Former Mayor Green Local Newsmaker Of The Year In 2014
By early in the new year support for the mayor had grown to an all time low which may have led her to announce in May that she would not seek re election as Mayor but was looking a further fields.
The Core review, the back bone of the Mayor’s pledge in her 2011 campaign of “savings in every department of up to 10%” lay in shambles. Major cities had undergone a core review for a fraction of the cost, there was nothing new in the recommendations other than fee increases for the taxpayer .
Residents were increasingly expressing their frustrations with the Mayor and council , with many councillors expressing privately that the city council was a dysfunctional bunch. There were increases in fees and services and that in itself was prompting more and more comment from a population which had simply given up on Green and wanted a change as quickly as possible.
Green however had other aspirations and in May of 2014, she, along with a group of people from the city and district (including her husband) took over the directorship of the Federal Conservative Riding Association of Cariboo- Prince George. Also included in the takeover was Councilor Cameron Stolz , a staunch supporter of Green , who was appointed as President of the riding association. While Green had not yet announced that she was seeking the nod for the Conservatives , there was little mistake she was laying the ground work for the run including meeting with the hierarchy of the Conservatives at the national convention in Calgary.
The taxpayers by now were looking to punish a Mayor who they felt would not admit to making a mistake in her governance, and they turned their attention to her attempt at getting the Conservative nod.
Slowly, a number of Councillors seeking re-election began talking openly about the dysfunctional operating of the City Council. Many Councillors felt there was a clique and they were left in the dark as to the goings on at the Hall. Many Councillors were saying that the only way they were being informed of what was happening at City Hall, was through the media , citing as an example the dismissal of a large number of the pool staff.
The mayor had become increasingly annoyed with comments being made on the internet about her performance that on two occasions, she threatened legal action against 250News. The problem was Mayor Green had been elected by just shy of 7,000 votes, and there were over 17,000 people registered , many of whom wanted to comment on the way she was running City Hall.
Come civic election time, most of the incumbents tried to distance themselves from any actions that the Mayor had been involved in. She did not offer any support to either of the Mayoral candidates, nor did they seek any endorsement from her.
The civic race saw the two who were considered the strongest supporters of Green , Dave Wilbur and Cameron Stolz, defeated at the polls.
All that remained of any political future for the former Mayor was the Federal Conservative nomination but the public was beginning to line up to vote for an ‘Anyone but Green’ candidate. Staunch supporters of the NDP came forward buying a membership in the Conservative party. There was a move afoot to punish Green, for whatever reason, in a vote and the only ballot available came through the Federal Conservative nomination process.
Stepping forward for that nomination was T.J. Grewal, who was quickly disqualified. Whether the local riding brass , or Ottawa called the shot in denying a waiver for Grewal may never be known. What is known is the fact that being told that he didn’t qualify to seek the nomination only incensed Grewal to a point where he continued to line up support which he then threw behind Todd Doherty, the eventual winner, to ensure that Green would not be selected.
Green , in spite of having the benefits of an executive who leaned her way , ran a dismal third in the race. The public of Prince George had been waiting for its opportunity to express its feelings about the Mayor and it had finally arrived.
Green had gone from a rising star in 2011, to a falling star in 2014 . Three short years is all it took to leave her political ambitions in tatters.
I’m Meisner and that one man’s opinion.
Comments
As ye sow, so shall ye reap
not sure why but it seems like she is still making the news….
let it DIE……
let her fade off to oblivian.
Ah looks like a lot of things got in her way the media being one of them. Some mayors or I should say former mayors hate the media spotlight once things begin to spiral out of control. Look for example at Fort St John. It had a shoddy mayor from 2008 to 2011 and Bruce Lantz made the news across Canada for problems with booze and woman! The media up there grilled him and grilled him and even threatened one with legal action because more dirt was found on him that he thought was not true from his own media days. At least Sheri Green stayed sober but she couldn’t handle the heat and if you can’t handle the heat you shouldn’t be in the public spotlight to begin with.
P.S. I had so much fun being one of the reporters who grilled the former Fort St John mayor for months after all the crap hit the fan. He also dropped the law suit once I got all the proof I needed. Gotta love Freedom of Information Requests.
I bet our sister city over seas has a different point of view. By the way anyone think to keep in touch?
We get it; you don’t like Shari Green. The horse is dead, stop beating it.
There is a newsmaker of the year every year people and has nothing to do with vendetta, get over yourselves. You don’t have to read an article just because it is there, you can just skip over it instead of click on it. I bet Toronto’s newsmaker of the year is Rob Ford… he made the Canada’s newsmaker of the year in the Citizen
Posted on Monday, December 29, 2014 @ 8:07 AM by slinky
There is a newsmaker of the year every year people and has nothing to do with vendetta, get over yourselves.
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There is a big difference between an unbiased declaration of a “Newsmaker of the Year” and taking biased, opinionated potshots at someone who is no longer relevant.
Now it’s time to bid a few more farewell in 2015. First place to start is IPG. Redundant tax burden with no accountability.
Well said Ax. It’s easy to pick and post a side when you control the site. I wonder what keeps people back from thinking of joining politics?
Ahh the voters of the north..well.I can say never seen the likes ever!!
Punish Rodgers and put this Dipo in,like that is not enuff.
The Conservatives….so you all must be in the same basket,Liars ,cheaters and just because ya sit in church,don’t mean you get a free ride..your SHEEPPL is all ya are…
Best one of all is ya put that B crusty in there even after Bobs yer Drunkels pic was posted all over the world..ya do remember that pic of a smiling drunk campbell??….the hArpertiod like him ,wonder why??
