Her resume and experience are incredible – with an international bent too boot, which will serve our fair coastal city well in the coming booming global economy – which may well require a greater focus on international trade.

But the terms are just too rich on a general scale. I’m sorry, it’s a fact. You could work for years in the private sector and never receive such lucrative compensation, or you could work for a few years and receive far in excess. It just depends on who you work for, so a “like” comparison with the private sector is hardly that at all.

As for citycaucus.com…I am happy to admit when I am wrong, I was duped on the details, like so many others. I accept, after reading Allen’s column that the details were not what was originally reported, and we really should have known better–despite the fact that the package, sorry again, really seems just too much. I’ve worked at that level before, and beyond it. You never start off with such a package regardless of where you came from. Even in the private sector, it’s a tough sell to the board of directors. So, even though we were passed misinformation, in principle, I think there is something very wrong when you begin at such a level as CFO for the city. The support staff is not so diffuse that you need such luxury. Prove your worth. It’s the taxpayers’ buck after all.

People, I suppose, are looking for results and in this day when there are so many in the same league that are at home changing diapers or tending to their garden while waiting for the phone to break the silence of their existence, it’s a tough swallow.

On the issue of citycaucus.com, maybe they can answer the same questions I’ve asked before:

Are the rumours true? Are they being funded by the left overs from the Sam slush fund? Has Mikey hooked Sam up with provincial Liberal MLAs who Sam is dispensing political “advice” to…to ingratiate himself, in the hope of skipping the boredom of re-reading Plato while staring through the looking glass into the harbour?

Their credibility was never really in question, they never had any. A nice blog skin doesn’t make for the brilliant story or pertinent website.

I’ve counted only a few stories they’ve done, thus far, that were done without malice and with some integrity, otherwise, these are two guys with zero credibility after being BLIND apologists for the worst modern day mayor in Vancouver history, and taking patronage appointments to boot. As much as I despise the damage Colin Metcalfe has done to the local Tories, he would have been a superb Chief for Sam, tempered by the necessity of dealing with Silly Hall, and Sam would have never been so off his rocker on so many issues. Danny was the worst choice Sam could have made and Mikey had no previous credentials for the Planning Commission–none. “I’ve always been interested in architecture” was what he told me, verbatim, when I confronted him about it years ago. And from all accounts, his learning curve on the commission was a painful spectacle for a majority.

Travis’s comment where he states, “..It would remove the lingering remnants of their credibility.”, makes me ask the question; Why has anyone believed they are trying to be fair or balanced in the first place?

The media is full of left-wing (the tyee), and right-wing (these guys) rhetoric. There’s nothing wrong with that as most people see it for what it is, and people do have the right to pick and choose what they read, and what they believe.

I also believe that most would accuse the cbc, Globe, CTV, Canwest, etc.. of certain bias as well. My friends in Winnipeg were part of the same circle as Izzy Asper was when alive, and he was as Fed-Lib as they get. It’s no surprise his media outlets before his death were equally biased.

I’m not making excuses for these citycaucus guys but at least they’re transparent in their bias, whereas the list of media that masquerades as “balanced” are in my opinion, far worse than these guys can ever be.

I think you only have yourselves to blame if you thought they were going to be fair and/or balanced.

This is my favorite: “I guess the best defense is a good offense. Rather than admitting you are wrong, keep on striking out and maybe one day you will hit something.” Ouch!

I am amazed at how the mainstream media in Vancouver has so many fingers on the pulse of this blog because they fluctuate wildly between conducting themselves as real journalists and highly opinionated bloggers.

I think that they should rebrand themselves as “www.therightcitycaucus.com”. It would remove the lingering remnants of their credibility.

As for the 10 weeks of paid vacation, or the extra $45,000 tacked onto Impey’s gold-plated deal, Garr tries to make excuses for it. The public sector math is simple:

5 weeks vacation + 3 weeks EDO + 1 week OT + 1 extra week vacation = 10 weeks

EDO (Earned Days Off) are not vacation. It is not a benefit. The employee works longer hours in return for days off. The employer gets the same number of hours of work out of them.

Given they worked for the City (and presumably got EDOs themselves), they should know this.

FYI: Most people don’t know that the sound at the end of the album is their credibility being flushed down a toilet.