City Council seems to be oblivious to what our City Manager is up to. A couple of months ago the City levelled many of the city playgrounds to the surprise of Council. Several Councillors stated that they wouldn’t have aggreed to such action if they knew that the intent was to completely destroy some parks. Now our City Manager has surprised Council by advertising for new Auxiliary Firefighters while the Firefighters Union is in negotiations to keep their jobs. That is a slap in the face to not only our Firefighters but also to again to Council. I think that it is time for our City Manager, Victor Kumar, to be sent packing and be fired. He has no interest in this town other than to tear it apart for his own personal gain and to then retire to North Van where he actually is a taxpayer and leave us with the remains to our city to clean up.
was Victor Kumar fired from his last job in Kimberly ? My mother who lives there said he was. and when he left Kimberly started to thrive again!! even if we fired him the city has to pay him for 4 more years… I agree that the city does not now what the left hand is doing from the right hand. there all playing pocket pool and linning there pockets wether it be money or other types of gain. we need people in council who are everyday Joe’s who dont own buisness or family members who own buisness. thats why this city never grew when Peter lester was mayer, they kept out big buisness and couldnt see past the dead hourse we call the pulp mill. we have a real chance in Prince Rupert to diversify and have other types of buisness in town weather it be big or small. Our city kept buisness out of town when they came in, telling them you can only build in town limits and not out along the highway. they never gave tax breaks to those big buisness, Unlike terrace who does. Its Time for a change thats for sure.
Oh one more thing I love the new college but what a stupid place to build it, guess who said “No” when asked to build it along BC Hydro office out on the highway…UMMM CITY. there is no expanstion plans were it is right now unless they can build up. and I do believe with the container port we could see more trades being offered at our local college but its going to be hard couse they cant expand.
I’m not aware of Kumar working in Kimberley but I do know that he left Trail and Nelson in shambles when he left those towns. I really hope some new blood runs for Council this coming Fall. We need to get the “Hollywood” out of City Hall ( Hollywood Herb ) and get people who want to look at building this City and its services. Not those who fly to China, Ontario and all over the rest of Gods green acre to satisfy their own ego while we as citizens are paying for it through the nose.
I must agree that yes there should be some changes especially number one Kumar, he was brought in with recommendations of Hollywood herb I believe. I heard that some people have been talking to Myles Moreau and putting the bug in his ear about running. Who knows what will happen doing we want someone who is not afraid to speak out and shake the bushes? Could be a rumour .
The college isn’t really as big a deal as some people make it out to be. Yes I agree it would have been nice to build it somewhere they could expand, but now that it’s where it is there’s nothing stopping the building of future expansions in a new location. Would it really be such a big deal to build a “trades” building in another part of Rupert and have it be an offshoot of the main college? No it wouldn’t be.
I generally agree with most of the sentiments about Kumar. They knew when they hired him he had be fired from his last employment… surely there was someone better out there we could have hired.
As for Herb… well I’ve never cared much for him but you have to give him one thing… he loves to schmooze people and thats what politicians do. Certainly he’s been better than the last string of crooks and shut-ins we’ve had for mayor. I have a lot of respect for the work that Myles does, and has done. There’s no way I would ever vote for him for mayor though.
Mike
No I believe Myles Moreau would not want that job but he is talking about a possible seat so I have heard through the rumour mill and I know he was very supportive of the Fire Station crew. From what I remember when he was in years ago , he never held back when it came to issues affecting our city. But I guess we won’t know for a while.
I’ve heard of a few possible Council candidates that may run in November. One of those that I have heard may run again is Steve Fitzpatrick. He has run once or twice in the past but has not yet been elected. Another is former mayor Jack Mussalem to replace Hollywood. I would vote for both. Myles would get my vote as Councillor again as he really is a stand up guy. Jack Rudolph and Tony Briglio have to go, no doubt about it. One is an idiot and the other has an ego the size of Texas. I do agree that Hollywood can talk and shmooze and therefore I think that he would be better off suited as a game show host. He’d do Wink Martindale proud.
Ahhh, a lot of what is being posted sounds more like speculation than actual fact. You probably heard from a relative or a friend of a friend, or through the grapevine about a lot of this stuff. Think twice about what you’re saying. You’re all spouting off facts like you’ve been amateur historians of the city for the past 20 years. Hey, maybe some of you are, but that doesn’t mean you know fact from fiction where all these stories are concerned.
