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May 24, 2002
Herbert wants back in office
Jewish politician seeks return to city hall and revival of TEAM
name.
PAT JOHNSON REPORTER
Former city councillor Alan Herbert is hoping to return to city
hall in this November's election. If he is successful, it would
herald a remarkable renaissance not only for Herbert's personal
career, but for a political legacy of urban renewal that swept the
city more than 30 years ago.
Herbert and several colleagues are reviving the name TEAM, the acronym
for The Electors Action Movement which, between 1968 and 1972, upended
city politics. TEAM erased the stranglehold the Non-Partisan Association
(NPA) had held on city government since the Depression and ushered
in a new era of professional city planning and new urban ideas of
integrating social policy into planning decisions.
TEAM was the incubus for the careers of a generation of leaders,
including Mike Harcourt and Gordon Campbell. Campbell, now British
Columbia's premier, later joined the NPA and modified its image,
in what some observers refer to as the "TEAMing of the NPA."
TEAM disappeared by the mid-1980s, but it is still credited with
altering the way planners and politicians view development and urban
livability.
So, it is not surprising that two of the three movers behind the
revival of the TEAM name have urban planning backgrounds. Herbert's
academic background is in planning and, as an NPA councillor between
1996 and 1999, he was known as a policy wonk on issues such as liquor
licensing. Art Cowie, who served as alderman (as councillors were
then called) in TEAM's heyday and as park board chair under the
NPA, is also an urban planner. The third main player in the revived
organization is Nancy Chiavario, a longtime NPA councillor and park
commissioner who, like Herbert, failed to get the NPA's endorsement
before the last election. She ran as an independent and lost. Chiavario
currently works as a housing advocate.
There has been a glitch in the trio's plans, however. They had publicized
the fact that they were reviving the TEAM name before securing the
right to use the name and, when they attempted to register it, found
someone had beat them to it. Privacy legislation prevents them from
discovering who took the name for at least 50 days.
So they adopted the name Vancouver Civic Action Team (and the acronym
vcaTEAM) and are forging ahead with plans to run candidates for
council, mayor and possibly park and school boards. Cowie and Herbert
hope to convince incumbent Mayor Philip Owen to change his mind
and seek a fourth term, a move that would lend instant credibility
to their endeavor. Without a star name at the head of the ticket,
however, the candidates acknowledge they may have a tough job selling
their platform.
The organization is heavy on policy, unlike the NPA, which prides
itself on being a loose association of independent candidates with
no binding policy. Herbert and his group want a subway under Cambie
Street to relieve traffic to the southern suburbs, more local say
in federal infrastructure programs and more public consultation
before council decisions.
Because of a possible backlash at the local level against the Liberal
government in Victoria, observers suggest the left-wing Coalition
of Progressive Electors stands a good chance of making inroads this
fall. The emergence of vcaTEAM will certainly cloud the waters for
centre-right voters. But Herbert said a fragmented council, with
three or more organizations represented would be an excellent thing
for democracy. He cited the period when Harcourt was mayor and no
group had a majority on council. Issues were debated openly in the
council chamber, not behind closed doors in a party caucus, he said.
"The ugliest government that I've ever seen was the one I was
in," said Herbert, referring to the three-year stint when every
city office was filled with an NPA member.
As a member of the Jewish community and an observer of urban affairs,
Herbert sees riches and challenges in this city's ethnic diversity.
As an example, he said, Vancouver has an enormous wealth of ethnic
media that serve their respective communities. Though this is a
positive factor, he argues that the media are not talking among
themselves, resulting in a sort of media tower of Babel. Herbert
would like to see forums where ethnic media outlets join together
to discuss issues of particular interest to their communities, as
well as of general interest to the larger community. Though Vancouver
is a model of multicultural co-operation, he said, we must remain
vigilant that tolerance continues to flourish.
"The quickest thing that's lost when there is any kind of rough
problems is the rights of minorities," he said.
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