There's no doubt that a lot is at stake for the city and its future in this year's Vancouver mayoral race.
Despite preliminary results Tuesday night appearing to give Mayor Royce Pollard the win, the margin between him and Councilmember Tim Leavitt was tight enough to almost ensure a closely-watched general election race in November. And though community organizer Charlie Stemper came third in this week's voting he could still greatly affect the race should he decide to endorse one of his opponents.
Before this week's primary, the VBJ asked the candidates about some of the challenges facing the city's business community this election year, including hot-button issues like tolls on the proposed Columbia River Crossing, taxes on small businesses to pay for essential city services and the effects of the continuing economic slump.
Pollard and Leavitt agreed to answer our questions, however Stemper declined to respond.
Leavitt, who was first appointed to his Council seat in 2003 and then elected in 2004, slammed the mayor on tolls, taxes and even his accessibility to the public.
"One thing I've noticed knocking on doors is that people feel disconnected from what's going on," Leavitt said. "They think the current mayor is locked in an ivory tower, where he talks to well-connected people and that's it."
The mayor fired back, telling the VBJ that in today's difficult fiscal climate, there was "no time for on-the-job training in City Hall."
Though the two men have been colleagues in city government for years, there seems little common ground between them on the issues confronting Vancouver voters.
Pollard believes that tolls are a necessary component to any future replacement to the Interstate Bridge. Leavitt wants government officials on both sides of the river to consider changes to the CRC to ensure that tolls are not part of the equation.
On taxes, Leavitt points to his record against any reinstatement of the business and occupational tax. Pollard is quick to mention the difficulty of balancing out taxes with the necessity of funding essential services like police, fire and fixing city roadways.
And then there's the economy. "The first thing I'm going to do right out of the gate is to put up a business advisory council of professionals in finance, accounting, property transactions and investment to be a sounding board for the mayor," Leavitt said.
Pollard counts on his signature project as mayor – waterfront development – to be his ultimate economic pitch to city residents, pointing to $1.2 billion in proposed investment that he says will ultimately create 12,000 jobs. "It will provide revenue streams, not only for downtown, but the entire city," he said.
Leavitt and Pollard are two men with vastly different visions of Vancouver's future. And along with Stemper, we look forward to hearing more from them as we move closer and closer to November.
