Sam Sullivan finally has someone that will help pull up his 20 approval rating in Rob Niggar. Rob is a very popular and hard working, who has a dazzling resume to boot.

Sounds like another opportunist to me.

Sam can do well on his own without the opportunists and "boy wonders".

What Sam needs are the real workers, the ones who actually do stuff without the incessant recognition that others seem to want to spend more time to seek than actually doing anything useful.

Could someone out there tell me Accomplishments of Rob Niggar in the community and/ or his Career. I am going to the NPA AGM,and would like to make an informed decision.

Who were the people who quit or did not run for re-election? Who is leaving the Sam's fiefdom?

If Nijjar thinks he is setting the stage for a Council run, he is in the wrong place. Board members should be silent and do the grunt work of election readiness. They are also there to defend the Party against the elected officials who are only the caucus and not in charge of the Party.

Sam needs to let his operatives take care of the NPA internal politics and focus on rolling out his agenda. If he can get away from the pettiness of the battles currently going on behind the scenes, he will be reelected without a worry. He just needs to make people aware of what he is actually trying to get done.

When thousands of Mr Nijjar's constituents were writing then Education Minister Christy Clark pleading with her to fund the 2002 teachers' pay increase so that Vancouver schools wouldn't have to cut $25 million in programming, Mr. Nijjar suggested in the local paper that school uniforms was the solution needed to strengthen Vancouver's public schools.

Of course, it came as a great surprise to all that an up-and-coming young politician with such a keen grasp of the issues lost his East Van seat in the subsequent provincial elections.

"If Nijjar thinks he is setting the stage for a Council run, he is in the wrong place. Board members should be silent and do the grunt work of election readiness. They are also there to defend the Party against the elected officials who are only the caucus and not in charge of the Party."

Agree 100%! It wouldn't hurt the incumbent council candidates to help too.

Too often the politicians think the membership works for them.

Actually it's the other way around.

Never get mad at a volunteer or make a political party irritating to the volunteer. He or she has and will use their decisions and will decide with their feet.

Oh, dear, oh dear, oh dear.....

'NPA Insider' fresh from a ride in the Mayor's old van thinks Sam is "doing things".

Sure, I'll buy a vowel....., supporting lunatic fringe drug policies that enable addiction replacement, (eco)densifying (still no consistent definition for this)without a transportation component until three quarters of the way into the last consultation period, running "official party" business from his inside(rs) silk pockets and (trying--feebly) to fight back against critics, who's opinions he claims to "crave" (Van Mag).

Only now has it occurred to Shammy that he should be getting his act together, well-past halfway through his term. Last year around the AGM, Citizen Sham couldn't muster the noodle power to put forth a slate because, as one of his former hangers-on (I'm being charitable here) said to me (who would be aligned with Sam's competition, strongly), "the Mayor has tried to work with the Board, but it's not working. So, he's not getting involved with the AGM". Brilliant. Don't get involved in your own party, when your supposed to be it's leader.

If someone came to me and asked for a blank cheque, short of the Angel Gabriel, I'd show the rest the door too.

Here are the more pertinent issues:

1) All this is academic. If the Board becomes a push and pull of Peter Ladner and Sam Sullivan forces, you will see resignations galore...what then geniuses?

2) If Sam loses the NPA nomination, and there's a very strong chance of that, notwithstanding the unflinching support of Tory operatives (notice how he started dumping the Grits pronto when he saw his pole/poll had shrunk?), will he run as an independent?

3) If Sam's slate (and there are a few VERY good people on it) wins a majority, do they, should they have the numbers, bounce the tradition of the motion moved by myself and seconded by his scheduling assistant, Anna Lucarino, passed unanimously at the Board in the fall of 2004 (when we were both Board members), which mandates that "Following in the tradition of the Civic Non-Partisan Assciation, there will be no protection of any candidates, including incumbents, in the nomination process of 2005. All candidate positions will be elected by the Association members, at scheduled nomination meetings"?

If any combination of these happens, say hello to Mayor Gregor Robertson. Say hello to Clrs. DivaNova, Graham, possibly even Beasely. Vision didn't even show up last time, save for some development dollars. Prepare for the talent tsunami this time.

But of course, the boo-birds will blame those of us who have been singing from the balcony trying to awaken the blind-faithers.....

The only people I'd protect would be Anton and maybe Ladner if he tosses the faux anti-establishmentarianism. And, Capri if she promises to take remedial lessons in messaging.

The NPA is in a whole heap of trouble thanks to Sam's glue-crew.

Only Carole Taylor can save this train wreck.

"Don't get involved in your own party, when your supposed to be it's leader."

At the civic level, that's not really correct, it's more a manifestation of illusion emitted from
those who want the power of influence.

The leader of a civic party is its president, not His Worship. In fact the politicians should stay
out of the day to day stuff of the civic parties.

The civic party belongs to the membership, not the leader (imagined or real).

As for protection of incumbents, I'd say no. They
need to face (or is that faze) the membership and be administered the test of nomination from the membership.

They are not the washed heathen.