrogance. The government of the City of Vancouver admits error with the frequency of the passing of Haley’s Comet and as a result, the people of Vancouver will suffer for it directly while the people of Clark County pick up the tab.



In Our View: Opportunity Calls

Thursday, April 28, 2005
Columbian editorial writers

Vancouver voters decide this fall whether they like where their energetic mayor has led the city in 10 years and give him four more, or will choose new leadership. In either case, challenges and opportunities, which often are one and the same, abound for whomever fills the post now held by Royce Pollard. The winner will serve through 2009 after voters last fall doubled mayors' terms.

Declaring his candidacy Monday before supporters gathered in the rain at Esther short Park, Pollard outlined his priorities, namely economic development ("jobs, jobs and jobs"), transportation and public safety.

Pollard is one of four members of the city council a quorum whose terms expire this year. Others are Pat Jollota, Jeanne Harris and Jeanne Stewart. Collectively, the campaigns should provide a lively forum for public discussion of Vancouver's future.

Pollard has proved himself an activist leader and gung-ho civic booster who likes to push new programs and lobby state and federal officials for money to help his city. His critics say he lacks patience for dissent and puts too much of the city's resources into the downtown and Esther Short Park areas.

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