Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Post by Omar Soliman
Hello all, apparently I may be one of the only people left in Tofino who doesn’t speak with anonymity, which is an increasingly worrying problem in today’s world. Yes I live in an RV on public lands at Cox Bay. I have lived in this town for 4 years with only a short period of that time being under a real roof in a real house. My door is open at anytime if you want to discuss what it has been like. This election isn’t about me and what I’m going through, and for the reasons why I think people haven’t been willing to rent me a space (including crabapple whom I’ve spoken with on multiple occasions) which are not important because what I think doesn’t matter, what matters is what’s going on with this town and what we can do to mitigate its potential demise. My opinions should not matter to you the residents of this town, what should matter to you is selecting an INDIVIDUAL who is going to champion YOUR opinions and principals. It is not the responsibility of your elected officials to curb your decisions, it is their responsibility to gather information democratically and enforce the will of the people, that’s what I’m willing to do, I am willing to be your megaphone, I will never vote against what the PEOPLE of this community want. At the end of the day we all have rights as Canadians, and if you want to know what those rights are and how to cherish them and execute them to the fullest extent of the law, you need to elect officials who understand them and are will to fight for them for you. I will make only one promise, I promise that whatever roads we decide to take, whatever mistakes we need to get up from, and whenever we need to stand up to injustices in our town and in the world, we will always do it with confidence, with conviction, and we will do it together, I promise.
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28 comments:
I'm gonna vote for this man.
Here's why.
We're supposed to have a representative democracy form of government. That's where we, the people, elect from our peers individuals to represent our will in the council chambers.
On May 6th 2019, at a "special" council meeting, our mayor and six councillors voted unanimously to adopt a financial plan, budget, and loan authorization that plunges the taxpayers of Tofino into deep long term debt, combined with outrageous and extreme property tax hikes. They did this despite staff having told them that 0% (none) of the requests for feedback that the District of Tofino had asked the public for spoke in favor of this budget, loan, or financial plan. In fact 100% spoke against their plan, and several reasonable alternatives were put forward.
The will of the people was totally ignored. Instead, it was suggested that the entire population, it seems, is confused and misinformed. Mayor and council assumed the role, it appears, of God, made a conscious decision to NOT place the matter before the electorate (as the law would indicate they should have), and instead enacted the bylaws:against the clearly stated will of the electorate.
Obviously, it seems to me, Omar has been paying attention. He sees something wrong happening in our municipal government. He's telling us that he will not become a part of it. He's asking for our support, so he can perhaps carry OUR voice into council chambers and keep us informed of what's going on there.
I believe him.
He's got my vote.
Besides, he sounds like a normal everyday Tofitian to me. Like most of the people here, thanks to District of Tofino policies, he can't find a decent affordable place to live.
That's great Omar. but what the hell do you think.
@10:13 PM. Can't you read? Omar clearly said that he doesn't believe it matters what he thinks, he's asking for your vote so he can represent what YOU think in council chambers.
I understand this might be difficult for you to understand. It's a different concept of governing than Tofino is accustomed to. Now and in the past, we elect a mayor and council, and they then proceed to rule as kings, the will of the people ignored. Omar proposes to change this, perhaps.
It would be good to have the residents and taxpayers actually having a say in the managing of their own public affairs. There are 1800-2000 residents in Tofino. They must, by the law of averages, have at least some good ideas. Those ideas deserve the opportunity to be heard.
So Omar is simply going to reflect the will of the people, that is great. But the current crop on Council probably claim the same mantel. How will he determine what that is? What will he do if the community is divided or the path forward is not clear? He might have to follow his instincts or his prejudices. Or perhaps do whatever the last person to speak to him says. Or do what someone says is the will of the people even when it is not. And who is to decide. Is Omar more than a Robot or a slot machine.
It might be a good idea to find out what he thinks are the problems and solutions, then the electors can decide. He might be the return of Tommy Douglas or Beelzebub. At this point I don't know.
Most people are not taxpayers in Tofino. Why would he would represent a minority point view.
Sounds like Peter Sellers in Being There. The man just is. It is really quite remarkable.
Vote for a candidate that doesn’t have an airbnb or vacation rental.
AirBnB, it is the will of the people. Omar, Omar, Omar, Omar
I live in my car but contribute to the community. I get harrassed by bylaw but I just want to work and be here. I’m not a bum. Omar has my vote
Housing should be for tourists and Volkswagen vans.
(Sarcasm)
@9:00AM You criticize Omar for not expressing clearly his position on issues. Which issues are you curious about? If you look at any council agenda, you'll see that the issues are constantly changing, addressing multiple various topics. Hundreds of topics each year. It would take writing a book to address all of them. Many, we don't even know what they are yet. Do you have a clear accurate vision of what issues council will be facing in this term? I don't. I don't expect Omar to have a crystal ball and the ability to see into the future. Nor do I expect him to have all the answers to all the problems. No one possibly could.
I will point out that, so far, he's the only candidate that has come forward publicly and said ANYTHING. At least that I've seen or heard. And it's been a week since nominations closed. Who are these "other" five candidates? What is their platform. Why haven't we heard anything from them?
We haven't heard from other candidates because
I) They are not on Ralph's blog, and
2) They are all down at the pub buying people beers, trying to get elected.
See you, I am heading down there before supplies run out
Re: 11:14AM The reason you may not have heard from any other candidates is because " The deadline for candidates to remove their names from the ballot is October 4. The campaign period officially kicks off October 5".
