My Park & School Board Picks—Why Them?
By the time this post is published, if you’re reading my blog for ideas on who to vote for, you’ve literally left your voting decisions until the last minute. And so have I.
Advance voting is done; voting day is tomorrow—Saturday, October 15th, 2022. By Sunday morning, every municipality will have a new or re-elected mayor, and a new mix of councillors. In Vancouver, we also get new Park Board commissioners and school board trustees.
It’s this last set of picks that stymies many of us. This is the only city in Canada with an independently-elected group of park commissioners, and unless you have kids AND follow politics at the most grassroots level, you probably lack an informed opinion on who should lead the VSB.
So if you’re striving to make your vote meaningful—uh, that is meaningful to you, because your one vote likely won’t make a difference, unless you believe your vote will be the margin of victory for someone AND THAT’S NOT THE REASON WHY EVERY VOTING AGE ADULT SHOULD BE EXERCISING THEIR DEMOCRATIC RIGHT (hint: I just gave you the reason)—then I propose you spend your last few hours at least reviewing the following:
The top 3 priorities of each candidate—do they match up with your own?
Alignment of party values of each candidate with your own—do your candidates align with the party? Does it seem like a copy & paste job?
Value of incumbents—Are you voting in only newcomers, only incumbents, or a mix…and what would that mean for the office in questions?
Party majority potential—If one party ends up with a majority (see Vision Vancouver 2008-‘18, BC NDP 2020-present), would that be a good thing? What are the risks?
I addressed these themes two blog posts ago, but they’re worth revisiting, for two reasons:
While Twitter doesn’t reflect reality, my social media consumption opened up some doubt in my about my initial picks. Are the Greens really that bad? Am I not giving VOTE Socialist enough of a chance? Why not vote for all OneCity candidates if I like the party values so much? These are my swirling, obsessive thoughts.
I don’t need to justify my picks to anyone, let alone my closest friends, but they’re typically my most trusted sources of information and advice, and they opened my eyes to the possibility of doubling down on my already closely-held values. As one friend asked me to consider the following, that “…racial/gender equity and justice will have more possibility to move beyond lip service with a slate of candidates who have actually lived experiences that match up with the makeup of the city. This means more indigenous candidates and folks of colour, because climate and housing justice are all a reflection of, and often so interconnected with, racial inequity.”
No buts, no howevers, no maybes—these are all valid points. All I can do at this point is explain my choices, and mention others that I believe deserve strong consideration as well. Here goes…
Park Board
203 - DIGBY, Tom (Green): I’d never heard of Tom before, and at first glance I got spooky vibes from his stoned-looking eyes (I know, I know, who am I to judge…). But his values align. He’s a scientist and talks about biodiversity. And beyond the urge to logically—but often wrongly—associate the Vancouver Green party with urban environmentalism, it was only when I heard him speak to a crowd of people concerned about active transportation in Stanley Park last weekend that Digby convinced me that he could be that Green candidate. He was…eloquent. Intelligent. Reasonable-sounding. A person like this might be able to champion the science that keeps our green spaces alive, thriving, and serving people sustainably. So he gets my vote. And if it’s also a Visine vote, that’s fine too.
204 - FRENKEL, Carla (Vision): Strong values-alignment. Highly credible community organizing and advocacy experience. A mother on a bike with obvious energy for the causes she believes in. Frenkel also spoke at the Stanley Park event, which by the way, was organized by the tireless cycling advocate and Twitter personality known as @LucyinCanada, and to which every Park Board candidate was invited. Frenkel, like Digby and three other candidates among my picks, showed and spoke to the crowd passionately, knowledgeably, and competently.
206 - PINOCHET-ESCUDERO, Andrea (Socialist): While I would happily accept the accusation that my vote for Pinochet-Escudero is a token Socialist vote, it’s actually all about one of my other favourite ideals: reducing our collective addiction to the automobile. And to do that, we need fewer cars in places like…fucking parks. And as progress towards this entirely reasonable goal (and very low bar quite honestly), how about a Stanley Park shuttle bus? That’s Pinochet-Escudero’s #3 priority. That’s boss. So yes, I’m socialist-curious and would love to see this party establish itself as OneCity did in the 2018 election. Gotta start somewhere. Bring on the Stanley Park shuttle!
207 - LIVINGSTONE, Chris (COPE): Livingstone has been involved in delivering a range of social and legal services to Indigenous and low-income communities Vancouver, and is uniquely positioned to bring a lens of reconciliation and youth engagement to the parks system. By the same token, he appears ready to address core park issues that would benefit all Vancouverites, such as community gardens and eliminating some rec fees. And he addresses CRAB Park, a symbol of the conflict between our our park policies, our civic bodies, and our people, which nobody has been able to tackle with the benefit of the lived experience that he can seemingly bring to the table.
