Thanks to Charlie Smith for his insightful article "COPE's Gang of Four Revolutionizes Party" [December 16-23]. As usual, Smith pretty nearly hits the nail on the head.

He warns that there may one day be a "thunderous reaction against" Larry Campbell and his yes men for taking over COPE. I don't claim to be full of thunder, but I am one of many from within and without the party who are strongly resisting the direction Campbell and his cronies are taking the party and the city. I have torn up my COPE membership card and will no longer organize for the party.

I became active in COPE because I saw a possibility for a Vancouver that would support all of its members. As an active fundraiser for the party, I was instructed to tell people that COPE supported the vision of more buses and lower fares. (It still says so on their Web site.) As we have seen with the recent fare increase, Campbell and Raymond Louie do not support bus riders and have no problem breaking election promises. Voters and party members were lied to. In the last election, Campbell said that he wanted a city where there would be no throwaway people, where no one would be left behind. These statements are pretty ironic now that starting January 1 even more low-income bus riders will not have the option of using public transit, being thrown away and left behind for a public-private-partnership RAV line.

The COPE executive has affirmed its support for Larry Campbell in a bid to keep him in the party. Rather than kowtow to the Gang of Four's demands, COPE must tell it like it is and say that Campbell and his gang have sold out the party and its principles in a gross bid for power.

Spencer Herbert

Former youth chair

and COPE fundraiser

Vancouver

What a strange photo accompanies Charlie Smith's article. Arms at their sides, faces glum, the Diet COPE heavies look like four men stranded on an ice floe. Things don't look very copacetic; they look almost funereal. Where's the inaugural camaraderie? The congratulatory smiles, hugs, and handshakes? The Gang of Four should be slaphappy with their "centrist" revolution. After all, they've genuflected before the Wall family and the casino interests and they have deep pockets to pick for their reelections.

But schisms are painful and His Worship seems to savour conflict. It's his way or the highway; he's a compulsive headbutter with a short fuse. He pontificates and forgets that he is a political novice and that politics is an art form, not an extreme sport. Conciliation and diplomacy are essential skills, and these shortcomings have crippled Larry Campbell's reign as mayor.

Stewart Brinton

Vancouver