Kontroversy Continues

Former Nanaimo Mayor Korpan agrees to lawsuit settlement

Editorial: Even name calling must be backed by facts

It is indeed good news for Angela Negrin that former mayor Korpan has settled his libel suit with her but what about Tony Parkin the other person being sued. My personal belief in this ongoing saga is that Mr. Korpan continues his vendetta out of sheer vindictiveness and his need to remain in the public eye.

Rumours abound as to why he recently settled with Ms. Negrin. The most interesting of these involves the possibility of unpaid taxes as a result of income gained from campaign contributions.

I used to love how in the past he would bill his campaign for storing his signs as well as other things. An example of this can be seen in his 2008 disclosure statement, Gary Korpan 2008 Disclosure statement Of note I find his 2011 disclosure statement interesting only on two points; he had far fewer donations and his office expenses, billed to himself were only $355.00 compared to the $3000.00 spent in 2008.

Unfortunately prior election disclosure statements are not available on the city website; if they are they are harder to track down. There was one year; I believe it was 2005, when a candidate even billed $1500 dollars for clothing. An amount I found quite astounding as it is probably more than I have spent on clothing in my lifetime.

It is an interesting question as to whether monies from contributions paid directly to a candidate would be considered income and taxable. If anyone has the skinny on this perhaps they could let me know.

It is high time Korpan dropped his vendetta.

Korpan Shenannigans

Also on the public hearing agenda tonight for rezoning are properties at the head of Maffeo Sutton Park in Nanaimo. When the whole conference centre process was started they were offered to the developer as enticement to build the centre. Prime waterfront real-estate they were slotted for the development of 2 26 story Condominium towers and resulted in the demolition of the well loved Civic Arena as well as the Foundry, a one of a kind heritage building.

If approved; City councils return of these properties to park designation at Maffeo Sutton Park will be in my opinion one of the best moves they have made in the last three years. While the news is good the property could still be at risk in the future and it would be nice to see some sort of covenant that would make it impossible for them to be taken away in the future.

This letter to the editor Not building condos will cost taxpayers dearly written by our former mayor. What he does not mention in it is that while the properties were being 'sold" to the developer the City had agreed to purchase 150 parking spaces from said developer at the cost of $50,000 per space or $7,500,000.00. If I am not mistaken this was far more than the city would have received for the purchase of the property so in effect we would have ended up giving it away.

Our ex mayor seems to have nothing better to do these days than continue his law suit against citizens Tony Parkin and Angela Negrin with regards to the infamous FREE NANAIMO FROM KORRUPTION bumper sticker and write the odd, very ‘odd’, letter to the editor.

I was given permission to print Mr. Ricker’s letter, below, in response to Korpan with the following proviso: “Feel free to put it on your blog with an appropriate notation that the Daily News continues to operate with a blacklist despite the prescriptive advice of the BC Press Council, which was rendered after I lodged a formal complaint against the admitted blacklisting policy of the current editor of the DN.”

Sent: Friday, August 26, 2011 10:57 PMSubject: Gary Korpan, Philip Wolf and the final (?) bathos of the 2004 referendum plan

To the Editor:Perhaps it is merely a coincidence that defeated mayor Gary Korpan's angry letter in response to city council's decision to preserve as park land the area beside the Pearson Bridge, previously designated as part of the gift package to would-be hotel developers Triarc/Suro/Millennium, appeared the same day as another instalment of Philip Wolf's prolonged and amusing send-up of Mr. Korpan's downtown hotel/conference centre dream (August 25).

Mr. Korpan has no credentials as a city planner, yet he prattles on about high rises overlooking Maffeo Sutton Park as essential to achieving the city's population target for the downtown. Lewis Villegas, a reputable planner of some considerable experience, came to the city late in the 2004 referendum campaign and effectively demonstrated that this population target could be achieved by means of low-rise construction supported by a sensible overall plan for the downtown.

Mr. Korpan also continues to believe in offering gifts to would-be developers, even though all there is to show for his previous efforts is his spectacular failure to deliver the goods.

News story: Plans for towers adjacent to Maffeo-Sutton park could soon be shelved

BCCLA Kontroversy

More on the Koruption scene, I certainly hope the BCCLA gets on this soon. Links to an editorial by the Daily News and a letter to the editor in the same paper. At some point this will all go away, just wish Korpan would let it go as it does neither him nor Tony and Angela any good to keep drawing it out.


Civil Liberties Union Has No Place In Suit


BCCLA would be correct to get involved in lawsuit


I am also posting below another letter to the editor written by a friend. More often than not his stuff doesn't get published, was actually blacklisted by the D/N at one point, and on this subject my letters don't as well.

To the Editor:

Re: Civil Liberties Union has no place in suit (editorial, April 1). Was this unintentionally amusing editorial an April Fool's day joke?.

