PHYLICIA TORREVILLAS
03 October 2011 05:55
Mayor Gregor Robertson has begun rallying the troops for the Nov. 19 civic election at his Vision Vancouver campaign office on Yukon Street.
Mayor Gregor Robertson and the Vision Vancouver team are ready to paint the town blue and green.
Robertson is kicking off his re-election campaign as he gets ready to go head-to-head against Coun. Suzanne Anton of the Non-Partisan Association.
He said he wants to drum up enough volunteers to surpass the 1,500 people who helped out during his 2008 campaign. He also promised there will be no negative advertising coming from the Vision camp.
“There’s a big contrast between the parties, and I think the people of Vancouver want a positive city government that makes changes that are good for the long-term and is focused on good government in the near-term,” he said yesterday.
“We won’t be doing negative attack ads. That’s the NPA’s style.”
A big part of his campaign will be focused on transportation and making Vancouver an affordable place to live — from ending homelessness to building more low- and middle-income housing, he said.
With public transit one of his pet issues, Robertson said Friday’s regional mayors’ vote on TransLink’s supplemental plan to fund transit expansion will be crucial.
“I support that investment,” he said. “We need better transit right across the region starting with the Evergreen Line and improving bus service and giving late-night services. That means we need to raise more funds through the province’s two-cents-per-litre fuel tax.”
He’s also not worried that the June 15 Stanley Cup riot will put a dent in his campaign.
“I believe voters blame the rioters for the riot and we’re all anxious to see them brought to justice,” he said. “We have a game plan at city hall to make improvements before the next big event — the Grey Cup — to make sure everything goes smoothly. We want to keep hosting big events in the downtown, but we need to make changes and improvements to ensure that we never see a riot like that again.”
Metro Vancouver
