I think in this day and age any mayor should have an open and transparent blog where anyone can raise public questions or concerns. Why does the media even need to be a gatekeeper? Why not media, plus anyone that has a concern?

I think it should be part of the city web site and although people would still be able to post comments anonymously, they should still be a registered voter in the city as a condition of registering to opine on a mayors blog.

And good on the PG Citizen for calling the mayor out on that. I seen the report and I noticed the mention. I think the mayor showed a vindictive side that was unbecoming of an elected official with the way she treated the media, so it was a relevant fact to have reported on with her decision not to run again.

I think that you are being far too generous to the citizen Ben. I would file Godbout’s editorial in a folder clearly marked Things That Are A Day Late And A Dollar Short for a couple of reasons.

If the paper really believed in the fifth estate’s right to ask the hard questions and expect answers from elected officials why did they not rally to your defence when you received the call that went something like “So, like we are like TOTALLY not talking to you any more! Like really! K. Bye.” If they did, it was pretty low profile and I offer my apologies. I think it was more a case of them thinking that it is a cut throat business and this means one competitor is ham strung on the city hall beat.

Secondly if Green’s leadership (or lack there of) was so ineffective, divisive and dysfunctional why wait till what is for all intents and purposes a eulogy on her political life at city hall to bring the point forward? Could it be that they did not want to suffer the same fate as 250 News and no longer have calls returned from the mayor’s office. Or worse yet realize that some of the mayors biggest supporters were also the biggest advertisers that they have and let the wallet do the thinking.

I think that any potential opponents for Green be it for the conservative nomination or in the general election if she gets the nod from her party will be digging the scissors out of the drawer to snip the editorial from the paper or cutting and pasting it on their computer for future use. Hardly a glowing endorsement when the local rag uses the terms ineffective, divisive, dysfunctional and open disdain for colleagues to describe her whole term as mayor. I will like to offer up two more especially as it relates to the decision not to talk to 250N- petty and juvenile:D

This fall a new mayor will thankfully be elected. Hopefully whoever it is will have learned done important lessons from Sherrie greenie. There are plenty to learn from.

It becomes very apparent that the Mayor thought of herself of high esteem and a soon to be legend in her own mind.

Apparently the city has hired 3 public relations officers to handle interaction with the outside. Correct me if I am wrong. A team like that looks to me like a firewall.

Contrast that with how the Mayor of Calgary for instance handles his job, being accessible at all times with a genuine sincere smile for the *ordinary* citizen!

The notion that citizens are customers of a city is one that hasn’t dawned yet on far too many of those who should always remember that without hard working customers paying the bills all of them would be out of a job!

The News Media needs access to the Mayor, Council, and Administration, so that they can ask the hard questions, and get the answers for the public at large.

The public has Radio, TV, and Newspapers, and Opinion 250 to access this information.

Going to a Mayors Blog and posting, and having to be a registered voter is a non starter. As mentioned above, the Mayor, Council, and Administration work for the citizens of Prince George.

In my opinion paying your taxes gives you the right to information, whether you actually vote or not is no one’s business except yours.

Eagleone

I hope that if you are still considering a run that you will be more open and transparent in that setting than you have been on this forum when questioned about controversial remarks and links that you have posted.

A suggestion to help you over the hump if I may. You should form a party of like minded individuals and run a slate of candidates in the fall elections. Actually Prince George is not that big, a club might be more voter friendly. And to project a positive image you could call it The Right Club, that name hasn’t been used for quite some time.

OH…one more thing. If you changed your name to Archibald it would almost guarantee that your name would be at or near the top of the ballot.

In the mean time you might want to do a bit of research to see if it is possible for a municipal government in BC to enact the 1275 Edward 1 Statute of Jewry.

PrinceGeorge

If I remember correctly one of the initial primary functions of at least one of these people is to straighten out the mess that the city calls it’s website. And boy does it need it.

Take for instance MyPG….in action, supposedly the keystone of moving the community forward.

http://www.mypg.ca/Pages/welcome.aspx

If you click on the link I think you will see it is more a case of MyPG…inaction!

The main page makes reference to a year old wood stove program and you have to blow the dust off many of the other links before clicking on them. If you do go there make sure to click on the Measuring Progress tab, that one is real special.

I think that like many other major initiatives that the city takes on they are full of energy and gung-ho on roll out day but that energy seems to wane when cake is gone and the sun sets that very day. After that it is left to wither and die in the elephant graveyard like basement of city hall.

Relationships are two way streets. Respect must go both ways. If one party is disrespectful to another, there is no obligation for either to communicate with the other. Blogs are hardly mainstream media so, if you are being abused, why smile and suck it up. Of the two parties involved, only one has been sued and convicted for slander. You figure it out.

