If anyone living in this city believes this Mayor and Council gives a "tinker's damn" about the success or failure of businesses established, or attempting to establish, they should get their heads out of the sand. This city hall destroys, not builds. They are such a tight knit little group, busily patting themselves on the back with disgusting regularity, and the praise flows for different departments at every council meeting. The "thank yous" are just too too effusive for employees who were, I would say, simply doing their jobs. Praise, praise, and more praise, and who are they trying to convince???? Do they have the distinct impression the residents in this city are not overly impressed with this bunch of, in their minds, over achievers??? They are a self serving pack of hypocrites, but I fear not enough attention is paid to them. How many people bother to watch them at council meetings on T V? It is rather revolting, so I suppose "Fear Factor" is more appealing.
The Mayor, council and employees have a free hand to do whatever strikes their fancy when the residents reach the point of saying, "Oh hell, why bother." when an issue arises with this city. The old expression, "You can't fight city hall" rings only too true in this community, but people do not try. I will never be convinced there is a strong community spirit here, as Bruce High fought long and hard to keep his doors open, and his presence was an advantage to the downtown. His leaving is just another black eye to this city, but there are few who would even bother voicing a concern at City Hall.
I believe Quesnel is far more welcoming. I have been told of many communities which welcome businesses, and it is unfortunate I hear nothing positive about Prince George. Now the big plan will be to get that ex cop and his crew to drive the tourists out. Great idea. We need the publicity!!!!
Oh hell, sometimes I wonder why I bother!!!!Who really gives a damn in this city??? I just like people to be successful when they go into business. Bruce was, but the odds piled up too high for him to stay in this deplorable downtown.
I personally, have told many acquaintances not to come to Prince George to go into business. Their wealth was then invested elsewhere, not put at risk here.
Now we are to be subjected to another wasteful $90,000.00 study. We need a clean sweep at City Hall. And we need it fast!!!! We actually need Ben Meisner and Bruce High to consider civic politics. Will this city ever get that lucky????Only need 3 years guys. Would not take that long to clean up and disinfect city hall??? Or would it????

I have enjoyed looking around Monkey Forest ever since it first opened. I've bought several interesting items there over the years, one of my favourites being an Indonesian hand carved chess set, and I am sorry to see it close.

There is no doubt that the downtown continues to deteriorate, but I don't think the present council are necessarily the people to blame. Many years ago there was an opportunity for large amounts of provincial tax money to be used to renovate George Street, 3rd and 4th, and the surrounding area. Most people in PG approved of it at the time, but a few people in the downtown lobbied their friends who had businesses there and actively worked to sabotage it. I didn't understand their motivation at the time, and I still can't figure it out, but there you are.

When the project was defeated the feeling among friends who had stores there was palpable. Shortly after, they moved out and that has been happening ever since, with the result of continued deterioration. It began to die then, and it continues now.

My point is that changing councillors may not be enough, this was done a few years ago remember. Yes, motivated people need to be elected to council, obviously you yourself have strong feeling on the subject, so perhaps you should stand yourself. If elected, don't be surprised if you can't be as effective as you would like, though. It is not just the City bureaucracy, I think the whole system works against rapid change. You should certainly try, though.

I vote we assemble a full slate of new people who are committed to run for the same reasons and can work together from day one to achieve those goals within the first year on Council.

Every other part of this province is now moving. We see little of that here. We need people who understand why that is or are committed to finding out why that is and dedicate their time to removing barriers while setting clear direction of how this community is to "look and feel" in the next 5 years.

Has anyone ever considered the common denominator to what is happening at City Hall.

Does "City Manager" and his associated senior staff ever come to mind?

In any entity which is headed by a Board of Directors, it is always interesting to watch the relationship between the Chair of the Board and the CEO.

From what I can tell, our City is run by the City Manager, not Council. Yet strangely enough, one hears very little about that.

We need a strong mayor and a strong Council. It is time to sweep the Council clean and replace them with enough individuals who will then look at replacing the key people in the administration and set a new direction of how planning and the economic development of this City are run.

The Buck may stop at the Mayor's desk or the Council's desks, but too much of how that Buck looks like has been determined by Staff, not Council, not the people of this community. By the time the Buck reaches the Council, it is typically a done deal.

Ammonra

Tyically people are not enamoured with being forced to spend, especially through taxation, unless they can see that their investment will pay off.

