Lesson 1: Don’t trust senior staff, particularly when it comes to labour relations. “I deferred to the experts on collective bargaining but asked them to inform me when the time was appropriate.” The resulting strike was not the worst in the city’s history, but the worst in recent memory.  Concludes Sullivan: “I could have learned just how poisonous the relations had become between the union and some senior management.” Sullivan had already been a councillor for more than 13 years at the time.

Lesson 2: Don’t let others, including the media, lie about you. “There is a whole industry devoted to making the mayor look bad.” Case in point: the allegation he tried to trademark Ecodensity. Sullivan regrets that he had a tendency to “disregard ridiculous accusations.” Big mistake. Not explained: why the Canadian Intellectual Property Office published a notice of the application it received on Sullivan’s behalf from Boughton Law Corp., thus triggering the “accusations.”

 Lesson 3: watch out for other municipalities. After Sullivan naively followed staff advice on collective bargaining and wound up in a bruising strike (see Lesson 1), Richmond settled with its unions at a level that is now triggering service cuts and tax hikes across the region. Future mayors should try to make other cities hold off their bargaining until Vancouver has settled. Question: how?

Lesson 4: Don’t trust senior staff (financial department): The Olympic Village project should have been run by the private sector, instead of in-house. Remember, “city processes can take forever and the costs remain buried.”  Sullivan says his council rejected a private sector plan, leaving the project  “vulnerable to politicians loading it with extras.” (Details of Sullivan’s fight to turn back the extras have never been found. He chaired the key meetings where the “extras” must have been loaded on.)

Lesson 5: schedule time for family and friends.  “And remember, the job of being former mayor is much more pleasant.” There are no worries on the staff front, if nothing else.

Rey Umlas, left, with Gregor, centre and me and friends at the Multicultural Helping House fundraising dinner.

Although he had expected to have a career in medicine, he told the business audience, his career headed in a different direction, toward prevention of illness. A concern for people and their well-being was reflected in a business, Happy Planet Juice, that provided a healthy product for modern consumers in a way that reflected a triple bottom line approach: social, environmental and fiscal balance.

Gregor told the DVA that business can and must be a tool for social change, and Happy Planet worked hard to live up to that philosophy. But his frustration at the failure of political leaders to make the choices to solve problems like homelessness propelled him into political life. In the Legislature, however, he found the issues dominating his time, especially the plight of Cambie Street merchants and tenants facing eviction, had solutions at City Hall. That triggered his decision to run for Mayor.

In a lengthy and highly personal address, Gregor proposed four goals for the city:

1. to end homelessness through concrete actions as early as 2015, but certainly by 2018;

2. make our city safer through more police resources and reinvigoration of the Four Pillars Strategy, now with a focus on prevention and treatment;

3. aspire to be the greenest city in the world, with clean energy, zero waste policies and and economic strategy that levers these changes to create green jobs; and

4. emphasize our creativity and innovation to make Vancouver a creative city, an incubator of culture and innovation.

With at least 18 head-to-head debates upcoming between Gregor and Peter Ladner in the coming weeks, these issues are likely to define the municipal campaign.

Thanks again.

At right: election night with supporters Summer McFadyen and Aaron Ekman.

And in closing…
Friends, you have a tough decision on Sept. 20.
You have to pick a team of eight individuals with the experience, energy and diversity to support Gregor Robertson in the battle to change our city.
Because Gregor, George, Tim, Heather and Raymond can’t do it on their own.
They need a strong majority.
Our city faces tough problems.
The level of homelessness is unacceptable.
It’s getting harder for most citizens to buy a home, find a decent apartment, or even get a seat on the bus.
I’ve seen our city from all sides. I learned how it works; how to find solutions to problems as diverse as housing, transit, child care and the arts.
I’m proud of the role I’ve played in helping our party come this far.
I believe I can make a strong contribution to Gregor’s council team.
I appeal for your support on Sept. 20.