People still use blogs?

If Sherry Green were the only person taking this stance it may be a concern ! She is not ! You have burned so many bridges you should be on an island ! You have been given many things on a silver platter but put your own twist on it; often times not factual. Now you complain that you may have to work for the story? Respect is earned, so earn it back or wait for the next mayor and do things differently ! Bad mouthing the current mayor is an exercise in futility !

This is a Blog

250news is the most read news service in the central and northern part of BC. Media of all types now recognize that on line media is the news source of the future.
To somehow suggest that because we allow you to” blog ” makes us less of a credible news source is laughable. Given that the Citizen, CBC, Globe and Mail and the New York Post, just to name a few , also allow you to post comments, that makes these papers what?
By the way, thank you, for reading 250news.

I don’t consider 250 to be Mainstream media. Mainstream media is the big corporate big wigs who have the support of major advertisers and have dozens of reporters. This site is not like that at all. I respect this news service and always have since I joined waaaaay back in the day when it was Opinion 250. The only mainstream media in PG is CKPG and The Citizen, the rest are privately or locally owned and run. Which is great to have both.

OU812 Are you somehow blaming 250news and Meisner for Shari Green’s record as Mayor? As you said if you are being abused then suck it up and smile. Trying to discredit 250news is more about shooting the messenger than talking about the Mayor’s record.
When you talk about the defamation action, two things come to mind.
1- (Pacific Press) Province Newspaper, Don Hauka, Michael Smith, CKPG and Ben Meisner were all named in that court action.
2- You should read the trial in which former Premier Glen Clark was involved to see what was really behind the court action.
Finally, again, thanks for reading 250news.

Eagleone, you are right, Mayor Green has repeatedly shown open contempt & disdain for any that dared question or disagree with her.
OU812, you also are correct, Mayor Green has no obligation to communicate with this site….However, when you put yourself in the spotlight, particularly as a politician, you had better expect criticism, have an open mind, an open channel to all media, an ear to the ground in respect to what your constituents want & expect & especially, have thick skin. Mayor Green has very little of any of these attributes. The thought that she is expected to run for a Federal political position should give every voter pause for serious reflection.

Lonesome, I can appreciate that you are a big Archie Bunker fan, but better to leave that to TV, because its not the ‘right’ choice for politics.

I seen a documentary on white slavery in Israel on Youtube. Did you know they have over 300 legal brothels in Tel Aviv alone as prostitution is legal in Israel. Full of white slaves from Eastern Europe and Russia that bring in big dollars with their Arab clients. Sucked in by a promise of glamor and legal jobs. A place where some people are humans with human dignity and legal rights, and others are aliens with no rights and live in fear of their masters in broad daylight.

If that is what you want Lonesome then your homeland is calling for you. Newsflash for you Lonesome that kind of behavior will never be acceptable here in PG municipal charter or not.

Just read the transcripts of the named action and the one thing I take away is that I sure would like to hear the original recording of the interview just to see how clear and articulate the statement was, the all um’s and uh’s can make a difference.

Finding the particular case involving one Glen David Clark may take a bit, seems to be a fairly popular fella in the provinces courtrooms:)

OU812 are you over at the citizen’s website trying to discredit them for using the terms ineffective, divisive, dysfunctional and open disdain to describe her time in the corner office. It is simply a case of if the shoe fits… she did a bad job as mayor plain and simple. I cannot believe that those advising her have not quietly taken her aside and whispered in her ear that November might be a good time to retire from politics.

Like it or not o250 is part of the new media and their reporters are guided by the same standards as any other media outlet. You have to separate the stories from the ramblers that comment- like me). They are too different things.

Unfortunately, aside from a few rare exceptions, there are far too many lambs that think they are journalists in the newsrooms of the mainstream media in PG.

As a result, the current mayor and council have not been held accountable for a dismal term that has consisted of three years of belly aching, backstabbing, navel gazing, divisive and mean spirited discussions, and a huge helping of good old fashioned self promotion.

When all is said and done, despite the spin delivered so eloquently by our rookie mayor, all we have seen is annual tax increases, more spending, and a massive increase in user fees that is going to stifle economic growth. No vision, no teamwork, no accountability. Sad.

Now only if we had some reporters that actually dug a little deeper instead of taking the babble that comes from some at city hall at face value.

Keep it up Ben, you, like many true journalists of the past, are needed now more than ever.

Looks like you have already done the research to find if the 1275 statute is applicable in this neck of the woods and you are still considering putting your name forward?

