EXCLUSIVE: Why we left 性视界传媒 First

Three 性视界传媒 politicians sit in their campaign headquarters in the old Stardust Roller Rink building, a fitting locale for a group of candidates who are looking for a fresh start.

Just like the historic building in North 性视界传媒 that is soon to become an education centre, Bruce Hayne, Barbara Steele and Dave Woods say they are wanting change.

During their years on council together as part of 性视界传媒 First, the three may have differing feelings about splitting from the reigning slate.

But there is one thing they all agree on 鈥� what 性视界传媒 First became is not what they signed up for. But that鈥檚 a claim 性视界传媒 Mayor Linda Hepner takes serious issue with.

While the three councillors are running in the Oct. 20 election together under the Integrity Now banner, their lingering feelings about jumping the 性视界传媒 First ship vary wildly.

鈥淚t was a decision that tormented me,鈥� said Dave Woods, a former police officer. 鈥淪till does, quite frankly.鈥�

Twenty-year Councillor Barbara Steele said the day she made the decision was 鈥渁 very happy鈥� day.

鈥淚t was a lot of weight off my mind.鈥�

And as for councillor turned mayoral candidate Bruce Hayne?

鈥淚 think people deserve better,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n the last four years there鈥檚 been big shift in how not only we communicate internally, but how we were front facing and communicating externally.鈥�

Hayne was the first to step off after what he described as a 鈥渞eal shift, operationally and philosophically from when Dianne (Watts) was mayor.鈥�

鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 the same,鈥� he said of after Watts鈥� departure. 鈥淭here wasn鈥檛 the same kind of collaboration within council鈥� It鈥檚 a much bigger thing and a feeling that this isn鈥檛 the direction that I want to go. This isn鈥檛 how I feel that we should be working together and the governance model is just one that is not collaborative, it鈥檚 not open and transparent.鈥�

He gave one internal example.

鈥淓very year the mayor has the State of the City Address and the mayor describes some of the big-picture, bold ideas that are coming forward for the coming year鈥� I can assure you that each one of us heard it for the very first time when you heard it.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 the kind of thing that didn鈥檛 make me feel included or valued as a councillor,鈥� Hayne said, adding, 鈥溞允咏绱� First had every seat on school board in the last term and every seat on council. And we had one joint meeting.鈥�

Steele echoed that sentiment, saying she had 鈥渟ome grave concerns.鈥�

鈥淭here was no real feeling of all of us together, even though we were on the same team,鈥� said Steele.

鈥淥ver the last few years, there were several committees of council that we would have a report from and I didn鈥檛 even know that that committee existed. Things that would come before us that were worked out by people, that we had never even seen, and had to be prepared to vote on it.鈥�

That never happened under Watts鈥� watch, she added.

鈥淒ianne was always, 鈥楳y team and I, the team did this.鈥� She was incredibly inclusive, really.

鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 blame one person,鈥� Steele elaborated, 鈥渂ut certainly when Linda was mayor it was night and day from when Dianne was there. So take it from there. And Tom had a different idea altogether and I couldn鈥檛 go along with any of it. Just in platform, in inclusivity, in who dealt with things, who was going to make decisions, was far from what we had done before.鈥�

Steele said as the election neared, she 鈥渃ouldn鈥檛 believe the things I was hearing, the things that were coming, the changes. And no input. No input from us at all. And I walked. It was so far removed from the 性视界传媒 First of Dianne that it was not recognizable.鈥�

There鈥檚 an obvious, lingering question: Why didn鈥檛 the three politicians split earlier, if they didn鈥檛 agree with the way things were being run?

As a first-term councillor in 2014, Woods says it took him a while to 鈥済et into the groove.鈥�

鈥淎s soon as I got the picture, what I could see, I thought, 鈥榃hoa. Hold the phone here.鈥� That鈥檚 when I started voting against over 100 developments.鈥�

Woods said he 鈥渟poke up.鈥�

For his part, Hayne said you take time to let a new mayor 鈥渇ind their sea legs.鈥�

鈥淚 think you spend the first couple years trying to make adjustments internally, and wait for the new mayor to find their sea legs and get going,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hen you come to the realization in year three that this isn鈥檛 going anywhere. Then you spend the last year figuring out, fish or cut bait, how do I exit and when do I exit?

