So the mayor is holding a “telephone town hall” meeting Tuesday night.
What the heck is that?
Apparently, it’s a chance for residents to pose questions to Mayor Gregor Robertson over the phone.
I assume it will go well.
How can I say that?
I turn to history.
Some of you may recall that Robertson hosted a one-hour “town hall” meeting via telephone in November 2010. Remember that one?
That’s the phone-in where the mayor took 15 calls, although — at one point — had a whopping 12,000 people listen in on his responses. That’s right, 12,000!
Keep in mind the Pacific Coliseum has a capacity of 16,000 for a sporting event and The Queen Elizabeth Theatre can accommodate 3,000 people.
Big numbers.
I got those numbers back then from Ian Baillie, who was Vision Vancouver’s executive director at the time. Yep, Vision Vancouver, the party that promoted and paid for the November 2010 yak fest and is doing the same for the Nov. 26 phoner.
Call me a journosaur, but my recollection of a town hall is where the mayor of the day shows up to a meeting space and invites residents to praise/criticize him.
Apparently, those days are gone.
Politicians now resort to Twitter, the telephone and party-controlled forums to take questions. A party strategy to keep the mayor in safe company, maybe?
As Baillie acknowledged in November 2010, the majority of listeners to that town hall were members and donors of Vision, or had contact with the party at some point since elections in 2005 and 2008.
The party’s new executive director, Stepan Vdovine, told me last week that “screeners” will handle calls in the Nov. 26 phone-in. He acknowledged the event is directed mainly at — but not limited to — fans of Vision.
“You could tell a screener you’re going to ask a question about A but then you ask a question about B,” Vdovine said. “So, obviously, there’s a certain risk to that but we’re willing to take that risk. We think our agenda is popular, we think the mayor is popular.”
But why not take the party out of the mix and have the City of Vancouver host a non-partisan town hall meeting instead of an electronic pep rally?
“I suspect if the mayor’s office were to host a town hall in the same fashion that we’ve hosted them, I could see the accusation coming that the mayor is politicking on the taxpayers’ dime,” he said.
Vdovine pointed out the mayor has taken his licks at public forums this year in Kitsilano and in the West End. The topics were transit and affordable housing. Vision promoted and paid for both meetings.
“The guy hops on his bike and is late to every meeting by 15 or 20 minutes because he gets stopped on every corner and people talk to him,” he said, when asked about the perception the mayor is kept in a bubble. “I would argue that you haven’t seen a more accessible mayor than Gregor. He’s always out and about. There’s plenty of ways to engage him — whether it’s through our town halls or whether it’s through council hearings or whether it’s on the street, he is available.”
Is he right, Vancouver?
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I goofed up in my last entry and referred to Vancouver Police Board member Mary Collins as Mary McNeil, who used to be on the board.
Sorry about that, Mary — Collins, that is.
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