Since the November 2005 civic election the seven-member park board has witnessed the Stanley Park wind storms, overseen the approval of corporate naming inside park buildings, given the okay to another expansion of the Vancouver Aquarium footprint, and seen its longest-serving commissioner - 13-year vet Allan De Genova - turfed from the caucus of the ruling Non-Partisan Association over his public questioning of a conflict-of-interest dispute involving former caucus colleague Heather Holden.

It has accomplished this with a $54.5-million budget, in 2006, out of a total city operating budget of $813 million for that year. Unlike their counterparts on city council, commissioners cannot afford to give up their day jobs. Yet they are in charge of 221 parks on a total of 1,300 hectares, according to a January 2006 park acquisition strategy. We sent all seven commissioners some questions earlier this year; their answers are below.

IAN ROBERTSON (NPA, chair)

B–

Robertson on Bike Month: "As part of a plan to get more exercise, two weeks ago I bought a new mountain bike. I have started biking again and intend to begin riding to work at least once per week."

Accomplishments: Dunbar Ian looks like a stuffy suit, but he exhibits good manners, returns calls, and can chair meetings without tossing out park-board regular Elanor Hadley.

Needs improvement: Robertson is the ultimate conformist, blocking Loretta Woodcock’s efforts to raise fellow NPA commissioner Marty Zlotnik’s failed park-swap plan at a park board meeting earlier this year. The only thing that prevents Robertson getting a B or even an A– is his voting record. He can be obstructionist when progressive motions come before him, such as encouraging the implementation of the aquarium’s Oceanwise program in park establishments, or supporting a tighter ethical-purchasing policy at park concessions. On October 30, 2006, after a meeting that ran over four hours, Robertson offended Commercial Drive store manager Roxanne Cave, cochair of the Vancouver Fair Trade Coffee Network. Cave and a colleague, Michael Zelmer, had stayed late to talk about the ethical-purchasing policy, but Cave did not believe Robertson (as chair) was getting it and that he betrayed "an ignorance" on the issue.

AL DE GENOVA(independent)

De Genova on board chairs past and present: "Ian Robertson, our current chair, has been doing an outstanding job in making efforts bringing us together to come forward with a consensus, all while maintaining a high level of respect. I only wish we had our current chair in the first year."

Accomplishments: Always an A for effort. To complete a survey in May, De Genova, 51, had to use a laptop out of a bed at VGH, where he was recovering from a serious bacterial infection that required the removal of a portion of his colon. This says a lot about the character of a man the NPA bounced from its ranks in 2006 (after his 18 years in the ruling party) over the Heather Holden Conflictgate. Now De Genova may have aspirations with Vision Vancouver, whose membership includes his wife and two daughters.

Needs improvement: Despite having the power to force a 3–3 tie over the aquarium’s expansion and kill it stone dead at the fractious November 2006 board meeting, De Genova and COPE commissioner Spencer Herbert voted in favour of the expansion in the most contentious vote of the term.

SPENCER HERBERT(COPE)

Herbert on his park board colleagues: "I work very well with COPE commissioner Woodcock, independent commissioner De Genova, and, generally, NPA commissioner Robertson. They do their homework and seem to really care about the community. The rest of the NPA board seem to be at best rubber-stampers, and at worst seem to argue that we can do nothing, should do nothing, and are really nothing."

Accomplishments: Herbert summarily dismissed park-board veteran bureaucrat Jim Lowden’s concession study as the "McDonaldization" of Vancouver parks. He wanted a tougher ethical-purchasing policy, a carbon-neutral policy for park-board facilities, and wider support for the aquarium’s Oceanwise program at park-board-owned restaurants.

Needs improvement: Herbert went along with the NPA on the aquarium, English Bay’s concession, and the 311 phone system, and at times alarms COPE hardliners with his penchant for being every pragmatist’s wet dream.

HEATHER HOLDEN (NPA)

Accomplishments: Her on-line CV boasts of an affinity for yoga and she is cordial once in a while.

Needs improvement: As board chair during the first year, Holden was confrontational with opposition colleagues and condescending to delegates. As a former aquarium employee, Holden was absent throughout the aquarium expansion process, leaving Robertson to fill in. Holden now works for the Fraser Institute.

KORINA HOUGHTON (NPA)

Houghton on achievements: "I am proud of my contribution to the Stanley Park Restoration Plan, stemming from my educational and occupational experience in forestry. In particular, I am excited about interpretive and educational opportunities surrounding an area of blowdown that will be left to naturally regenerate."

Accomplishments: Houghton is often humble and returns calls regularly.

Needs improvement: Like Robertson, Houghton has gone along with some questionable NPA policies, including corporate-naming rights and her supporting the concession-strategy study put together by long-time Stanley district director Jim Lowden that looks to privatize many park concessions and push up the price of food for the average Joe. Houghton also gave the aquarium a fawning thumbs-up when she and her colleagues approved expansion to the tune of 3,420 square metres, a 28.7-percent increase in size for the long-time Stanley Park tenant. Houghton achieved a lowlight at the Dr. Sun Yat-sen Classical Chinese Garden on January 29 this year when she baited a crowd of hockey parents to the tune of "Go ahead and boo me." Boooooooooo…

LORETTA WOODCOCK (COPE)

Woodcock on achievements: "I worked hard to maintain discounts for senior citizens’ user fees at our community centres, while at the same time assuring that we maintain youth-at-risk programs as well as adequate funding for our 23 community centres that offer vital programs."

Accomplishments: The best public servant on the board and biggest advocate of park space, Woodcock successfully helped derail Zlotnik’s park-swap plan for Pacific Spirit Park. Woodcock did not cave to the Vancouver aquarium and was the lone dissenter in a 5–1 vote in favour of its expansion.

Needs improvement: Woodcock is a less-than-stellar orator who mumbles at times and won’t always raise her head from her carefully scripted notes and slow the f*** down.

MARTY ZLOTNIK (NPA)

Accomplishments: As an early baby boomer, Zlotnik has an old-school sense of humour and a penchant for hyperbole that can be endearing.

Needs improvement: Marty "Antoinette" Zlotnik did not respond to the survey—preferring to let us eat McDonald’s. There is a strong suggestion from his laissez-faire attitude that this is all a trifle beneath a long-time B.C. Liberal fundraising powerhouse. Zlotnik has demonstrated no humility for the office he holds, and even less empathy when it comes to advocating for parkland and standing up for common citizens. He said it was tough shit that concession prices were going up, and that families should bring a picnic if they can’t pay up. And it was Zlotnik who brought forward the motion in May 2006 removing the requirement for a referendum before the aquarium could expand its footprint—this not even a week after president John Nightingale presented to the parks planning committee. Zlotnik was the facilitator of what will go down as one of the most antidemocratic heists of recent times.