鈥淚 had no intention and I still have no intention of hurting 性视界传媒 First. I wanted to step off and I didn鈥檛 want to cause a row or make any wild accusations of what I saw as being shortcomings, that wasn鈥檛 at all where I was going to go, and I鈥檓 still not going to do that. I just feel very strongly that there is a better way of governance in civic politics than the way we are right now. And a stronger vision.鈥�

For Steele, there was 鈥渄iscontent.鈥�

鈥淚 was kind of hoping things would get better鈥� I did have some grave concerns. I took the opportunity of an election,鈥� she said. 鈥淚n my discussions with Tom it became very clear that there was no more discussion. We didn鈥檛 stand up and have fisticuffs or anything like that, and I鈥檓 assuming I can still talk to him when I鈥檓 in a room. I do, I sit next to him, my office is next to him and he sits next to me on council. But the role of mayor and councillor was not going to be a comfortable one for four more years.鈥�

Woods 鈥� who split after 性视界传媒 First mayoral candidate Tom Gill spoke publicly about supporting a handgun ban 鈥� said leaving was a tough decision for him.

鈥淚 got elected to city council, I feel, because I ran with 性视界传媒 First, so to leave 性视界传媒 First was incredibly hard for me,鈥� he said.

Asked if they thought Hepner was a good mayor, the three paused.

鈥淓veryone has their own style,鈥� said Hayne. 鈥淚 think the people of 性视界传媒 will judge that over time and over the years to come. I鈥檓 not going to sit here and judge Linda as a mayor. Linda gave 30-plus years of service to the city as an employee and as an elected official, and she鈥檚 capped a very long, distinguished career off with being mayor for four years.鈥�

Steele said Hepner 鈥渄id her very best, I think. She really did.鈥�

鈥淲e were used to Dianne. Dianne is outstanding in many, many ways. Very hard. I don鈥檛 know many that could actually follow Dianne. That might have been very difficult,鈥� she added.

鈥淏ut I think she worked hard, she knew her stuff, she knew the city, certainly she knew the parts of the city the staff needed to know, she had a very responsible job with the staff and on staff, I just think there was a lot of comparison between the two, but I think she managed in her way. The city hasn鈥檛 fallen apart, there鈥檚 nothing terrible she鈥檚 done.鈥�

The Now-Leader asked the three candidates if they would have stayed with 性视界传媒 First if Hepner remained at the helm.

鈥淣o,鈥� Hayne replied first. 鈥淚 left before Tom was chosen as the mayoral candidate. My decision was already made.鈥�

Steele wasn鈥檛 so sure.

鈥淚 might have,鈥� she said.

鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 as quick to make the decision. I even went so far as to vote for Tom for the nomination because I felt that he probably was the right one to vote for at the time. He and I talked about it a lot. I told him I was going to vote for him before hand, he thought it was wonderful, we were doing great, things were going great, he said we鈥檙e going to work, and within two days, three days, things weren鈥檛 the same. My decision was made when Tom came on board.鈥�

Woods said he probably would have stayed.

鈥淚 would have liked to see more consultation from Linda, but I consider myself a pretty loyal individual. Who knows. Hard to say. But I think I probably would have stayed.鈥�

All three said their goal in the election, and for governance, if elected, is to operate with 鈥渋ntegrity.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 not which side of an issue you fall down on, LRT versus SkyTrain, is it RCMP or municipal, it鈥檚 that the community deserves more,鈥� said Hayne.