The proposal I believe you are talking about was the initial proposal to do what eventually came about last year, a "facelift" project.

While facelifts can lift the spirits of an individual or an area, if there are structural problems which cause deterioration, "facelifts" have to be accompanied by steps to fixed the root causes, otherwise it will be money ill spent.

I am not a property owner in the downtown, but I would never have backed such a venture either.

We have a "leakage" problem first and foremost. This community has not been growing to any degree for at least 10 years. Yet we have had new development. That is for the good in many ways.

However, with virtually no increase in the size of the population base, that development has come at the expense primarily, but not entirely, of the downtown since much of that development has removed opportunities from the downtown.

Even stores such as Future Shop and Winners are stand alone box-type stores in this community rather than being associated with a shopping mall such as Pine Centre or Parkwood. Both those shopping Malls have been suffering as well. Let us not have blinders and look only at downtown.

In addition, I think Canadian Tire and Home Depot are not really doing a rip-roaring business. I do not think they are great successes such as Costco was/is. In fact, I am rather concerned about Canadian Tire.

It will be interesting to see how many of the smaller stores in the Westgate development will actually make it over the next 2 or 3 years. I predict at least 50% will not make it past the initial 5 years unless this City magically takes off on a mini-boom of sorts.

The arrangement of the "pods" at Westgate has essentially forced stores to be destination stores rather than shops of opportunity. The "strength" of any one store in a pod will depend on the strength of the strongest store in the pod. Pick the right one, and that is typically a lottery for the initial tenants, and you may survive. If not, you are toast.

Downtown is made up of independent business people. When government comes in and tells them "have we got a deal for you" they become very leary, especially since they know that government is not in the business of conducting business.

I do not think that paln City Hall had at that time would have done anything to stop the leakage, any more than the plan which was implemented has stopped it.

When City Council rezones a property on a highway for an enterprise which ought to have stayed downtown, while they signed on to a commitment a couple of years earlier to not do so, there are much more fundamental issues of credibility at play.

This City Council and Administration cannot be trusted. They say one thing one day, and another the next. They make decisions without full knowledge. They are paper bureaucrats at best. If they have any vision, they do not know how to go about getting there.

Right on ammonra--I should have been more interested years ago, but instead I was kept busy with my own business interests, and time slips away.
You actually sound like a knowledgeable candidate. I am such a cynic now it would be impossible for me to be civil and communicate with a pack of idiots.
I assume you are giving reference to the Cadillac Fairview proposal for the city, which was not government grant hand outs. The reason this project came to an abrupt halt was, (as rumor has it), the property owners suddenly felt their properties were worth 300% to 400% more in value. Greed was the main deterrent, so Prince George was a city to "walk away " from. It was an opportunity which will probably never surface again. Little wonder. I read recently they just were responsible for another major mall in a city. More than likely feeling they were blessed by leaving this city to self destruct.
I watched closely as some "new" councillors came into chambers. I voted for those I felt would "hold their own" against the experienced old hats. They proved themselves to be "cop outs" and folded rather quickly-usually a max of 3 council meetings!!!! They succumbed to the pressures, and actually looked rather foolish as they constantly sought reassurance they would be allowed to speak-just had to be told "when." To be reprimanded publically was an obvious fear and they sought to avoid a tongue lashing or correction from the sharp tongued Mayor. Kinsley has proven himself to be a "bully" many times, and his performance is disgusting. He obviously has his old hat favorites and that is apparent.
Yes, I also note change is a long drawn out process, but it has not been too long and drawn out with the deterioration of downtown. The long drawn out process will be attempting to rebuild it-and I still maintain "flogging a dead horse" is just what they are doing, but it will be at an even greater expense to the taxpayer. I find it hard to understand how Offet can obtain another $90,000.00 for yet an additional study. He managed to get "hundreds of thousands" for the White Elephant on 1st Ave, set up for "tourists" from McBride way, if they don't turn off on Queensway or George St.We sure do have a multitude of choices for tourists to enjoy down there!!! No??? He must be one smooth talker at city hall, knowing how to deplete city coffers!!!
"Bury that horse" and tell that Mayor and Council the taxpayers pockets eventually empty. If they are such a brilliant bunch they can figure something out themselves and forget those costly studies. Time out-Leave it Alone-Let it go- The city can still collect taxes and utility fees from those vacant buildings-so why are they wasting more of our hard earned money??
There is nothing to attract tourists downtown, and those I have spoken to speak of our downtown with disgust. The residents are not enticed downtown.
It can all be for social agencies, soup kitchens, pawn shops, druggies, prostitutes , pan handlers, (joke), alcoholics and the like. Keeps them all in one location where they can be cared for. Isn't that good enough???? There-and now I will accept the $90,000.00-thank you very much!!!!

