I believe voters were looking for the OPPOSITE of Shari Green. A campaign run on transparency went a long way in that regards. As beautiful as it is to see Shari Green go, the last thing we needed was another one just like her. I totally believed the same group of businesses that got Shari Green into the Mayors seat were backing Zurowski as well.
I am anxious to see who was backing Susan Scott. Her winning was a huge surprise. According to the comments here, she performed poorly on her interview with Meisner. Apparently she was not well informed concerning city matters. So just how does someone like that get elected? Was her husband running her campaign as well as Zurowski’s?
Zurowski ran his campaign on growing the city to 100,000. That was great but he never really came out and said “how” he was going to accomplish that.
One more thing, is there any reason why the Mayor’s offices are way up on the fifth floor totally removed from the rest of city hall and the general public? Is the Mayor of Prince George that high and mighty that their offices can’t be on the main floor so they can become part of the city they are running? Why do we coddle them so much?
I am very anxious to see what the next few months will bring as far as the goings on at city hall and will be looking forward to how Lyn Hall interacts with council and the public and media.

I am happy Lyn is in. He has a very different style than most are used to but it is the kind of style that anyone can make a difference.
City hall is not used to that and senior admin will likely clash with it. Once they get over themselves city hall will be a better place.

Don Zurowski had no policy plan. His whole election was based on a trust me factor for someone that has been removed from the local civic scene for the last 6-years. He didn’t provide good reason to vote for him, other than his past reputation, and that is not enough if you want to run for mayor.

The biggest disaster was his 100,000 goal… at first I just thought it was a catch phrase the media was picking up and running with… then he had it on his campaign material and one has to ask where’s the beef? Then all one is left to think is 100,000… 10%… 100,000… 10%… and that is just not a winning formula going into an election in PG in 2014. Don blew it and his campaign manager should be fired.

Stolz I think blew it with his hyperbole on his signs… like he was trying to project some kind of mind control that would make people associate him with the words on his signs in absence of his record raising taxes, not paying his own taxes, and being Greens right hand crony. He would have done will to show some contrition and lay low hoping people forget come election time.

Wilber… showed he had no real constituency of stakeholders other than the legal profession, the consultant industry, and Sherri Green. In the end his campaign much like his first term was asleep at the wheel lacking relevant insight on voter priorities.

I think the Susan Scott campaign showed that in a council of eight one can still get a spot in council with the soft vote of those who lack political insight and vote mainly by name recognition based on sign frequency. That is the only way I can explain Charles getting a seat on council… er I mean Susan… lol.

I’m guessing that name recognition and media portrayal is the biggest reason people got voted in. Examples are Skakun, Merrick and Stolz. Skakun was portrayed as the “peoples champion” by the local media, Merrick was hyped as the lovable, oddball newcomer and Stolz was absolutely pilloried in the media.

Right or wrong? Not my place to say really but one can always hope that someday people make informed choices all by themselves and don’t continue voting for certain candidates because someone told them to.

You only need to go to the Cupe BC site and you will see why the election turned out as it did. The union machine went to work behind the scenes and got their membership and other union members out to vote. On their website was a full list of people their membership was to vote for and in most communities they were highly successful in getting those people elected. The business community did not come out and vote for Zurowski. Maybe too many of the baby boomers are already in Arizona.

I think its clear that the voters correctly identified the problem over the last 3 years. It had very little to do with incumbent advantage or name recognition. It had everything to do with horrible leadership, lack of transparency and disrespect from the mayors seat and two council chairs. Voters clearly understood who was actually working for them and who wasn’t. Zurowski early on, saw no problem with his close relationship with Shari Green until it was too late, then tried to back peddle away from the optics. Last Thursday’s full page ad pull out in the PG Citizen confirmed that sentiment (rumored to cost around $8,000) not to mention the sheer expense of the rest of his campaign. A good lesson to all future campaign managers in this city, big money is not going to buy you any seat in this community ever again. Its going to take a grass roots approach, community connection and some strong respect for the people you want to represent.

The media played a huge roll like axman said..

Stolz was hung out to dry numerous times over his not paying his taxes ( as he should have been)

Zurowskis ceo approach along with the shirts I think was his downfall

Skakun was painted as a man for the voice of PG yet not once was his legal battle mentioned, one sided reporting for sure.

I also agree that it’s mostly name recognition on the large part.

Hall got approx 21% of the available votes.. Due to people not carrying to vote anymore as all politicians are looked at negatively and rightfully so. They say what we want to hear to get in, then do what they want once elected. They don’t listen to the voters anymore.