The BCCLA's interest in the promised Korpan lawsuit against a couple of ordinary and by all appearances not very well off citizens should be obvious to anyone who's been subjected to ex-mayor Korpan's bully-boy ways. You fail to point out that Mr. Korpan initiated these law suits while still in office. You also fail to point out that he smeared people who had nothing to do with the bumper sticker in question and refused to apologize for doing so. He instead offered the outlandish argument that an apology was unnecessary because his smear didn't rise to the level of libel. Additionally, he claimed -- and I'm not making this up -- that an apology was unwarranted because it might prove harmful to his political career. Such absurd utterances should give him pause -- but plainly do not.

You also failed to point out that Nanaimo's voters have spoken very clearly on this essentially political matter: merely 15 percent supported the ex-mayor in 2008. On the other hand, one of the objects of Mr. Korpan's litigious desires, underdog fish and chip shop proprietor Angela Negrin, came from nowhere to very nearly claim a council seat. As the lawyers say, res ipsa loquitur -- the facts speak for themselves.

For a very long time Mr. Korpan has been in need of a reality check. That he still just doesn't get it about his often rude and intimidating behaviour while in office is even more lamentable than his law suit. Perhaps BCCLA involvement will provide the legal stimulus the electorate evidently couldn't provide for him to finally come to his senses.

Eric Ricker
Nanaimo, B. C.

Koruption Lawsuit Scrutinized more Kontroversy

Ex Mayors Lawsuit Scrutinized

Kudoes to the BC Civil Liberties Association on their win in Powell River and their consideration of taking on Angela Negrin and Tony Parkins case. I really loved the comment by Laura Langstaff that Mr. Korpan's response to the bumper stickers was petulant, pedantic, pedestrian, and plebian. Have to say I totally agree.

Hopefully this will be the last chapter in this saga and Korpan will drop the lawsuit.

Kontroversy continued

The saga it doth continue. In the Friday February 27th issue, link below, of the Daily News former Mayor Korpan states, "we are proceeding".

'Koruption' suit still going ahead

Most of the comments I seem to get are on the Koruption issue. In the last, see comments in Kontroversy When Will It End, John Dawes agrees Korpan should drop the lawsuit but only if Ms. Negrin and Mr. Parkin offer him an appology.

I would put it to John that Angela and Tony are but two of hundreds to display the bumper sticker and should not have been singled out for doing so. In one of the early news stories about this Gary said he would track down all of those displaying the sticker and yet the focus has been on only the two. I'm sorry to say but at this point I can only see the continuation of the lawsuit as self serving. The only appology that needs to be offered is by Mr. Korpan to Tony and Angela.

Letter to the editor sent earlier today;

Former Mayor Korpan’s ongoing vendetta against Tony Parkin and Angela Negrin must stop.

Why has the focus been on these two when Mr. Korpan at one time stated he would track down all of those displaying the bumper sticker? While he has alleged that Mr. Parkin produced the sticker he has never provided the evidence to back this up and yet evidence exists that he himself may be responsible for its prevalence. During his initial threats to sue members of Friends of Plan Nanaimo, including myself, an e-mail was sent by him that had a picture of the offending sticker embedded in the document. I have no doubt that his e-mail was forwarded on to others and that any number of people could have reproduced it.

I have to ask, is this what Mr. Korpan wants to be remembered for or would he rather be remembered for his many years of valued public service? Please Mr. Korpan, end this now and Free "Nanaimo from Kontroversy".

KONTROVERSY, when will it end.

Actual post date January 29th: Being a bit lax on the blogging I had left this as a DRAFT, learned something new in that it posts with the original date of writing it.

The following column appeared in the Daily News a while back. I sent off a letter to the editor, below, but sadly it was not published. I hear through the grapevine that former mayor Korpan is still moving forward with the lawsuit and will update as I hear more.

Column: Libel laws may be outdated

http://www.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=51a16447-c695-4311-8dcb-4c18dbde06f8


Letter to the Editor (January 14 - 2008)

Other than the initial veiled threats to some members of Friends of Plan Nanaimo when the bumper stickers first appeared as well as the current Law Suits against Angela Negrin (proprietor of Pirate Chips), and Tony Parkin (long time advocate for Lifeguards at our public beaches and No High-Rises on our waterfront), I can find no instances of others being sued for displaying the Free Nanaimo from Koruption bumper sticker. Oddly enough, early on in his vendetta, former Mayor Korpan stated that he would track down and prosecute to the fullest extent those that displayed the Free Nanaimo from Koruption bumper sticker. So why pick the two he did? We may never know the answer to this but my guess is because both have been vocal on various issues within the city.

We may also never know who in reality created the bumper stickers but our former mayor can thank no one but himself for their interest in the public eye. His initial threat to some directors of Friends of Plan Nanaimo contained an imbedded copy of the very bumper sticker he is suing over. I for one, as an amused recipient, forwarded his e-mail to others and am positive I was not the only person to do so. A simple cut and paste of the picture would allow anyone to create the sticker.

