Comments on North Vancouver Politics.com: A Civic Party for the District of North Vancouver

The City and the District went into receivership i...

2011-12-05T16:15:05.085-08:00

The City and the District went into receivership in 1932/3

The primary reason for the 1907 split was the extension of Keith Rd. The City residents were sick and tired of building a road out to nowhere while they couldn't afford to build sidewalks and streetlights on Lonsdale.

Economic prosperity and rapid growth in the Lower ...

2011-12-04T09:07:02.571-08:00

Economic prosperity and rapid growth in the Lower Lonsdale area of North Vancouver led to the establishment in 1907 of the separate City of North Vancouver, with a population of approximately 1,500. West Vancouver separated from the District in 1912. Apart from the addition of Moodyville in 1915, the boundaries of the City have not changed, even though far more people now call the District home.

I thought the reason for the break up was because ...

2011-12-04T07:32:26.031-08:00

I thought the reason for the break up was because the District went bankrupt

The entire N. Shore was the District of N. Van cre...

2011-12-03T15:44:18.570-08:00

The entire N. Shore was the District of N. Van created in 1891.

The City broke away early in the 20th century as it's urban needs were very different than the rural District.

W. Van broke away as the majority of Dist. redidents lived east of the Cap River and W. Van's needs were not being met.

Apparently not riduculous, just untenable in the horse and buggy and poor communication infrastructure days. A little different now.

Amalgamation of all three NS munis is ridiculous. ...

2011-12-03T10:16:11.943-08:00

Amalgamation of all three NS munis is ridiculous. City and District of North Vancouver is doable.

In our workplace staff that need internet access a...

2011-12-03T09:09:49.104-08:00

In our workplace staff that need internet access are blocked from porn sites and social media sites. Some have no internet access at all.

Apparently at the city you can surf porn or chat on Facebook or pretty much do anything. A free for all, how does one get one of these $75,000.00 jobs at the city?

Civic parties in North Vancouver? If it made a pos...

2011-12-03T00:36:54.603-08:00

Civic parties in North Vancouver? If it made a positive impact on voter engagement and voter turnout it could be a good thing.

What would the civic parties be?

In the City it could be the NDP/CUPE/Developer/Screw the people/don't consult party and the Independent/Residents are us party.

In the District it might be the FedCon/Christian party and the Deep Cove is Cool/No interlopers party and the Pro-Amalgamation party.

Amalgamation is the only issue that will really wake people up and get more people involved in municipal elections. If City residents looked a little deeper at the issue of amalgamation and realized that although their property taxes would go up with amalgamation, it could also have the affect of not having a Council that respects developers' wants and needs more than the community members. Less government, respect for the community voice, and much more accountability with development, density, public lands, public services, green space and preserving North Vancouver for future generations.

An amalgamated North Vancouver with civic parties in municipal elections, sounds like blood sport! Now, that would be an engaged electorate. Those aspiring to public office would certainly need to show us what they've got. It's always fruitful when you shake that tree.

Then we would have to look at the average price pe...

2011-12-02T17:40:16.128-08:00

Then we would have to look at the average price per sq. ft. of comparable properties in each jurisdiction.

If they're worth the same then you are money ahead in the city.

If the city is worth more than the district then the city residents are making out like crazy.

If the district value is higher then they more than recoup any additional taxes plus much more in the value of their homes and paying more in tax is peanuts when compared to their higher values.

Watch the Mill Rates, it is a bad indicator of the...

2011-12-02T12:35:53.020-08:00

Watch the Mill Rates, it is a bad indicator of the level of taxation generally, because land value skews it too much, but for our purposes it works well.

2011 City Residential General Municipal Tax Rate:
2.27116 per $1000

2011 District Residential General Municipal Tax Rate:
2.47291 per $1000

That means that a $500,000 house in the District pays $100.87 more in Municipal tax than a $500,000 house in the City.

An $800,000 house pays $161.40 more in the District.

Sources:
City Tax Summary
District Tax Workshop

What about the District's expansive and aging ...

2011-12-02T11:11:30.778-08:00

What about the District's expansive and aging infrastructure? Why would City residents want to pay for that?

Are you for real? The District subsidizes the Cit...

2011-12-02T11:01:39.996-08:00

Are you for real? The District subsidizes the City and has done so for years.

The District pays the lion's share of policing, rec comm and emergency management office and if those resources are temporarily needed by the City they can be borrowed and returned.

The District Fire Dept. routinely
comes and loans their considerable resources at City emergencies and there is a wide imbalance of resources coming the other direction.

City residents use the District as their recreational playground on Grouse and Seymour mountains, Lynn Canyon, Cates or one of the more than 100 other Parks all maintained by District taxpayers.

City folk might well have to pay their fair share instead of riding the coat tails but they certainly won't be "subsidizing" the District.

