Contact

Ph: 250 754 6389 / Cell: 250 797 0531 / e-mail: gorfathome@yahoo.ca

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Friday, October 24, 2014

Happy City

Got an e-mail today that sent chills up my spine:

Dear Mr. Fuller,
 
I have been told by another candidate who came to my door that the attachment I sent a few days ago was not included in my email.  In case that is what happened with the one I sent to you, I have typed the content and include it below so that there is no problem with attachments.  I would be very interested in your response to the quote.
 
Sincerely,
 
Beth Skala
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Excerpt from Happy City:  Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design by Charles Montgomery (page 43):

"I propose a basic recipe for urban happiness drawn from the insights of philosophers, psychologists, brain scientists, and happiness economists.  What should a city accomplish after it meets our basic needs of food, shelter, and security?
 
*The city should strive to maximize joy and minimize hardship.
 
*It should lead us toward health rather than sickness.
 
*It should offer us real freedom to live, move, and build our lives as we wish.
 
*It should build resilience against economic or environmental shocks.
 
*it should be fair in the way it apportions space, services, mobility, joys, hardships, and costs.
 
*Most of all, it should enable us to build and strengthen the bonds between friends, families, and strangers that give life meaning, bonds that represent the city's greatest achievement and opportunity.
 
*The city that acknowledges and celebrates our common fate, that opens doors to empathy and cooperation, will help us tackle the great challenges of this century.
 
None of these goals are radical.  The challenge now is to see just how the shapes and systems of our cities contribute to meeting them.  How are today's cities performing?  How would we build differently, and live differently, if we could chart the connection between the designs of our cities and the map of happiness?  What would we change if we could?
 
It is audacious to believe that the city might build happiness just by changing its shape.
 
But it is foolish not to chase the thought, because around the world, and especially amid the sprawlscapes of modern North America, the evidence shows that cities do indeed design our lives."
--------------
 
My reply to Beth:
 
Beth; Thank you for this; it literally sent chills up and down my spine as it so eloquently espouses what I believe and have worked for over the years. I am going to post it on my Facebook Group; Gord Fuller Municipally (A)MUSING.  https://www.facebook.com/groups/112340092206683/  
 
I draw your attention to my BIO thingy on the Daily News website Profile: Gordon Fuller  http://www.nanaimodailynews.com/news/profile-gordon-fuller-1.1433478  and ask if you might agree that in not so eloquent words I am trying to reach the same goal.
 
Huge THANX and all the best.

UPDATES

Just updated pages accessible to the left:

VISION
About Me
Election Platform

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Facebook

I have been doing most of my posting on Facebook the last few years.  Here is a link to my Gord Fuller Municipally (A)MUSING group on which there are many good discussions; it will also be my election group this year.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/112340092206683/


Here is another Facebook, Nanaimo Politics, group where there has also been good discussion
https://www.facebook.com/groups/nanaimopolitics/









Progressive Nanaimo

A group that I helped start up on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/ProgressiveNanaimo


I withdrew from the group after the first meeting for non-incumbent candidates as they will likely be supporting a few of them; conflict of interest.


Check out the videos from the meetings
Oct 14th https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLanAKY2RqlVrmrUL7wsg313rIhTeP5HCs
Sept 17th  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLanAKY2RqlVoNYI5q-QLlrTuCn1tJLNRN


and the candidate profiley thingy's with questions and answers given; click on the photos.


Here is mine:  https://www.facebook.com/ProgressiveNanaimo/photos/pb.498975440234956.-2207520000.1413495048./542899215842578/?type=1&theater

Governance and Participatory Democracy

This will be one of the biggest issues, along with Colliery Dams, moving forward into the next council mandate.  Discussion has happened with the Watson & Habkirk Reports but no final decisions made.

The one to really pay attention to is the Eli Mina report as it will, if adopted, severely curtail public input.  Participatory Democracy is a tenet of Nanaimo's Strategic plan and is something I have been encouraging since getting involved in the municipal process.


It is something I will fight for when elected to council as well as greater opportunity's for such.


Governance Framework,  Watson - July 2013: http://www.nanaimo.ca/assets/Municipal~Hall/City~Council/Publications~and~Forms/2013WatsonGovernanceFrameworkSummaryReport.pdf

April 16 Pages 4 thru 21 Habkirk report:https://www.nanaimo.ca/UploadedFilesPath/Site_Structure/Corporate_Services/Corporate_Administration/2014_Committee_Agendas/SOGSC140416A.pdf

March 27 Pages 6 - 27 Eli Mina Report: https://www.nanaimo.ca/UploadedFilesPath/Site_Structure/Corporate_Services/Corporate_Administration/2014_Committee_Agendas/SOGSC140327A.pdf

From Jim Taylor Blog:
Staff Views, turn it loud
http://www.nanaimo-info-blog.com/2014/04/nanaimo-city-hall-killing-democracy.html

Agenda May 15 pgs 4 - 44 https://www.nanaimo.ca/UploadedFilesPath/Site_Structure/Corporate_Services/Corporate_Administration/2014_Committee_Agendas/SOGSC140515A.pdf

May 21 Governance Review Agenda:
Council roles, responsibilities and relationships pgs 5 - 21
https://www.nanaimo.ca/UploadedFilesPath/Site_Structure/Corporate_Services/Corporate_Administration/2014_Committee_Agendas/SOGSC140521A.pdf

Link to ALL Governance Steering Committee Agendas/Minutes:http://www.nanaimo.ca/meetings/?Q=&Year=ALL&Abbreviation=GSC
Surprisingly there have not been that many.

Videos:
April 16th
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLanAKY2RqlVroZdj6OGX1-dOIm6acJ9-3
May 15thhttp://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLanAKY2RqlVriC2yXpzQzJTCRonsQ9S6R
May 21st http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLanAKY2RqlVo391nu0oKRze4JtRHQ5f0X
Council Meeting Monday June 9, 2014http://www.nanaimo.ca/meetings/VideoPlayer/Index/C140609V