How many crooks have we had as the mayor? I know which guy you’re probably thinking of, but the general opinion of that particular guy has been formed by the rapid spread of scandal, and that’s only one guy. What is a shut-in? Most people just believe the first thing they hear about these scenarios, but there are two sides to every story.
Most people who get elected for council, as with most people in general, are genuinely good people, who are Rupertites, and want the best for this city.
I’m not saying you’re all wrong. Far be it for me to make such a declaration. But it does sound suspiciously one-sided and there is no trace to true fact provided at all. Have a little faith in people. There’s probably a good reason why they make their decisions. And then if you still don’t like the guy, well, vote for somebody else, AFTER you’ve put aside the propaganda.
You are right in a sense. I have not received my information from the horses mouth but from people who were directly affected by the actions of Kumar. I do think before I write these comments too by the way. I think about how much our city administration must spend on travel costs, how much is being disclosed to our Council, how much land that the City is buying and unable to collect taxes on now, how millions were spent on the cruise facility without increasing our tax base etc, etc.
Fodera I’ve lived in Rupert for my entire life. What I posted is my opinion which has been formed from the 34 years I’ve lived here. It’s not election time, and I’m not trying to sway anyone to one side or another. My comments aren’t vague because I’m making stuff up, I did that because I choose not to attack anyone in particular.
Rupert had one of the longest serving Mayors of all time. By the end of his reign he and his councils managed to completely close Rupert off to anything good that would come along. I still remember what a battle McDonalds had back when they wanted to open up here. Since his departure we’ve seen Rupert start to open up more and more but the one thing we’ve always lacked is strong and competant leadership.
Mike
so what was lesters rationale for keeping ‘anything good’ away?
money! you know cant have competition for those rupert business then theyd have to GASP compete?
Well I believe that it was not Peter Lester who was stopping the outside or new businesses from making moves to Prince Rupert , it was the group of seven or twelve who chose to make things complicated.Did anyone see how quickly many of them left Rupert for Greener Dollars when things began to look bad for our community?Made their money off of us and said the hell I am out of here. Peter Lester did things which he has been recognized for in the province and else where in Canada, Read the riot act once or twice made a strong statement re First Nations being welcomed to bars. I say he still has his wits.
Makes a government, one person does not.
One person can only make stupid decisions. It takes a government to make a clusterfuck.
Justin case I would agree that there were some “interested” businessmen that helped to keep Prince Rupert down during those times, but I wonder how they could manage that without the help of City Hall?
Also who cares that Lester read the riot act twice? Yes it put him in the history books but he just happened to be the mayor during a period of unrest. Standing on a fire engine reading a prepared document doesn’t make you important. Hell even in my job I’m empowered to read the riot act if I get called upon.
Welcoming native people to bars is not something I have heard of him doing. If it’s true I’m sure that was an important step in thier civil rights. It may also be a piece of the puzzle as to why we have so many damn bars and liquor outlets in this town.
Mike
FYI, just 'cause it’s interesting useless trivia:
The Riot Act requires that a justice of the peace, sheriff, mayor, etc, read the following:
“Her Majesty the Queen charges and commands all persons being assembled immediately to disperse and peaceably to depart to their habitations or their lawful business, on pain of being guilty of an offence for which, on conviction, they may be sentenced to an imprisonment for life. GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!”
It must be read word for word, if you leave out any part of it, then it is unenforceable.
See sections 32-33 and 64-69 of the Criminal Code of Canada.
Interesting that we inherited this law from England, and we’re one of the few places that still has it (though in a modified form).
Also, speaking of the riot act, is it true that they have lowered business taxes while at the same time cut police and fire and other services?
Hey Phil it is true. Businesses are getting their taxes reduced while Fire and Police budgets are being cut drastsically. The Police however are actually only losing two members as they are doing some creative shuffling from general duty to other units which are not usually paid for by the city. The Fire Dept is not so lucky though. The city is looking at cutting staff by 1/3 permanently which seriously handicaps the Dept when, not if, when there are fires. Its amazing how the city cries poor but yet can still reduce taxes for business.
Will this decision also influence the fire insurance rates?
FRom what I hear it most likely will result in higher insurance rates but theinsurance companies arent speculating as to how much it might be.