“special interest groups” yep they are here and strong but money will not win you the votes. It is about open communication and talking to people. Lyn did that and he communicated with everyone, not just a select group.

I saw a comment in social media this weekend that was complaining about how we no longer have a voice, and he would not vote. There was some frank discussion, a little name calling unfortunately but the main point that came out was: if it is about the people for the people, we all have to vote. He later said he was going to vote that afternoon. It does not matter who he voted for but he voted. We all need to vote and become active in the community.

We might not be a perfect community, we may not have the best looking community, but we do have the best people, if I agree with you or not.

Skakum was the peoples person. Was not afraid to protect the people despite all odds. The chicken lady was a breath of fresh air, back to basic and had the people;s interest, down to earth I believe she had the smallest budget and eager to learn and has the enthusisams to keep people on the ball. And she could make council fun and being receptive to the people

Zurowski was too cocky and flying all over the board. Figured if he traveled the whole constituency, he’d have it made. His looks did not help any. If he toned done some, mighta made it.

And Trent??? He needed brighter signs, not blah signs. He needed a manager to travel with him and bolster his image. He’s young and aborigional, and could have made better use of students and his people

I was surprised and disappointed that Debora Munoz was not successful. Her closest rival, by less than 100 votes was Susan Scott who won a seat at the council table. I’m guessing it’s a personality thing. Susan is well known around the community and is outgoing and gregarious. Debora is more thoughtful. The voters wanted a big house cleaning and unfortunately Debora got swept out.

Stillsmokin – who is the “chicken lady?”

Bug nailed it. CUPE sent a mailout about a week before the election telling their members who to vote for, and they came out in droves. Kudos to them, it worked.

I also agree with axman’s comments – Stolz was raked over the coals by the media and he couldn’t recover.

Who did CUPE tell their members to vote for?

Posted on Monday, November 17, 2014 @ 8:18 AM by JohnnyBelt

Bug nailed it. CUPE sent a mailout about a week before the election telling their members who to vote for, and they came out in droves. Kudos to them, it worked.

——–

“Dear Leader” spoke and all the good socialists did what they were told.

I thought Zurowski would have a leadership style too similar to Greene’s, and that there would be continued conflict in council if he got in. Several of my friends thought he had more business sense; I think Hall had tons of business sense as well, but he is just much more approachable to a lot of us common folk who pay our taxes, love our City, and are lost in the shuffle by the higher echelon. I also think his team building skills will bring a lot more to the table. I loved the fresh approach of the “chicken lady” or “the little hippy” as I’ve seen her referred to. Jillian Merrick ran a great campaign. So did Terri McConaghy. I voted for Trent Derrick and was sorry he didn’t get in. I hope he runs again. In the end, I voted for some effective old ones, and some new candidates that I thought had enough common business sense to bring a balance to council. Unions are here to stay, but I’m pretty sure they are not going to control city council.

i think that despite the majority of people on this site praising Zurowski’s ‘CEO’ type mayoral style, the majority of people voting in the election thankfully understand that government is not a business or a corporation and should not be run like one. government’s should not be out there to make a profit, they are there to collect taxes and provide services to their citizens. i definitely learned that the community on this website is not even remotely representative of prince george as a whole, and i felt great about this on saturday night. go back a few days on some of the stories about the mayoral race, well over half the posters bragging about how ‘don has this one in the bag’, and how they had already gone out in the advance polls to vote for zurowski, so had everyone they know. although i give credit to don for running in the first place, he was given a pretty clear message by voters. not surprisingly, don’s supporters are looking for someone, or something to blame for the loss. also not surprisingly is the assertion that it was, of course, the ‘union boogerman’ (mr. burns). yes, unions usually have a committee that will look at all the candidates and give their members a list of those candidates whose views are most in sync with the union’s views. union members are under no obligation to vote according to their union, the union will never find out who they voted for. my labour council put out a list as well, and guess what?! i never even looked at it. i made my own decisions (gasp), even though I belong to a union (ew!). I chose candidates that I believed would represent my beliefs in what this community is and should be. i care about about civic services and facilities for my family, snow clearing on the roads, infrastructure maintenance, parks, police and fire, etc… probably the same things a lot of non-union people believe are important. stop blaming unions for everything and give the winners some credit. they appealed to the majority of voters, union and non union alike.