鈥淭he community deserves a better answer than, 鈥業鈥檓 going to get rid of the RCMP the day I take office,鈥� or 鈥業鈥檓 going to ban all hand guns.鈥� Those tiny sound bites they can work well on radio, perhaps, but the community deserves much more consultation and much more input into what are very complex issues.鈥�

Mayor Linda Hepner responds

When Hepner heard what they had to say, she told the Now-Leader she was furious and 鈥渋nsulted.鈥�

鈥淓veryone has their own style,鈥� she said of her leadership. 鈥淚鈥檓 not a clone鈥� My door was always open.鈥�

She said the suggestion she didn鈥檛 consult with her team enough 鈥渋s not the reality.鈥�

When asked about Hayne鈥檚 comment that she never revealed to him her State of the City announcements, she said she was merely following suit of previous mayors, such as Doug McCallum.

鈥淲hen McCallum was mayor and he did his State of the City, we always had councillors saying what are we going to come up with now? When Watts was mayor, no one saw that before. It was no more, no less, than what had always happened.鈥�

Hepner said things were different under former mayors Bob Bose and Doug McCallum, 鈥渁nd things will be quite different under the next mayor. I don鈥檛 see that as being a surprise.鈥�

As far as Hepner is concerned, the actions of Hayne and his team are purely 鈥減olitical positioning.鈥�

鈥淭hey have every opportunity to be running with 性视界传媒 First, and I鈥檓 not part of it anymore, I鈥檓 gone,鈥� she said.

鈥淲hat else could I chalk it up to other than opportunism. When you see someone up until the day before the 性视界传媒 First mayoral vote, then finds out he鈥檚 not getting the support, then leaves. You can鈥檛 put any other word to it than political opportunism.

鈥淚 have no reason to make it up. It鈥檚 not my election.鈥�

Hepner said Hayne has been 鈥渦ndermining me from the day I became mayor鈥� I鈥檓 offended he鈥檚 trying to make this about me.鈥�

According to Hepner, Hayne didn鈥檛 once come to her suggesting things be done differently.

鈥淗e鈥檚 been a rogue councillor all along鈥� I had to have one discussion with him about his mayoral interests early in my mandate,鈥� she said, estimating it was two years ago.

鈥淚 did go down and say, 鈥楽top it, you鈥檙e undermining my mandate, and I can鈥檛 have that happen.鈥� He assured me it would not. I said if it continues to happen you should leave 性视界传媒 First. He鈥檚 been winding up his agenda for the past year.鈥�

Hepner said Hayne lost the mayoral candidacy vote within 性视界传媒 First to her last time around.

鈥淭he man is passionate about being mayor, I鈥檒l give him that. But when he throws the word integrity in there? I鈥檓 offended, because what he did had no integrity.

鈥淎fter 33 years, to hear that, it鈥檚 bull鈥�-t.鈥�

If the three councillors felt this way, 性视界传媒 First鈥檚 mayoral candidate Tom Gill questioned why they wouldn鈥檛 speak up earlier.

Asked to respond to the concerns the former slate members raised and if there were tensions before the three split, Gill said he鈥檚鈥渁iming to take the high road鈥� in this campaign and suggested some had 鈥渁mnesia.鈥�

鈥淭o be frank, up until that point, (Hayne) was still looking to colleagues of mine, lobbying them to support him as the leadership candidate. I鈥檓 confused, given he left before the leadership race, why he would鈥檝e felt and given those comments,鈥� Gill added.

As for Steele鈥檚 departure from 性视界传媒 First, he said 鈥渉er recollection of her story is very different than mine,鈥� insisting she left because the party didn鈥檛 endorse her after learning her loyalties were elsewhere, and had been speaking to the Rich Coleman camp.

For her part, Steele said she doesn鈥檛 recall 鈥渢he word endorse or not being endorsed coming up at all鈥� but that she and Gill 鈥渟ometimes clash.鈥�

鈥淲e felt we needed someone who was committed to the team,鈥� said Gill, insisting he has consulted with others all the way along.