Don’t be so coy on the Archibald reference, you know full well it was Ramsay and not Bunker, would have to look no further than your bookshelf to find the complete works in hard and soft cover along with another copy just in case something happened to the first two. Sitting up at night with a copy of the Red Book wishing your name could have been 236th.

Red Book? 236th? 1275? Archibald? And just what are you trying to insinuate with all of this Lonesome? Are you trying to build some preconceived conditions as part of a litmus test?

Are you trying to insinuate that anyone that opposes apartheid, racism, monopoly capitalism, and political supremacy ideology is not eligible to run for civic politics in Prince George? That we should be sheep and turn a blind eye when our country, society, and the global financial system are under threat from a hostile force… for fear of being labeled wrongly by a neo-con sympathizer?

Its one thing to support muzzling the media, but entirely something else to muzzle political freedom itself through false accusations when the faults of your partisan ideology (zionism) are exposed for the 13th century thinking they represent.

I make no apology for pointing out evil when and where I see it. If you Lonesome insist on protecting evil ideology than do so up front and honest and drill down to the specifics so we can debate reality rather than hypothetical insinuations designed to obfuscate the real issues at hand.

Blog
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog

btw – pointing out the others involved doesn’t change the fact you were convicted, Ben. I only pointed out that one of the parties was convicted – you told everyone is was you.

You don’t respond to everyone – I must be close to the mark.

Considering the general tone of the site and the commenters (myself included), I can see why Sheri Green didn’t want to talk to 250News.

In the end, it doesn’t matter. By this time next year, we’ll all be complaining about the new mayor, whoever that lucky person is.

For the record, I hope Eagleone runs for local politics. It would be entertaining to say the least.

I just have to stir the pot on occasion to show what lies just below the surface- mission accomplished.
The phrase of the day from the big yellow book First Run At Council for Dummies “drill down to the specifics ” check that one off the list E1 two of that one so far today that I have seen.

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One question for Elaine/Ben. How come Eagleone gets a pass on the site policy that all candidates or those considering a run in this fall’s election must post under real name when talking about any local issues. Not exactly fair to people like Jillian Merrick who is in full compliance.

I have not said I am running for council Lonesome. Like everyone I don’t rule anything out. Honestly though the odds are maybe one in ten that I even could. I have a family and work considerations that are my priority. Lets see if some great candidates decide to run and if not that changes things. I would not be keen about being a high profile celebrity during some high profile years for the city. If the slate looks anything like last time I may just reluctantly make the step from an opinion to a campaign, but nominations are not until October so there is time yet.

Hi OU812- is that you Marshall Smith, nice to see you back.
You going to run the Campaign for Shari’s run for the Conservatives.

So until the chance of you running is 0% you are a potential candidate and as such should, in fairness to other candidates, abide by the rules.

Ou812 has been drinking too much Sherrie greenie fool aid.
It will do as the name suggests and make a fool of anyone that consumes it.

Lonesome, do you mean 3rd party guidelines?

Even if hypothetically I was running, I am not aware of my taking an opinion on another candidate, if there was a candidate that has actually filed their papers, and what if any their position was. So in all fairness to who?

If we had declared candidates taking real issues up for discussion and I was taking pot shots at that candidate for the purpose of sandbagging their candidacy, not unlike your intentions (Lonesome), then there would be a point to be made of unfairness.

As it it is this is a story about media getting open access to elected politicians, and my position on that is as above that any elected official in this day and age should have open blog transparency to the citizens directly effected. I have a higher expectation of elected officials than some when it comes to openness and public involvement in matters of the office.

One hopes the civic election can be one about issues and policy and not about angling in on ones character for assassination of the messenger, rather than an open debate about issues.

Lonesome, why is it not fair to have discussions and input on issues? Why is it fair to interject erroneous assumptions about someones character based on 13th century history? What is the Lonesome agenda, other than full support for a racist Israel?

I don’t get it why any upstanding person would ridicule and hound a person simply because a person has a strong opinion on violations of the kinds of values we have in Canada, and on violations we would never find acceptable in our own country. A person should have the right to speak out against wrong and demand an explanation, or accountability, from those that lend support to such wrongs, including our own political class here at home.

Muzzling people because they have inquisitive minds as to the moral nature of the powers that be is akin to an assassin within the walls of democracy, whether it be a two bit internet blog about local issues, or an activist on international rule of law issues… both stifle the air that democracy needs to have meaning and choice.

How is a person expressing a moral compass, backed up with solid reason, a litmus test of exclusion for a persons eligibility to to run for office without having their character assassinated… and what does it say about the ideas and issues some of that kind of vindictive ilk would wish to try and bury in the the process?