209 - STOCKWELL, Caitlin (OneCity): I am tempted to pin Stockwell’s extraordinary prioritization and values expression on her legal background or perhaps her buy-in to OneCity party dogma, but both of those would be fake rationales. Her candidacy is strong because she’s strong. Stockwell was another of the Stanley Park rally speakers, and probably the most impressive of the bunch on the basis of her ideas, passion, and demonstration of both in the moment. Instead of trying to convince you with more logic, please accept this personal appeal as a symbol of my confidence in this candidate: while others on my list may fail to win a seat on Park Board, the only person I would be truly sad for not winning would be Stockwell.
212 - IRWIN, John (Vision | Incumbent): The values align. Irwin’s shift from COPE to Vision demonstrates guts. His commitment to active transportation in parks—specifically cycling—shows his brain and heart are aligned with the Vancouver many of know and love, and the fearlessness and political will that are essential in any elected role. But he really gets my vote because of one factor that could be easy to miss: he would be the only incumbent. With an elected body as dysfunctional as the Park Board has been for many, many election cycles, I strongly believe in the importance of having at least one incumbent who can provide some leadership on policy, process, and (yes) politics. And interestingly, one of the people who explained the importance of the incumbent to me was former Vision councillor Heather Deal, a newbie Park Board commissioner way back in 2002. The incumbent in question at that time? Allan De Genova.
213 - JACKSON, Serena (OneCity): Once again, it’s a values thing—in this case, a stated commitment to 2SLGBTQ+ equity and justice, alongside climate action and Indigenous rights/reconciliation. Jackson was another supportive voice to appear at the now legendary (okay, to me) Stanley Park rally, demonstrating great strength and comfort with a leadership role.
These are my votes, and it’s been with some chagrin that I have fielded concerns from a number of people about my Green picks (They’re terrible! Not the person you picked, but OTHER Greens!), that I could have selected more candidates from Indigenous and other racialized/marginalized groups (for example, COPE’s Maira Hassan - 217, OneCity’s Tiyaltelut Kristen Rivers - 226), or that I should drop some candidates on the basis of identity, possibly over and above their ideas or experience. I feel this sense of chagrin because…I like my picks. From the perspective of a pace of change I think our city can and should pursue, and the stability we need while we do so, I think my picks would represent a giant leap for the Park Board.
School Board
What do we do about the school board? We listen to and learn from a teacher, of course.
My friend PL (not their real acronym) is a secondary teacher in their 11th year teaching in the district, with Special Education (Learning Disabilities) teaching qualifications, and a background in education, environmental, and active transportation advocacy. PL knows, but more importantly, walks and talks, the issues in our education system.
PL decided to email a survey on some of the most pressing issues in VSB 39 to all 31 school board trustee candidates. The questions dealt with how trustee candidates would propose to deal with VSB senior management, best practices in special education program delivery, special ed prevalence-based funding, and staff recruitment and retention. Plus this little nugget:
"If elected, how would you work with other Trustees and senior management to advocate for more, sustained funding for our district from the province, and if necessary/applicable, the federal government?"
In the end, only five candidates responded: Lois Chan-Pedley (Green - 302), Suzie Mah (COPE - 304), Karina Zeidler (Socialist - 307), Heming Hopkins (Ind. - 308), and Janet Fraser (Greens - 315). No written responses came from candidates with the following parties:
ABC
NPA
OneCity
TEAM
Vision
The responses PL shared with me and the rest of their mailing list were helpful in reinforcing some of my picks, as were the non-responses from non-incumbents; I give incumbents a bit more slack, given the extant material available in public records on their past votes, motions, and statements on VSB policies.
But the main point of this section is to reinforce the reality that many of us voters face: despite the availability of public information about their meetings and their work, it remains (according to my rigorous research and algebraic calculations) the least appreciated and understood elected body in the city, and the most prone to attracting random, partisan-affiliated votes from low-information voters. I am no exception, so I did my best to school myself (hey, this is MY blog, and so I get to deploy MY bad puns).
Before ending this post with an explanation of my picks, I wanted to include portions of the responses from Green candidate and incumbent Lois Chan-Pedley. While I acknowledge the importance of SOGI programming and keeping police out of schools as much as possible, in my mind these thoughts sum up the challenge facing the VSB, and some of the value of incumbents:
"Generally speaking, things move slowly in the VSB so even if I promise a thing in the first year it will probably not get done...a lot of these require culture shifts, and those take time...just to set expectations. "
"...I'd like to rile up voters in Vancouver to pressure the provincial government for proper funding, but even that is time consuming (is that even our proper role as trustees?) and probably won't get us anywhere - their bold election promises have hardly been kept. Honestly, meeting with MLAs, having an advocacy committee, shouting, accusing, demanding, playing nice, following their rules, not following their rules, none of it has gotten us anywhere. I think it's time for us to find other money."
"...I've dug around a little and I've not been able to find any concrete examples of advocacy in public education with a good ending (a few boards stood up and got fired, but then an interim trustee gets placed and undoes a bunch of the work, so the outcome is neutral at best). I'm not sure who to turn to for help at this point."