Good ridence Sheri! So happy your out and your sneaky future endevours fell short.
Betcha she moves…
@zyblxteu for your info the only other B to put in was the NDP and if you had been around in the 90s as even Adrian Dix was (note that I am respectful enough not to put a deliberate misspelling on his name which would be funnier than yours) you will know that was not a viable option unless you wanted to be a have not province once again. Which I may add some people are wanting to do, and I am thankful that there were enough people who remembered and voted accordingly.
Posted on Monday, December 29, 2014 @ 10:25 AM by pg80
Good ridence Sheri! So happy your out and your sneaky future endevours fell short.
Betcha she moves…
….
I think you meant to say you hope she moves … it is amazing how we recycle everything in this new age … even spun out politicians
Thank you Ben for the above post mortem! Had no idea that 250News had been threatened twice with legal action! The title Newsmaker of the Year simply means that the person managed to get attention of the news media more than anybody else! It could be for doing good or for doing bad, like breaking election promises.
However, let’s forget about the last three years in local municipal politics and move on, never forgetting the lessons learned! Be careful about who gets elected!
Who knows what they would do if the media would not keep an eye on them!
I never was a supporter, but I can’t understand why some people on this site have a perpetual hate-on for her.
Green was in over her head from the start. She made declarations she ultimately couldn’t keep. She had a fractured council, which made doing anything important difficult to impossible. Yeah, Green is gone. Time to turn the page.
And regarding the fractured council, one of Green’s main failings was that she couldn’t get council together on the same page, and didn’t think it was much of a priority apparently. One of the critical things that a Mayor should have is an ability to put ego aside from time to time for the greater good.
Lyn Hall will have a much easier time with the current mix of councillors.
Well stated Ben!
The worst mayor Prince George has ever had, as well as the most expensive and high maintenance mayor in the City’s history.
Thank God and Greyhound she’s gone!!!!!
It may be beating a dead horse, but damn it feels good to see her gone. Her nomination for conservative seat was a bust. That’s what you get for a mayor when you worry about voting someone out, not someone in. Hopefully this will be a good lesson for us all.
Let’s hope all the media forgets her and leaves her alone. Don’t go to her for any opinion etc on anything.. Let her fade out of our lives to never be heard of again.
P Val: “That’s what you get for a mayor when you worry about voting someone out, not someone in. Hopefully this will be a good lesson for us all.”
We have voted our last two mayors out, Rogers and now Green. We would have voted Kinsley out if given the chance. Will we be doing the same to Lyn Hall in 4 years? WHo knows.
I think the term: “Birds of a feather” applied in the case of Sherri Green, Cameron Stolz and Dave Wilbur. By association they got the boot.
I was very concerned that the same people pulling the same stunt would get elected by stacking the deck in their own favour. Justice has been served.
I am relieved and pleased at how this turned out. Especially for the winners.
Oops, brain fart. We didn’t get the chance to vote Green out.
JB, hard to vote someone out who doesn’t run :) As for Hall who knows.. hopefully he will have witnessed what green did and how bad it was for PG and had a few learnings as well.. we have 4 years to find out .
I don’t get the point of this article. It kind of smacks of sour grapes a bit. Perhaps the title should read “Shari Green snubs 250 News, which continues to pout about it.” Honestly, I don’t blame her for shutting this publication out. The reporting on here about her is tantamount to a never-ending character assassination. I’m no fan of Green, but some of the things that were written along the way were truly unfair, even from my own critical standpoint. She didn’t run the City by herself, we have a weak Mayor system, so those 8 other Councilors had a good hand in some of the shenanigans too, some of whom are still there. Nobody climbs into the Mayors’ chair alone. Most of the time I saw her as just a front-woman for what was going on, which bespeaks another problem but I’ll save that for another day.
I can’t see how in any stretch of the imagination she could be touted as the newsmaker of the year. Like someone else said further up the page, on another local publication, she came second to last in a list of newsmakers of the year, almost tying with snow removal for last place. What came first was the serial murder trial that went on here. Heck I would have chosen to discuss the rash of pedestrian and vehicular deaths over Green. She is once again a common citizen and as such not very newsworthy anymore. And now that she is just a normal citizen, I’d be more careful with the conjecture. A judge may no longer find it “fair comment” as she moves on to another phase of her private life.
I am confused as to why you are in this section, or even specifically this editorial Sine, if as you say “The reporting on here about her is tantamount to a never-ending character assassination.” – unless of course that is your “thing”
The poll on the other news site has Constable Aaron Kehler pulling over Cody as newsmaker (would be better touted as newsstory) of the year so far – not the serial murder trial. This did not happen in PG but between Vanderhoof and Fort St James so as to why it is on the list of PG newsmaker of the year…? They did however have a front page write up on boxing day on our outgoing mayor. And Rob Ford won their Canadian newsmaker of the year poll with 594 entries. Their news team voted for the gunned down servicemen – Rob Ford being almost last on their internal list.
Ironic though, her big moves in council chambers that led to her eventual mayoral campaign adviser necessitated she stomp on the very people that came to be the ones she relied on for local votes to win her a Conservative nomination just 4 years later. Why do you think they didn’t even bother to ask south-west PG for votes but rather took it all the way to Vanderhoof and beyond?
Hey!
quit piling on Shari.
It’s too enjoyable to watch.
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