Where’s Gregor?
The short answer is he’s on vacation and will return next week.
The longer answer comes from Vision Coun. Raymond Louie, who has been the acting mayor since Robertson began his holidays in mid-December.
But before I get to Louie’s answer – which includes one of his best quotes ever – I give you NPA Coun. George Affleck, who wants to know why the public face of this city has not made himself public to answer questions about the city’s so-called “snow fight.”
“It’s not cool, and I think he should take it more seriously,” said Affleck, noting the mayor was also absent during the city’s last major snowfall over the holiday season in December 2008. “Exact same scenario every single time.”
But doesn’t Robertson deserve a vacation?
“Yeah, everyone deserves a holiday but I get a sense that the people are very angry about this and they’re looking for leadership,” Affleck said of the thousands of complaints received at city hall regarding snow and ice removal and delays in picking up garbage, green waste and recycling, which is actually the responsibility of Multi-Material B.C.
All of this was a little too political for Louie, who took my questions for about five minutes before he of the normally straight-ahead comments delivered this rare quote: “What more is councillor Affleck looking for? Does he want the mayor to read him a bed time story?”
Good one, councillor.
All zingers aside, Louie said he has made himself available to several reporters but pointed out the city’s snow fight was best responded to by people involved directly in the operation side at city hall.
So that is why updates to media about the city’s battle with snow and ice have come courtesy of senior staff, namely Jerry Dobrovolny, the city’s general manager of engineering.
On Monday, it was Dobrovolny again taking questions, along with city manager Sadhu Johnston, Fire Chief John McKearney, Ethel Whitty of the city’s homelessness services and Sam Corea from the Insurance Corporation of B.C.
A summary: We’re on top of it, we’re handing out fines and taking people to court for not clearing sidewalks, we’ve redirected more staff to get roads and city properties clear, we opened up warming centres, we’re getting caught up on garbage collection and there is no salt shortage. And, yes, we’ll be ready for a major emergency, despite what a media type who sits in this desk from which this sentence was written might have suggested in an earlier write-up.
Louie said he couldn’t make Monday’s update because he was turning some sod with other politicians in Killarney to launch the construction of the $7.5-million Killarney Seniors Centre.
Despite the mayor’s absence, Louie said, he pointed out Robertson has been in regular contact with Johnston, which was something the city manager himself told me Monday after the news conference.
“There’s been a lot of political back-and-forth, and what I wanted to do today is to get the bureaucrats telling you what’s going on, and try to de-politicize this issue,” said Johnston, when asked about the mayor's absence. “I’ve talked to him or texted with him or emailed with him on a daily basis. So he’s been quite concerned and reaching out with many suggestions and raising concerns, raising questions. So he’s been quite on top of this.”
I got a similar response from the mayor’s office when I contacted one of his staff after the news conference. Here’s some of what I was told via email: “The mayor is in daily contact with senior staff including Jerry and Sadhu to ensure that he is up to date on all the actions being taken to keep the streets safe and city services moving. He has been part of all decisions around scaling up our snow removal efforts and additional warming shelter spaces as discussed in the press conference today.”
More snow is in the forecast for this weekend. So is more politics. As for the image of the mayor reading Affleck a bedtime story, send your complaints to Louie.
Note: Since I posted this sad tale, Louie contacted me via email to remind me that council appointed him the acting mayor for the entire year, "as allowed for in the Charter and have held the position for the past two years, as well." Not sure how that is relevant to what I wrote. Anyway, he concluded with this: "So far, no complaints about the image of mayor reading George a bedtime story."
mhowell@vancourier.com
@Howellings