"I am sorry that I'm a bit cynical. The topic of advocating for more provincial resources really gets my goat. I know I'll get attacked for trying to find other funding sources because in an ideal world, public schools would be fully funded by the provincial government and we wouldn't need charity, but that hasn't been the case for decades and I don't see that changing any time soon. Alas."
For any candidate, but especially someone with four years under her belt, to be honest about not only the challenges but also their desire to step into new directions and take risks on behalf of public education is one of the things I'm voting for. Direct experience, an activist mindset, and a willingness to try new, untested strategies—and be open about the uncertainty of it all—is a potent mix, especially at a time when business-as-usual has delivered nothing but weak tea to our children, and their teachers and school administrators.
So my picks are informed by this survey—thanks PL!—and my own research endlessly blathered about in this and the past two posts:
302 - CHAN-PEDLEY, Lois (Green | Incumbent): You know I like a little incumbency. You know I’m not ready to write off the Greens just yet. And you know I like Chan-Pedley’s approach. Shall we move on?
303 - THOMSON, Hilary (Vision): Thomson jumped into my Twitter mentions during an exchange with Vision council candidate Lesli Boldt and some other fun bike people about AAA cycling infrastructure. She’s supportive, and the rest of her candidate bio checks out. And of course, Vision appears to be on the rebound, at least pre-election. That alone gets my vote. See how easy it is?
304 - MAH, Suzie (COPE): Strong experience as a former teacher (retired in June after 30+ years). Expresses all the right values in her candidate material. Most importantly, Mah wrote one of the more compelling responses to PL’s survey, and was the first to respond. “In 1993, I helped negotiate the language in the teachers' collective agreement that outlines the processes that should be in place when there is integration of students with learning challenges in classrooms. There has been little change to this language.” Bingo — please Ms Mah, have at it….
315 - FRASER, Janet (Green | Incumbent): Yes, she’s both Green and she’s white, but she’s not wrong. At least, this is my roll of the dice, and I’m doing it on behalf of (possibly) YOUR children. Hate the vote, but if she gets in, please support Fraser. I believe she’s a smart cookie.
317 - SIGURDSON, Krista (OneCity): I don’t like the fact that no single OneCity candidate responded to PL’s survey, and while I know the party’s candidates, collectively, are often quite good with this sort of thing. But I did the research and I like Sigurdson’s education, her work on the Vancouver District Parent Advisory Council, and her advocacy for her own children and schools in her neighbourhood of the Downtown East Side.
318 - EPSTEIN, Kyla (OneCity): We’re at the stage with OneCity where the candidate platforms are boringly uniform—a copy-and-paste job, which frankly dehumanizes the candidates. Even a little re-wording would help, but yes, I get that party policy consistency is more feature than bug. So we look to candidate biographies to add more umpf to the pitch. Epstein is former chair of the Vancouver Public Library. Ah….libraries, libraries, libraries. She’s popular with many people I know and respect, so that plus the literary angle is enough for me.
320 - REDDY, Jennifer (OneCity | Incumbent): One of four incumbents I’m voting for, I believe Reddy has proven herself as an outspoken, smart, and brave politician for wading into the toxic poo-tank that is Vancouver politics. Alongside Christine Boyle, Reddy has been a champion of change, and brings policy and curriculum design chops to her role. And I think she’s just begun a lifelong political career. I want to hear more from her, so she gets my vote.
327 - POPPELL, Nick (Green): Poppell is the ONLY school board candidate who checked a box for me with a top shared value in his own top 3. In fact, all three of his priorities—Food Systems in Schools, Staff/Student Housing, Arts in Schools—are dead-on for my taste, and give me hope….not just for the school board, but that he may be able to show a reversion to what the Greens should be about. It’s not a polarized argument about being either pro-environmental policies or no environmental policies (the latter of which is a fair accusation lobbed at some Green councillors to date…about the hole they’ve possibly fallen into in their apparent mad scramble to appeal to voters the past four years), but a more nuanced approach to how to bring about change that supports, rather than compromises, our ecosystem. I hope Poppell can model and champion smart policies that help people, support system change, and fit in with progressive environmental. And so on the basis of this hope alone (‘cause nope, I don’t know the guy), he has my vote as well.
329 - WONG, Allan (Vision | Incumbent): Last but not least, the sole survivor of…let’s just say a different time on school board. Wong has put up with a shit-ton of politics, a lot of bad governance at the provincial level, and crazy amounts of in-fighting and drama within VSB administration. I don’t even know 1% of it, but from what I’ve heard—and I interviewed Wong at length in 2018 for my book—Wong has been a model of propriety, strength, and patience. He was the only elected Vision politician the past four years, and perhaps his patience will pay off this election once again. Wong is a champion for the environment and active transportation. He has my vote, and long may he reign.
