Hollywood Herb for BC Liberal MLA

Anybody hear the rumor that Herb Pond might be running for the BC Liberals in the next provincial election?
:astonished:

That is a given not a rumourā€¦
Herb would give coons a good run for his moneyā€¦
However I could never vote bc liberalā€¦
Should be interestingā€¦

I will vote for Gary in November. 

Shhh, donā€™t tell Herbā€¦ :wink:

Heh, I actually like Herbā€¦butā€¦not as my MLA. :smile:

Why in the Hell would he run for Liberal MLA,he has already proven to be a lier to the community people who allowed him to be mayor? Do they really need another idiot in Victoria? Plus Gordo will not allow him to cut ribbons and take Gordā€™s thing away from him. I will vote for Gary.

Geez I dunno, is he sure he wants to reduce all the travel options that he has as mayorā€¦

Would seem rather boring to be a backbencher in the Gordo parade, when you can be King of your own domain. (though I gather the financial renumeration is much better under Gordoā€™s tent)Ā 

From the city minutes of March 10/08

princerupert.ca/images/edito ā€¦ inutes.pdf

"Councillor Briglio reported that Mayor Pond is away attending the FCM Board meeting in Brandon, Manitoba.

ā€¦

ā€œCouncillor Briglio then reported that Mayor Pond was now off to Vancouver amd Victoria for the Premierā€™s Excellence AwardsĀ  Dinner and then to the Globe 2008 Conference in Vancouver,Ā  and the 2010 Legacy Workshop. Mayor Pond will then be attending in Juneau, Alaska as part of the Southeast Conference preparations that will be hosted in Prince Rupert in September.ā€
Ā 

Just read the minutes of council, thanks there Podunkian, what a great role he has taken on and to think he is doing all that for you and me plus all the Fun Seekers of HTMF. What can I say besides Yeah I would vote for Gary.

When did he lie?

I think heā€™d take the riding from Coons no problem. First, people know that Pond works long hours, even if he spends lots of those hours out of town. Coons still works teaching hoursā€“weā€™ll definitly see him playing tennis at the 2nd Avenue courts in May and June. Plus, Pond has the support of the villages, which Coons does not.

I guess my main question about Coons would be, ā€œWhat has he done for Prince Rupert as a community?ā€ Because unless he give the voters some results, he doesnā€™t have enough support to win the election just because heā€™s NDP.

Thatā€™s just what I think though. :confused:

No.  That is incorrect.  Coons beat Belsey because he had support from the villages.
I think Pond is a skilled orator and a smart politician, but, if he runs as a Liberal then I canā€™t support him.
Coons is a skilled, shrewd politician.

[quote=ā€œJustin Caseā€]
Why in the Hell would he run for Liberal MLA,he has already proven to be a lier to the community people who allowed him to be mayor?[/quote]

Isnā€™t that pretty much the qualification to be a politician? Im my experience the honest ones never make it out of local politics.

There always seems to be room for one more.

[quote=ā€œeccentricā€]
Pond has the support of the villages, which Coons does not.[/quote]

I think you need to go back and look at the election results.  Coons and Belsey were even in town.  Coons swept the villages.

With the way the Liberals treated First Nations issues in their first term, that was a no-brainer. 

I donā€™t know what made you say that with such confidence, itā€™s weird.

elections.bc.ca/elections/so ā€¦ cfinal.htm

Look at the North Coast results, and youā€™ll see that your assertion that Coons has no support in the villages is just plain wrong.

Yeah, heā€™d definitely get more votes if he was off in Victoria golfing instead.  Come on, if youā€™re going to express political opinions, then great.  But keep your ad hominem stuff to yourself, ok?

If Pond did run, he wouldnā€™t stoop to that level of debate, thankfully.  No matter what one thinks of Herb, heā€™s not into cheap shots, outright lies, and reinterpreting history.

What has coons done for rupert? You gotta be kidding me, have you actually been here for any length of time? Gary has been a huge asset to the youth of this community for at least 30 years that I know of, he spent tons of his personal time coaching and mentoring kids that are having problems, not only that he walks the walk, he is one of the kindest people I know. He was my high school counsellor and I remember him being one of the few who really cared about you, he wasnt just collecting a paycheque like most of them, and that is the type of person I want running my government, if they were all like him the world would be a much better place. When playing hockey, he would actually ask his opponent if he was ok after he body checked him, know anyone else like that?