First of all, congratulations to those elected to represent this great city of PG, cheers…

Now, the results show there is some definite guilty by association going on, it is unfortunate, but, perception has a way with things…with the obvious added caveat of Cameron Stolz not paying his taxes, on time that is, just didn’t look good with what he tried to portray.

Susan Scott winning a council seat could be owed to her being a ordained minister, make no mistake, PG is a bible belt town. Nothing wrong with that of course, but, it didn’t hurt Susan’s chances…just don’t combine church and state matters, it simply doesn’t work, never has, never will.

As for Skakun, no matter how he was portrayed by the media or otherwise, the man speaks up with alot of commonsense, period.

I was hoping for Trent Derrick too, he is young, educated and aboriginal. But, I didn’t hear much of him, either in the radio or see much in the papers, very unfortunate, hopefully he’ll have learned from this. Given the Tsilhqot’in court decision, we all need to work together, more than ever, when it comes to natural resource development. If it is done right, engaging early and often, addressing concerns, everybody benefits.
The same can said for the school trustee race. I was hoping for Don Sabo, to add some First Nation perspective to the school board. It is high time that how history is taught presently, needs a serious overhaul, in our schools within the K-12 system.

Again, congratulations to those that won a seat on council and to the new mayor. I look forward to seeing action being done within the new year to make our community a better place for all.

Editor’s note:
Susan Scott is not an ordained minister, she is a “lay minister”.

Don’t think anything went wrong in this here civic election. The right people got voted in. Nuff said.

Posted on Monday, November 17, 2014 @ 9:08 AM by Grizzly2

Don’t think anything went wrong in this here civic election. The right people got voted in. Nuff said.

——–

That’s what people were saying after Green was voted in. Y’all see how well that turned out.

Posted on Monday, November 17, 2014 @ 8:40 AM by axman

Posted on Monday, November 17, 2014 @ 8:18 AM by JohnnyBelt

Bug nailed it. CUPE sent a mailout about a week before the election telling their members who to vote for, and they came out in droves. Kudos to them, it worked.

——–

“Dear Leader” spoke and all the good socialists did what they were told.

CUPE, and most large unions, do this every election. It’s not new, or unique to this city or election. Do you have proof they “came out in droves” (even though election #s are only up slightly) or why they “did what they were told” for this election, but didn’t 1 year ago provincially or 3 years ago locally and federally.

Greg Kauk’s stance was very similar to that of several successful candidates – moving away from the imperial mayoralty, greater transparency, etc. I’m curious why he didn’t do nearly as well as they did.

Overall, I’m reasonably satisfied with the results for city council but disappointed that the school trustees are pretty much the same-old same-old.

Here is the information sent out to all CUPE member/ex-members from CUPE BC – a mailout –
“What Can YOU DO? … Many communities face right-wing or conservative elected officials who are trying to cut public services, but CUPE members have an opportunity to elect progressive mayors, councillors and school boards and make our communities stronger…..
M.Hancock, President, CUPE BC

Vote for these candidates recommended by CUPE in your community
Mayor – Lyn Hall
Councillors – Frank Everitt/Garth Frizzell/Murry Krause/Jillian Merrick (CUPE 1048 – inside workers PG city hall)/Terri McConnachie (CUPE National rep.’s wife – PG) /Brian Skakun
SD#57 – Trish Bella/Brenda Hooker/Chris Stern(CUPE399 – outside workers-PG)

I wonder what it is like to have your right to vote freely usurped by the union? I bet union leadership would like to get ahold of a list of voters who are unionized workers, but think for themselves.
This is no-different than religious leaders informing their flock who they should vote for. Oh wait..the NDP do that as well. Not a lot of room for a brain in the organized “labour” movement.

I don’t think anything went wrong this election. From my previous comments many could guess that I was a Don Zurowski supporter and they would be right. However, I am not upset that Lyn Hall is our new mayor. I wish him the very best in bringing together a council that is devoid of the Green legacy. Now comes the hard part actually making this council work. I don’t care if you are left wing or right wing. I just want the tax/user fee increases to stop along with the lack of accountability. The buck stops with this new council and this isn’t a football game – you don’t get points for passing.

For me, Lyn was a more personable candidate. As for the comments about Stolz, he got what he deserved. I think Ben got it right in a previous article. Green chose to leave her seat, and people in PG took their Green frustrations out on her puppets, Stolz and Wilbur. Thank you, Prince George. The right choices were made on Saturday.

I feel the city owes Greg Kauk’s a round of applause! Well done, sir! :)

Based on the information that oldman 1 posted.