鈥淚f you look at my track record, it鈥檚 such that I鈥檓 always consulting with everyone. One needs to be able to differentiate personal opinion versus that of a group. Not always will you have census. In developing our platform, there鈥檚 a position we need to have from a team. There are people who have different perspectives, but finding that sweet spot is always important. It鈥檚 something I鈥檓 not having a problem in achieving (with the new team).鈥�

Is the 性视界传媒 First of today wildly different than that of Watts鈥�? Gill acknowledged 性视界传媒 First鈥檚 vision has been 鈥渢weaked.鈥� Gill said during Watts鈥� tenure, the emphasis was on developing the City Centre core, and 鈥減laying catch up鈥� in terms of civic amenities.

Now, building on that, Gill said his focus will be on youth and families, if elected on Oct. 20.

The road through Hawthorne Park

The Integrity Now team also pulled back the curtain on what was arguably the most controversial issue in 性视界传媒鈥檚 civic landscape since the 2014 election when 性视界传媒 First swept all nine council seats 鈥� the road through Hawthorne Park.

The road was hotly contested by residents who say they felt ignored and dismissed through the process.

The project proceeded despite more than 11,000 性视界传媒 citizens formally voicing their disapproval, an attempt in court to halt it, and a protester blocking machinery from tree-clearing and delaying work by a day.

The city鈥檚 justification for the connector road is to move utilities off 104 Avenue in preparation for light rail, that it鈥檚 been in the city鈥檚 Official Community Plan since 1986, and to create an east-west connector to Whalley Boulevard to 150th Street to ease traffic and reduce congestion.

See also:

While Hayne, Woods and Steele all defend the decision itself, and say the road was needed, they all agreed it wasn鈥檛 done in the process in which it should have been.

鈥淚 think on that one we went against protocol,鈥� said Steele. 鈥淚t鈥檚 always been that you don鈥檛 have any kind of heated discussion or controversial item that comes during, especially, the month of August. Everyone is away, we鈥檙e not in session. it was wrong to do.

鈥淲e were pushed and pushed and pushed,鈥� Steele continued. 鈥淭hen we made the decision. I don鈥檛 have a problem with the decision but I do, like Bruce, have a problem with how it was done, and lack of discussion. There was just no time to do that.

鈥淚t was the funding,鈥� she said of the project鈥檚 urgency. 鈥淭here was no nice way of saying it.鈥�

Hayne chimed in, adding that if you look at a map of 性视界传媒, there is no straight line along any road north of 88th Avenue that doesn鈥檛 bump into a park.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a nice problem to have, but you can鈥檛 go east-west across 性视界传媒 without hitting a park. I believe that that was necessary to do. How we did it, on the other hand, I thought was very unfortunate. And very unconsultative, if that鈥檚 even a word. We did it in the middle of summer,鈥� he said.

鈥淚 did not like the way in which we went about doing it,鈥� he added. 鈥淧art way through staff found out all the sudden, through some research, that oh my goodness there鈥檚 a restrictive covenant on this and we have to do a reverse petition. They didn鈥檛 know that at the beginning. It was a series of really unfortunate events and there seemed to be a real rush because of wanting to get early works done and funding from the federal government and so on, for the works to be done, that put a very tight timeline on it. The public just did not feel like they were consulted.鈥�

But, Hayne said no matter what the project, you can鈥檛 please everyone all the time.

Woods said the timing was too tight.

鈥淭here needed to be more consultation, there needed to be more input from the community,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think the city did the very best to try to make the best of the situation. They added, I mean the park is actually bigger than it was before. They put a lot of money into it, but the east-west connector on the road and of course if you wanted to put SkyTrain or LRT on 104, you had to move the water main. Either that or you don鈥檛 put rapid transit there,鈥� said Woods.

While the city has a long-term transit vision that includes 150 kilometres of light rail, Woods said the road through Hawthorne park was a 鈥渢ough, tough decision.鈥�

鈥淗orrible feedback from the community,鈥� he added.

amy.reid@surreynowleader.com
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