Lawyer Accuses City GM of "Dictatorial" Conduct "Contrary to the Rule of Law"

It may be true that you can’t fight City Hall. But if you hire a lawyer you might at least break through stonewalling by Vancouver City Hall Community Services General Manager, Jacquie Forbes-Roberts, and her in-house lawyer David Hill, both of whom have been thumbing their noses at the rule of law.

Carnegie Board member Rachel Davis forked over her own money to retain Vancouver lawyer Gregory Bruce to review the City’s treatment of a homeless man, William “Bill” Simpson (photo above). Bruce didn’t say anything in his letter to City Hall that Carnegie members haven’t been saying for months, but sometimes saying it on law firm stationery makes all the difference.

Bruce sent a letter to Hill dated March 11, 2008 about the Simpson matter. “As you likely know, Mr. Simpson was advised he was barred from the [Carnegie Community] Centre in a letter dated 21 June 2007 from Ms. Jacquie Forbes-Roberts. . . . .”

Forbes-Roberts notified Simpson in her letter that he was barred “indefinitely” from the Carnegie Community Centre for operating a website which “features links” to the Downtown Eastside Enquirer blog which criticizes Carnegie. Yet City staff failed to come up with even one example of libelous content on the blog when asked by Simpson to do so. The Downtown Eastside Enquirer is confident that none exists.

Bruce wrote: “The barring of Mr. Simpson from the Centre raises issues of due process, free speech, and compliance with the policy of the Centre. . . .” Free speech is a phrase with a history of falling on deaf ears of City staff. Carnegie Board member Sophie Friegang resigned last summer after the Carnegie Board and management refused to remedy the barring of Simpson; she stated at a public meeting that she had “poured over” the Downtown Eastside Enquirer blog and was convinced that its content was well within the boundaries of “free speech”.

In his letter, Bruce went on to express in legalese what Downtown Eastsiders had known instinctively, that the City is acting as though they are above the law. “The letter from Ms. Forbes-Roberts found Mr. Simpson guilty of association with a blog entitled downtowneastsideenquirer.blogspot.com via links with blogspot.com. . . . Guilt by association is no basis for barring someone from a public facility and is an offensive concept with a long history of disrepute. Guilt by association is also contrary to the rule of law.”

Bruce pointed out later in his letter what Downtown Eastsiders have repeatedly pointed out, that Forbes-Roberts and the City-appointed Director of Carnegie Center, Ethel Whitty, can’t get their stories straight about why Simpson was barred. Bruce pointed out that the “factual basis” for the barring of Simpson is not only “in dispute” but “differs from that put forward recently by Ms. Whitty.” He was apparently referring to an interview Whitty gave on CBC Radio during which she contradicted her boss Forbes-Roberts on the barring of Bill Simpson. Only one reason has been given to Simpson in writing though for the barring, that he operates a website which “features links” to the Downtown Eastside Enquirer blog.

In hammering away at the fact that a barring from a City building should be accompanied by an ability to appeal, Bruce went where many Carnegie members and at least one lawyer have gone before, over the past decade. “[T]he letter provides no avenue for appeal, no timeline for further investigations and determinations, and makes no effort to remedy, mediate or clarify the situation. . . . Barring a person from the Centre is an extreme action and should not be taken lightly or without providing the barred person with an opportunity to be heard and to appeal.”

Bruce essentially called Forbes-Roberts a dictator. “The letter from Ms. Forbes-Roberts seems dictatorial and was issued without any warning….” Bruce’s view of Forbes-Roberts is not unlike that of Friegang who stated at a Board meeting last summer that Forbes-Roberts seemed to be giving orders from “on high”.

Bruce never got around to using the phrase “police state” which Downtown Eastsiders have taken to using to describe the conduct of City management and staff at Carnegie Centre, but he refers to the brazen lack of tolerance for dissent that has prompted the use of this phrase. “The Centre serves and is part of the complex, diverse and politicized community in the Downtown Eastside. There will be dissenting voices and critical comments within this community. This should be expected and tolerated. . . .Barring should not be used as a vehicle for shunning those whom have rights and equal entitlement to the services offered at the Centre.”

At the close of his letter, Bruce attempted to end months of stonewalling by the City on the issue of the barring of Bill Simpson: “Ms. Davis requests that you assist in clarifying this issue. To date, Mr. Simpson awaits a follow up letter from Ms. Forbes-Roberts and has not received a reply to his letter sent to her in February 2008.”

Will the several hundred dollars Davis spent on Bruce result in straight answers from City staff who have spent thousands of public dollars on ass-covering and stonewalling in regards to the barring of a homeless man? I wouldn’t put money on it.

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Read about other dictatorial conduct at the City in the form of "political psychiatry" to allegedly deter election campaigning about the bad faith handling of bullying complaints by the NPA School Board

Racist Comments Follow Art Bell's Obama Endorsement

Art Bell was hosting Sunday night's Coast to Coast radio show and once again endorsed Barack Obama. "I'm a big Obama fan," he said.

But Bell told his audience that he had been amazed at the reaction to his endorsement of Obama during Friday night's show. He was barraged with "intensely racial" fastblasts. Fastblasts are messages that can be sent through the Coast to Coast website to allow listeners to give feedback during the show. Bell said the response was "totally racial and bigoted beyond all belief."

He said it appears to be anonymity that gives listeners the nerve to make such comments.

Bell is raising a mixed race daughter, Asia, whom he had with his Filipino wife.