Some of the new councillors ,will be in conflict of interest.

In matters pertaining to City finances and employee wages.

When budget and negotiations come up.

Also a question , What did the mayor elect actually do for a living?

I have checked his website. No mention of what he actually did.

I can tell he is community minded by all the boards he was on.

Posted on Monday, November 17, 2014 @ 10:37 AM by Logical One

Also a question , What did the mayor elect actually do for a living?

———–

He’s a provincial government employee. An auditor I think.

Logical One, for a councillor to be in conflict of interest at contract negotiating time, they would have to be a member of the same union that is negotiating the contract. In the case of the city, CUPE is the union representing the staff.

Only 2 of the new councillors are union members, Brian Skakun and Frank Everitt and neither are CUPE members.

Posted on Monday, November 17, 2014 @ 10:16 AM by Jimmy Hughes

I wonder what it is like to have your right to vote freely usurped by the union? I bet union leadership would like to get ahold of a list of voters who are unionized workers, but think for themselves.
This is no-different than religious leaders informing their flock who they should vote for. Oh wait..the NDP do that as well. Not a lot of room for a brain in the organized “labour” movement.
—–
There was a union that mandated how their members voted? Which union was that and how did they accomplish it? When I went to vote, I didn’t see anyone monitoring how someone else voted. Did you? Did you report it?

In this election, in order to send a message to the business oriented **right** people who would normally vote **right** voted left. They knew that the Council would be predominantly left leaning, however the alternative was worse. A left leaning Council doesn’t necessarily mean a bad Council. If you go from the previous Council who did not listen to the needs and wants of the citizens, to a Council who at least will be civil and listen, then you have made some progress.

Lets not forget where the right lost its support: 1. Haldi Road, 2.BK Bottle Deport Issue. 3. Friendship House on 17th and Queensway. 4. Community Energy System. 5. River Road Dike. 6. Pine Valley Golf Course.

All these issues were either rammed through or they tried to ram them through to look after self serving vested interest groups,. People have memories and remember. They did this election.

With Zurowski we could see more of the same. He comes out of nowhere after 6 years in the **Hinterlands** and wants to save us from ourselves. His motto is at best **flim flam** **Lets get growing**,
He has no plan, and basically (in my opinion) was looking for a good paying job, that would feed his ego. People saw through this façade, and voted for Hall. At least you can communicate with Hall, and he is just waiting for you to stop talking so he can start.

In any event a good overall result, and we will now see where the **Bear S..T is the Buckwheat. If this Council screws up, there will be a lot of disappointed people, and they will make their disappointment known.

PS. Should read **and he is NOT just waiting for you to stop talking so he can start**

I really wish you union bashers would just get over it! All workers have a right to earn a decent pay check and be treated with respect. It makes our economy stronger when people are happy and have extra money to spend. Flashback 100 years ago that certainly wasn’t the case and your average worked was chit on while business filled their pockets. With all the advancements over the years in working conditions and a fair living wage, there is still a delicate balance that needs to be respected between labour and business. Employers that understand that thrive, Employees that understand that thrive! What we saw over the last 3 years from the Mayors chair was quite simply ridiculous extreme right wing garbage. Also, I do need to point out that Shari Green herself benefited from a union wage through her husband’s employment at Canfor and I’m not sure where she thought customers where getting their money to shop in her little knick knack store. Perhaps union outrage over her hypocrisy is the reason why it’s now closed down. And the reason why Stolz’s little puzzle shop is suffering!

In the end those that voted elected the mayor and Council of their choice and voter turn out increased so all in all not a bad day :)

INTERESTING ELECTION RESULTS REGARDING THE COUNCILLOR WHO GARNERED THE MOST VOTES AND THE TWO COUNCILLORS WHO GOT THE BOOT.
IT WAS READILLY OBVIOUS DURING THE LAST TERM THAT COUNCILLORS WILBUR AND STOLTZ TREATED COUNCILLOR SKAKUN WITH DISDAIN AND DISRESPECT, THEY PILLORIED COUNCILLOR SKAKUN AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY.. A JUST REWARD FOR BRIAN SKAKUN AFTER THE VOTES WERE COUNTED IN THAT HE TOPPED THE POLLS AND MR WILBUR AND MR STOLTZ GOT THEIR JUST REWARD BY NOT BEING RE ELECTED.

