Gregor Robertson reelected to second term as Vancouver mayor with majority Vision council

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      Mayor Gregor Robertson and his Vision Vancouver party were elected to a second majority term Saturday, winning seven seats on council, five on park board and five on school board.

      Robertson took to the stage just before 11 p.m. to a cheering room of supporters at the Sheraton Wall Centre in downtown Vancouver. The mayor was joined by his team of Vision candidates, all of whom were elected, including current city councillors Raymond Louie, Kerry Jang, Heather Deal, Andrea Reimer, Tim Stevenson, and Geoff Meggs, and new council candidate Tony Tang.

      “Tonight we celebrate a hard-fought victory,” Robertson told the crowd. “Tomorrow we get back to work.”

      Robertson's speech included acknowledgement of outgoing Coalition of Progressive Electors candidates Ellen Woodsworth and David Cadman. Allan Wong was the only COPE candidate that was elected, taking a spot on the school board.

      "Their service to Vancouver is so valuable and appreciated," he said of the councillors.

      Robertson also thanked his opponent Suzanne Anton for her nine years of public service on city council and the park board. Anton, who finished with 58,152 votes, conceded earlier to Robertson, who won 77,005.

      The civic election results saw the Non-Partisan Association increase its presence on city council to two spots, with Elizabeth Ball and George Affleck elected. The party also won two seats on the park board, with Melissa De Genova and John Coupar elected as commissioners. Three NPA candidates were elected to school board.

      Polling results Saturday night showed the Green party’s Adriane Carr was elected to the tenth city council spot.

      Robertson told reporters after his speech that during the next term, he wants to "focus more on community engagement" and "working with neighbourhoods".

      "The city is growing, we've got a lot of pressure to grow and develop," he said. "Our economy is strong. We've got to do that very carefully and thoughtfully and working better with our neighbourhoods."

      The election featured a new group on the ballot, Neighbourhoods for a Sustainable Vancouver, which campaigned on a platform of neighbourhood-based planning and campaign-finance reform. Council candidate Elizabeth Murphy led the group's slate with 19,644 votes.

      According to the City of Vancouver, this year's voter turnout is estimated at about 35 percent, up from 31 percent in the 2008 civic election.

      Comments

      16 Comments

      Bodacious

      Nov 20, 2011 at 12:06am

      God help Vancouver's neighbourhoods.

      Ginna Abramovitch

      Nov 20, 2011 at 2:52am

      Really? U folks thought this would be a good idea? I'd like to know how many of us really think that this is a good idea (i.e Vision Vancouver taking the lead once more) - this is why it's so IMPORTANT that we ALL VOTE!!!

      Richard Campbell

      Nov 20, 2011 at 6:01am

      YES!

      Booyah

      Nov 20, 2011 at 7:13am

      In your face, Anton!

      How shall I put this?

      *oyeah* Better luck next time.

      Allyson Nelson

      Nov 20, 2011 at 7:14am

      20,000 votes - Vancouver can't afford another 3 years of his leadership. He condones lawlessness, shoving bike lanes down our throats, wasting money. I can't believe he could win by that much.

      ken mclaren

      Nov 20, 2011 at 7:27am

      Good-bye! Anton flip flop

      Donnie Darko

      Nov 20, 2011 at 8:43am

      Congratulations, Mr. Robertson!
      Beating Anton by nearly 20,000 votes.
      I guess we won't be getting that streetcar! LOL!
      Randy Helten finished with just over 4000 votes.

      Mike James

      Nov 20, 2011 at 9:30am

      Alllyson, he didn't "shove" bike lanes down our throats. The people of Vancouver have been asking for more cycling infrastructure for years.
      What's wrong with giving the people what they want? Why should we be forced to take a car to go shopping? What's wrong with having more options?
      From the viewpoint of a suburb it can appear that some of the decisions made in Vancouver look odd but from the viewpoint of someone actually living here they make total sense and are welcome.
      While one can criticize the process, I'm glad that we now have a taste of separated bike lanes so that we can see how they work and see how good and useful they are. It's been over a year and all the bad things that were said would happen have not come true.

      liberal 'lite' for a lite city

      Nov 20, 2011 at 10:31am

      Vancouver got what it wanted: a status quo liberal, in the back pocket of the developers full of lite liberal platitudes, pale greenish ideas and fine thoughts with very little substance. Will we have to wait for a collapse of real estate values until voters can again face reality? Maybe, in the meantime Vancouver has a Visionless municipal council which will ramble on about inconsequential nonsense (chicken coops, recycling paper etc) while doing what the developers want.

      Save Vancouver

      Nov 20, 2011 at 11:09am

      Wrong Mike James, a very small minority of Vancouverites were asking for better cycling infrastructure. Don't flatter yourself.