Looks like George doesn't care to come back an...

2011-12-02T08:32:21.470-08:00

Looks like George doesn't care to come back and answer the questions put to him. Come on George, what's going to happen to our taxes if we amalgamate with the District? Will the City be subsidizing the District? How are you going to sell that to the electorate? It's one thing to say you want amalgamation, but how are you going to make it work? Time to step up to the plate and give us your plans.

http://www.northshoreoutlook.com/community/1347756...

2011-12-01T16:37:40.741-08:00

http://www.northshoreoutlook.com/community/134775658.html

District voters are apathetic. Period.

2011-12-01T16:04:26.814-08:00

District voters are apathetic. Period.

"How do you address the concern of City resid...

2011-11-30T22:58:08.301-08:00

"How do you address the concern of City residents that amalgamation would raise our taxes? There are concerns that we would end up subsidizing the District. Whether those concerns are real or perceived, you can't ignore that they are there."

Certainly a real issue to address, however, unfortunate that it may become a fight as that is the reality of taxation.

How do you address the concern of City residents t...

2011-11-30T18:20:07.008-08:00

How do you address the concern of City residents that amalgamation would raise our taxes? There are concerns that we would end up subsidizing the District. Whether those concerns are real or perceived, you can't ignore that they are there.

The City is the primary place where action has to ...

2011-11-30T17:54:39.301-08:00

The City is the primary place where action has to take place. Since both will be required by the Province to have the same referendum question asked and Councilors in the District are all the map in how they would do amalgamation, Doug and others have said include West Van and Unite North Van does not.

I wonder if some District councilors don't want amalgamation and only use it as an issue to talk about. UNV having a branch in the District is fundamental.

LEGs are required to have a name on the ballot, the fake slate route is the standard of the status quo people and is not completely honest with the voter and is not a route I will try to take.
I only see UNV being tightly focused, not in the way described by John with issues like the OCP being tossed in. I see only 3 candidates max being run in each branch. It can't be about a takeover using amalgamation.

It is all about amalgamation.

Setting up a civic party in the District solely on...

2011-11-30T13:07:04.267-08:00

Setting up a civic party in the District solely on the basis of amalgamation would only create confusion, and none of the current politicians would sign on as candidates, even though they support amalgamation.

Yes, you should form a society that endorses candidates that are pro amalgamation, but no it should not be a registered elector organization in the District.

If your only threshold for membership is amalgamation, then you will end up endorsing desperate candidates first, such as Wendy Qureshi and Austin Park, and the good ones won't touch you with a ten foot pole.

Raise $3,000, book a 1/2 page colour ad in the front of the NS News during the last week, and endorse a slate of the best candidates who support amalgamation.

Typical politician - a full paragraph when a simpl...

2011-11-30T08:51:43.956-08:00

Typical politician - a full paragraph when a simple yes or no would suffice.

It means that opposed to "facts" being s...

2011-11-29T23:08:41.698-08:00

It means that opposed to "facts" being stated by current City politicians, there is significant support for amalgamation in the City. Enough that a new referendum could go either way depending on the justifications used by the status quo politicians vs those who don't see change as a threat.

What does "almost a majority" mean? Is ...

2011-11-29T16:40:09.018-08:00

What does "almost a majority" mean? Is that a minority by another name?

A registered Party "Local Electors Group"...

2011-11-29T09:20:29.014-08:00

A registered Party "Local Electors Group" means a Party name on the ballot. Those who try to mimic a LEG by using the various joint electoral slate methods as do 4 different groups do now, diminish their efforts by not taking the final step.

If Darrell etc registered they would have had 4 or 5 seats on Council but they like the rest are trapped in the belief that unlike the rest the world North Van would reject anyone who ran as an official party.

Just like amalgamation, although a referendum in 1981 showed almost a majortity of City residents would vote for it, the status quo people from all sides automatically reject it.

And in the guidelines for a 1000 sq ft dwelling, t...

2011-11-29T08:55:37.657-08:00

And in the guidelines for a 1000 sq ft dwelling, the deck can be 80 sqft

After watching the North Van. City Council meeting...

2011-11-29T06:41:42.572-08:00

After watching the North Van. City
Council meeting last night I
welcome an Amalgamated North Van.
I would wish for 3 City Council
members to be part of it.

Now we will have Coach Houses with
500 sq ft. decks divided by a lane
No privacy, noise factors etc.
Again a precedent, what a jumble
Only jumped from 50 sq. ft. to 450
and was allowed. From input to
neighbours the sq. footage changed.

The incumbent DNV councillors basically formed a c...

2011-11-28T22:38:21.649-08:00

The incumbent DNV councillors basically formed a civic party about 2 weeks before the election. They united, promised each other their votes, and were elected as a slate.