It concerns me greatly that no one in Tofino wants to rent to this guy, does anyone have an answer?
3:48PM; 1- He's only been here for four years, he won't be considered a "local" until 2025. 2-He hasn't suffered enough yet, he needs to endure at least three major power failures, one flood, and a minimum of three months in a tent or truckbox. 3- He's not, to my knowledge, a member of any popular "surfer clique". 4- He doesn't hang out at any of the "cool" restaurants or coffee shops. 5- He's not active in any extremist left wing political organizations.
There you have it. No wonder he can't find a place to live, he's not hooked up with "the right people"
Tells me all I need to know. I'm voting, for sure, for Omar.
@12:41PM.... It's now Oct 13th. We're 8 days into the "official" campaign. I still haven't heard one word from any of the "other" candidates. I have radio, TV, internet, social media..... I do not live under a rock. Nothing in the Westerly, no word from the district office, no mention of any all-candidates meeting....... nothing.
Perhaps 12:10 PM is correct, they're all down at the pub. Drunk.
Good stuff on the radio ‘‘this morning Omar ( and Ronnie) Some new ideas discussed and opinions put forward. And if I heard correctly .... we don’t need more parking for tourist cars and motor homes - we do need preferential parking in village core for locals —— one way streets might be of benefit — housing and taxes continues to be a concern —- I was out running a few errands so didn’t hear the entirety of the show but am wondering if there was any discussion on considering different forms of food delivery to our major restaurants. I am of the opinion that Reducing the noise pollution and large carbon footprint created by semi trucks parked and idling for long periods of time , particularly in the summer months, would be of benefit to all .
Great to hear our local candidates on our local radio station!! Thanks to Ryan and Cameron for making it happen.
I missed the first part of the interview, then my electrician arrived and I had to go, so I missed the last half of the interview as well.
But I really would like to hear what Omar and Ronnie had to say.
Next Tuesday, two more candidates will appear as guests, but I'll be out of province, so I'll miss that as well.
Again, I'd like to hear what the candidates have to say.
I was hoping that the interviews might be available, recorded or archived, somewhere on the 90.1 website, but I've been unable to find them anywhere on there.
Am I just not media savvy? Or is "Tuff Talk" a one-shot deal? You miss it, you lose?
Is anyone willing to bring up the expensive corruption operational in our local government?
8:54 Maybe if you spelled it out we might know what you are talking about. Please inform
lets see.......using district money to pay the district lawyer to tell the administrator why one member of council should not be charged with a blatant zoning code violation. the zoning code violation deprives the district of much needed taxes and has done for years.
meanwhile, spending many tax dollars to prosecute a zoning code violation at s. chestermans.
the result: the first zoning code violation continues to operate. that isn't corruption?
Dan Law is the only reasonable choice I see in this election. Two candidates had their chance and on council they helped screw up things to the point we will be seeing a tax increase of 50% over 4 years. An absolute sign of failure by staff and elected officials of the past Gord and Josie included. Omar is a write off given his very flawed logic and lack of contribution to the community. Ronnie is a good man but why is he running... perhaps a business expansion adgenda...just ask planning dept. Craig lacks any experiance that would make me think he could stand up for logic and balanced government.
Dan has lived here 20 yearsish. He has raised a family here and is a home owner and local businessperson/artist. In the conversations i have had with him it seems he is not agenda driven and open to all resonable perspectives. The last councils have been problematic to say the least. Time for change.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uaJVJCElLMAYTRSRjhq0jg1NKmpJvTVv/view
Here is a copy of Omar’s interview on the radio. Can you please point out the flaws in his logic. Maybe if you did he could learn from it and fine tune some of his ideas. He’s been trying to get people to talk to each other but it just seems that people want to talk at each other instead as per usual in this town.
Tofino needs a parking plan that includes the whole district and we need to charge a small fee for every vehicle that comes into and parks in Tofino, anywhere.
A parking plan that just involves the downtown core would inevitably just move the problem a few blocks away. This way the tourists could contribute five bucks to Tofino and be good for the day to park at the beach. If you need to park downtown, ten bucks and you are good for the day anywhere in Tofino as well as downtown, so you can park at the beach too, Cars could park at resorts and VCR's for free if they are on private property. It would encourage them to leave their cars there and take the bus, reducing pressure on the downtown parking. Local residents and seasonals and frequent visitors could buy a pass for the year for a nominal amount like in the National Park. If the federal gov't with all it's resources needs to charge for parking who the hell do we think we are to not do the same. Besides any city I travel to I have to pay.
This idea would generate a lot of money and have beneficial effects on traffic management as well
It would also help with the tax burden, pay off some infrastructure cost.
DO IT
9:58 PM. I hope and pray that you haven't opened a new can of worms here. I agree with you, but will we now need to hire yet more consultants to analyze this proposal? Wasn't the parking issue consulted and analyzed in depth just a couple years ago? Will we need to do it all again?
This proposal could easily generate a million dollars of free cash for the municipality, every year. In the summer probably 500 vehicles a day at $10 bucks a pop =5000 dollars a day plus seasons passes x 200 days =1,000,000 and the other 150 days of the year pays your expenses. easily. There I just did your consulting. Do It.
The more recent parking proposals were not covering the whole district this one is comprehensive.
It will be on Tuffcityradio.rocks soon. In SoundCloud .
We are just building the business day by day. I sincerely appreciate the support . I would love to have Ralph in the rafio!
Cameron
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