Art Bell Endorses Barack Obama

It's almost as good as an endorsement from Oprah. Radio host Art Bell endorsed Barack Obama last night on the late night Coast to Coast show. Coast to Coast gets up to 10 million listeners a night.

"I think I'm an Obama guy," Bell said during his opening remarks on the show. Then he repeated himself, explaining that after listening to the speeches and "watching the sparks fly" between Barack and Clinton, he believed himself to be "an Obama guy."

"I like Obama", Bell added later in the show. "I think Obama has the ability to bring this country together in a way that has not been done since John Kennedy."

When a caller expressed the opinion that Obama's Muslim ancestry could work in favor of the U.S. internationally, Bell disagreed. "We're very much a warrier-like people and I don't think the race or background will make any difference to those attacked."

Bell, a self-described Libertarian who had earlier in the primaries praised Republican Ron Paul for his "revolutionary" ideas, commented last night on John McCain becoming the Republican candidate for President. "I've always liked John McCain but would have liked him to achieve that last time."

Bell's endorsement of Obama carries weight, even though Bell now only does the occasional Coast to Coast show. Bell built up a loyal, almost cult-like, following during his years as regular host of the show which not only focuses on UFOs and the paranormal but has a steady stream of interviews with political authors and scientists.

One caller told Bell last night, "You're a legend." Bell responded, "I really would prefer not to be thought of that way." In the past Bell has attempted to knock himself off the pedestal listeners put him on, advising them not to assume that he has the answers, that he is no more qualified to figure things out than they are.

Related Story: Racist Comments Follow Art Bell's Endorsement of Obama

Geert Wilders Releases Video Dutch Government Did Not Want You to See

It’s the video the Dutch government didn’t want you to see. The government made it known to Dutch politician Geert Wilders that they did not want him to release his video, Fitna, for fear of unrest amongst Muslims.

But Wilders released Fitna today, a video warning that Islam and the Koran pose a threat to western freedoms and it is time to wake up. “Islam and the Koran are a danger for freedom in the Netherlands in the long term and I need to warn for that,” Wilders said on NOS television today.

Wilders, a critic of immigration, founded the increasingly popular Freedom Party under the slogan, "Stop the Islamization of The Netherlands.''

This video is of interest to Canadians watching the attempted Islamization of our tradition of free speech. Ezra Lavant, a former publisher hauled in front of the Alberta Human Rights Commission to face a complaint by a Muslim Iman for running cartoons of the prophet Mohammed, achieved hero status when he took on the Commission for "applying Saudi values in Canada".

Watch the video the Dutch government did not want you to see.

Traffic Lights Down and No Cops Around

All traffic lights were stuck on red at the busy Main and Hastings intersection during rush hour this afternoon. I first got a report at about 3:30 p.m, another report at 4:00 p.m., and another at 4:45 p.m. that the lights were still down. They started functioning again shortly before 5 p.m.

There were no Vancouver Police on the scene the entire time. At around 4 p.m., one police officer drove by in a squad car, turning toward the police station just around the corner on Main. He didn't seem concerned about the mayhem. "Shift change," said a bystander.

Multiple lanes of cars were headed in the direction of pedestrians walking in the crosswalks. One woman with her baby in a stroller was talking to a male friend on her left, not realizing that three cars were coming at her from her right. The drivers did see her and slowed as she suddenly saw them and darted to the safety of the sidwalk.

The drivers were actually quite courteous. The fact that they were crossing against red lights may have made them more willing to yield to pedestrians.

A Downtown Eastside resident sent us the above photo.

Where were the police?

Emergency Response Team Enters Jubilee Rooms

The Vancouver Police Emergency Response Team entered Jubilee Rooms at 235 Main St. on the Downtown Eastside this Good Friday evening. Eighteen cops were in the building, the desk clerk told tenants standing outside. Jubilee Rooms, formerly known as New Zealand Rooms is on Main St., between Cordova and Powell St., across from the courthouse.

A man "somehow got a key" to the place, a witness said. "That place is locked 24 hours a day. They can't figure out how he got a key." He managed to get past the male desk clerk and beat up his ex-girlfriend who lives there. The desk clerk called the police.

The man then barricaded himself in the washroom on the 1st floor. A male cop on a cell phone on the scene said the man apparently had a long knife.

There were numerous police vehicles outside the Jubilee: two squad cars, three ghost cars, an SUV. There were also two ambulances. Ambulance attendants placed a stretcher near the door of the Jubillee. One of the ambulance attendants was taking photographs.

Police brought out the ex-girlfriend. She was holding her hand and wrist up, as though she were favoring them. "Maybe her wrist got twisted," a witness speculated. Police put her in the back of the squad car. She was not handcuffed. "She wasn't crying," says a witness, "but she did look a bit shocked." A witness who arrived at this point says this was about 5:50 p.m. and the incident "must have happened just before that." It would not end until 7:55 p.m.

A cop said on his cell phone that the suspect had threatened suicide. He had said he wanted to kill himself and had been thinking about it for a while.

A large white truck arrived carrying Emergency Response Team equipment in the back. Some police officers went to the trunks of their cars and suited up with body armour, others went to the white truck and suited up. A driver and passenger got out of the white truck and entered the building with guns that, according to a witness, "resembled miniature AK47s". "Are those bean bag guns?", a witness asked a female cop passing by on horseback and chatting with people on the street. She said they were, adding that police try to avoid using lethal force when possible.

"You should have seen the arsenol!", says a witness, "when the cops came back down [the stairs of the building] and they put all their weapons on the cars." The cops were laughing and joking as they came out of the Jubilee, possibly out of relief said the witness.

The suspect was brought out alive.