That owl is pretty damn good!!! Hope he does not beat me out of that 90 grand!!!!!! I wasn't planning on holding my breath waiting for it anyhow. I have given this damn city so much money over the years I am entitled to some kind of return. Yep, I live in Prince Gouge!!! oops George!!!

The project I was referring to was about the same time as the Cadillac-Fairview one, but was for the Downtown. I remember it involved several millions of provincial grants, plus city money and perhaps federal (I am not sure of that). It was well before all these big box stores came to PG, but Canada Tire was here already.

If it had been implemented, I think that much of the development outside the city centre would have taken place downtown and we might have had a covered mall on 3rd by now. Spilt milk, though, so no point crying now. Perhaps PG has reached the point where it can't support its retail base. Perhaps there are now too many stores trying to live off too few sales. If that's the case, then watch for a lot more closures, and the small businessman usually goes first, unfortunately.

In the interests of disclosure, I no longer live in Prince George. I retires a couple of years ago and my wife and I moved to Vancouver Island six months ago. I keep in touch because Prince George was my home for 27 years and I have an attachment to it.

IMO the monkey forest best exemplified the downtown's problems. just another place flogging junk made in taiwan. I think if i want that crap i can drive to the wal's mart and fill the trunk for 20 bucks. There need to be quality businesses attracted to the downtown.Until the pawn shops and monkeys are gone good luck.

Sad to see Monkey Forest and Lizard River close their doors; 2 stores that actually added a bit of culture and uniqueness to our city.
I hate to compare here, but...
I'm not a well traveled person, but the places that I have been have a far more interesting city life than us northerners. Kelowna is packed with unique and trendy little shops from one end to the other. Their downtown, although having its fair share of beggers, is thriving. Edmonton, Kamloops and even a tiny city like Vernon have flare. Vernon has a gorgeous "main street" laced with one-of-a-kind stores and boutiques and even a cool old fashioned candy store.
If I try really hard, I can only think of one totally unique store in this city...
Oh, but wait, Monkey Forest and Lizard River are both gone now. One less reason to enter the downtown core.
We are a fairly large city and we should be sporting culture and diversity! I cross my fingers that the native art work business owners don't get tired of the same treatment otherwise we will truly lose the only culture left in PG.

LOW LIFES. Until that problem is dealt with downtown is a lost cause. If social programs & the "rights" of these losers is more important than a vital downtown so be it. We too will be looking at moving out of downtown & hopefully PG as soon as our lease runs out.

What can I say to "Death to Socialism?" There are so many with the same attitude as you. I am one of them. I want out also, and away from this depressing, almost hopeless city, and it cannot be credited to "it's the gypsy in my soul."
All the B S about how far this city has progressed in the last 15 or 20 years is crap. We have lost thousands of residents, suffered severe losses on our housing market, bankrupt businesses, or a mad exodus to get out, a severely challenged group at City Hall with major hand outs to the "low lifes" by the "bleeding hearts" at a heavy cost to the contibutors to society, and a loss of many decent business people.
So we have a 50 million dollar jail, a 45 million dollar courthouse, a 6 million dollar so called "art gallery" to bleed more out of our pocketbooks, an expensive civic centre which is a grandiose meeting place for a few, a library with 350,000 visitors a year, or average 5 times a year per resident, and a number of new "big box retailers," who, rumor has it,are not so certain they made the right move investing in this city. We now have the pine beetle epidemic, breeding not only more pine beetles, but major uncertainty as to the further potential destruction of the economy in this city. We have the powers that be at City Hall brainstorming as to ridiculous ways to spend our tax dollars.
I, for one, do not want to be in this city to "pick up the pieces" in 5 years. I wonder how the other cities, eg; Kamloops, Vernon, Kelowna, and Penticton, (just to name a few) can be so progressive, and we become increasingly degraded.
Would anyone want to move here to enhance their lives in any manner? Not if they walked in with eyes wide open. We are a troubled city, and why will no one tell me how we ever got that name, "heartland?" Just had to be someone seeking recognition-probably a so called politician in Victoria.
WHO DUNNIT????