Zurowski didn’t connect well with average PG voters again. He had a tougher task to convince those who didn’t vote him last time, especially with him being branded as Green 2.0. He was fighting “Hall” for city “Hall” who connected better with families with his family photos (in contrast to Zurowski exploiting the kid’s game for Ads) and the CUPE support was essential for Hall too.

What went wrong with the online election poll forecast that found Zurowski leading Hall? Is there a breakdown of (female vs male) (young vs old) votes for each candidate to do post-mortem analysis? The results for each region will be analyzed by the election pollsters in federal parties and one hopes the supporters of Mrs Green have got the clear message and she leaves the scene of PG politics now that the curtain has dropped on her team.

Posted on Monday, November 17, 2014 @ 9:38 AM by Fate
Posted on Monday, November 17, 2014 @ 8:40 AM by axman

Posted on Monday, November 17, 2014 @ 8:18 AM by JohnnyBelt

Bug nailed it. CUPE sent a mailout about a week before the election telling their members who to vote for, and they came out in droves. Kudos to them, it worked.

——–

“Dear Leader” spoke and all the good socialists did what they were told.

CUPE, and most large unions, do this every election. It’s not new, or unique to this city or election. Do you have proof they “came out in droves” (even though election #s are only up slightly) or why they “did what they were told” for this election, but didn’t 1 year ago provincially or 3 years ago locally and federally.
===========================

Haters love to hate. Especially when their heroes lose elections.

Posted on Monday, November 17, 2014 @ 10:16 AM by Jimmy Hughes
I wonder what it is like to have your right to vote freely usurped by the union? I bet union leadership would like to get ahold of a list of voters who are unionized workers, but think for themselves.
This is no-different than religious leaders informing their flock who they should vote for. Oh wait..the NDP do that as well. Not a lot of room for a brain in the organized “labour” movement.
=======================================
Imagine a world full of people with your attitude. Kinda reminds me of ISIS!

Posted on Monday, November 17, 2014 @ 12:05 PM by Veritas
I really wish you union bashers would just get over it! All workers have a right to earn a decent pay check and be treated with respect. It makes our economy stronger when people are happy and have extra money to spend. Flashback 100 years ago that certainly wasn’t the case and your average worked was chit on while business filled their pockets. With all the advancements over the years in working conditions and a fair living wage, there is still a delicate balance that needs to be respected between labour and business. Employers that understand that thrive, Employees that understand that thrive! What we saw over the last 3 years from the Mayors chair was quite simply ridiculous extreme right wing garbage. Also, I do need to point out that Shari Green herself benefited from a union wage through her husband’s employment at Canfor and I’m not sure where she thought customers where getting their money to shop in her little knick knack store. Perhaps union outrage over her hypocrisy is the reason why it’s now closed down. And the reason why Stolz’s little puzzle shop is suffering!
==========================

Well said Veritas! Most of the haters are business owners filled with greed!

Veritas – I really wish you union bashers would just get over it! All workers have a right to earn a decent pay check and be treated with respect. It makes our economy stronger when people are happy and have extra money to spend.

Will admit I am non-union, don’t bash unions or workers as I have many friends who are union and I do believe many of us have benefitted from stance unions took many years ago. I believe though there has to be a reality to the rights of entitlement in pay and benefits same like positions earn in the non-union environment. I don’t see happy when I speak to many of my union friends.

This having nothing to do with unions, I will admit to being a die hard Zurowski supporter. I am not extreme right but didn’t believe he was either. Just a man with a deep sense of business and truly believes in the City and the possibilities if it were to grow. Mr. Hall, probably one of the most cordial men you could meet. I believe both were respectful, Hall got his vote out. People are angry at the Green era and anyone remotely related to business or right thinking just not appealing to the voters. I for one will continue to take great interest in the goings on of the next 4 years. If nothing else, a positive comes from PG citizens perhaps being more aware, engaged and caring about many issues.

Dragonmaster Most of the haters are business owners filled with greed!

That is an unfair and bitter judgement with no substance or fact! Have you personally worked at all businesses in Prince George? Had a private poll done whereby all business were called to vote for or against hating unions. My oath!!

The bitter that oozes is why ‘most’ people think union members are unhappy and militant. Really.

There seems, ‘not confirmed’ to be harmony between many businesses and workers I know of. I do not condone rash treatment of any employee, union or non-union. I hope with Mr Hall’s personality, he will be able to restore hard feelings that have occurred at City Hall between workers and management. Ill treatment anywhere is not acceptable in the spirit of being decent humans.

that should say, he will be able to restore better working relationship after the hard feelings and low morale that have occurred at City Hall…