Yep, statistics they can sure change the dynamic of an argument pretty quicklyā€¦

Interesting to break down that vote by voting district as well, some fine interpretation is there for those inclined to lookā€¦ before they throw out unsubstantiated innuendo.

Good post Chris.  He did an excellent job as an educator in this town and was the head of the teachers union.
Last election I called ALL the candidates and told the person answering the phone that I was undecided and I would like to speak to or have the candidate call me back so I could ask a few questions and make an informed decision.
Well fellow HTMFā€™ersā€¦Gary was the only one who called me backā€¦and I spent 30 mins onthe phone with him.
Gary got my vote hands downā€¦I voted for the MANā€¦not the Party.
I like Herbā€¦on a perosnal basisā€¦and hes very very slickā€¦

To everyone who corrected me. My bad, shoulda looked at the numbers. Noob mistake. Let me rephrase. If itā€™s decided in the villages again, I think that Herb might find himself with more support.

As for your post, Chris. I appreciate the fact that he did his job well. I would certainly hope he did. And, seeing as how Iā€™m trying to become a teacher, I certainly have respect for someone so dedicated to their job.

Still, Iā€™m interested in what heā€™s done during his time as MLA, not before.

And mcsash, I think itā€™s great when youā€™re confident enough in a candidate that you end up voting for them and not their party. I think we may see this in 2009ā€“Coons vs. Pond rather than NDP vs. Liberal. Tā€™will be interesting.

It will be unfortunate for the communities if Herb Pond were to get elected as our MLA.Ā  However, I truly believe that the people in the outlying areas are quite aware of Mr. Ponds views.Ā  Mr. Pond sits on the SQCRD Board, and you could probably asked some of the other Directors what his opinion has been over the years.Ā  3 years ago, Mr. Pond and his Council sent a report to the provincial government asking to dissolve the Regional District and let theĀ  outlying rural communities fend for themselves.Ā  I am sure that one of the directors still holds a copy of that report.Ā  So my question to all of you is: Do you believe that the outlying areas are not huge contributors to our community?Ā  Do they not shop in Prince Rupert, stay in our hotels, eat in our restaurants and use of recreational facilities - and yes they pay for passesā€¦Ā 

Agreed. 
The Liberal platform does not recognize the importance of education or health care ( the Liberals stripped these services to the bone during Premier Campbellā€™s time in office).
Pond can not offer anything positive to the people living in outlying communities.  Mr. Coons recently lobbied furiously to help people located on Haida Gwaii to get affordable ferry service.
There will be even fewer services for the average person come election time as the Liberals gear-up for the Winter Olympics in 2010.
Ask Mr. Pond about education in Prince Rupert and the outlying communities.  Does he support the insane cuts to education, the reduction in support for our special needs children that is the legacy of the Campbell government?

Council as a whole, not just the Mayor, has been pretty quiet on the education front, while the SD was busy debating and floating trial balloons about closures (settling on the east side schools as it turned out), council didnā€™t once suggest a draft resolution to the provincial govā€™t for expanded educational funding.

While I understand the predicament that the SD is in regarding declining numbers and aging infrastructure, it probably couldnā€™t hurt for the city councils of the province to remind the provincial government of the different needs in their communities.

At least Port Ed got invovled when the SD tried to float the idea of closing the Port Ed school, that didnā€™t seem to have much shelf lifeā€¦

While the city council canā€™t do much about funding of education, they could at least become pro-active for their community by giving the province the heads up that their approach hasnā€™t been particularly effective thus farā€¦ 

Exactly.  If Mr. Pond runs in 09 he will be required to defend, explain, and support the Liberal record on education spending, management here in BC (that is quite the albatross to have dangling from your neck).
This is of course all idle speculation as Mr. Pond has not declared his candidacyā€¦yet. :smile:
I really do like Herb, heā€™s a nice, friendly guy.  But, as I previously stated I will not support him as a Liberal.