I have one final thing to say on the subject, Mr. Korpan if you don’t want to be remembered by the public as a petulant whiner drop the lawsuit and apologize to Tony and Angela.

Kontroversy Revisited

A couple more versions of the FREE NANAIMO from KORUPTION bumper sticker have come my way and are attached below.

Other than the initial veiled threats to some members of Friends of Plan Nanaimo and the current Law Suits against Angela Negrin, council candidate and propriator of Pirate Chips, and Tony Parkin, long time advocate for Lifeguards at our public beaches and No High-Rises on our waterfront, I can find no instances of others being sued for displaying the Free Nanaimo from Koruption bumper sticker. Oddly enough, early on in his vendetta, Mayor Korpan had stated that he would track down and prosecute to the fullest extent those that displayed the Free Nanaimo from Koruption bumper sticker. So why pick the two he did? We may never know the answer to this but my guess is because both have been vocal on various issues within the city.

This latest in the daily news, "City kills $5,700 TV spot because of sticker."

There have been numerous documented occasions when our illustrious Mayor has chosen to humiliate and denigrate those who have come before council or public hearings, I myself have frequently been the brunt of his remarks. If a policy on behaviour does not exist then when elected I will work to implement one. Too often people put a lot of work into appearing as a delegation to council and get slapped in the face by council members who may disagree with their point of view. Is it any wonder why there is a prevailing air of apathy that exists in Nanaimo, why people believe that decisions are already made prior to public engagement?

I have one final thing to say on the subject, Mayor Korpan if you don’t want to be remembered by the public as a petulant whiner drop the lawsuit and apologize to Tony and Angela.

That's 4 versions I have tracked down and a fifth with VICC I haven't been able to. See if you can collect them all.

Letters to the Editor (part seven)

The following are some of my letters to the editor over the past couple years. I have found, since submitting my first many years ago, that this is a means, one widely read, to express an opinion on events in the city and realms further afield. I fully encourage people to write letters to the editors of what some fondly consider our local rags, though don’t be surprised when they appear and are edited by the paper. In one letter I submitted the editor changed one word, eliminated one sentence and totally changed the context of what I was saying.

2007
Re: Mayor accuses Friends of Plan Nanaimo directors of slander

I find it pitifully sad that that our Mayor sees fit to accuse Friends of Plan Nanaimo Directors and Members of libel and slander, for the bumper sticker that reads “FREE NANAIMO FROM KORUPTION,” when in fact without concrete proof he could be considered guilty of the same. This is nothing but further grandstanding on the part of a Mayor who has in the past called members of FPN Neanderthals and Liars, all of which occurred in the public arena.

I hazard to guess that in so vehemently publicizing the above bumper sticker Mayor Korpan himself may be responsible for furthering the want of it by community members. This may make his quest to track down those displaying it and “suing them into the stone age” a tad more difficult. I have one thing to say to his eminence and that is “GET OVER IT,” if you can’t take the heat Mister Korpan get out of the fire.

Re: Demand return of fees from Triarc

Why is it that our City Council is not demanding the return by Triarc/Suro of all development and management fees paid to them prior to their default of the agreement as outlined in the following section of the partnering agreement?
Sec. 18.5 If the Project does not proceed through an Event of Default of Suro, including Suro's inability to secure financing for the Hotel and Residential Complex following satisfaction of the Condition Precedent provided for in section 5.2, it is understood and agreed that Suro shall repay to the City all amounts paid to Suro as a Development Fee and Monthly Project Management Fee from September 15, 2004 plus all of the City’s reasonable costs, charges and expenses.

Council should be demanding all costs back as they, as well as city staff, have admitted Triarc/Suro were clearly in default. Allowing another developer to come into the picture at this late date, with the same incentives given to Triarc/Suro, is simply ludicrous. By all means continue construction but look seriously at other alternatives for the NNC, as it has been stated when the design was brought forward could easily be accomplished. Use the funds retrieved to hold another referendum, if the Citizens of Nanaimo really want this then surely it would pass by a larger margin than the previous illegal referendum. And for the sake of the city, whatever you do, take the lands at Maffeo Sutton out of the equation.

Re: Council pay increases again. March 10, 2007

I must say I am extremely disappointed in Councilor Holdom’s comment, in response to the $800 increase to his pay as a City Councilor, that, “"Maybe I'll get a new pair of shoes." This is nothing less than a slap in the face to the poor.  

Despite the economic boom in BC the Nanaimo Region is ranked 5th overall for human economic hardship in the province, 1st for a region with a population centre the size of Nanaimo or greater. 8% of families in Nanaimo earn less than $10,000 a year, $833 per month and the majority of those on income assistance earn less than $800 per month.

I challenge Mr. Holdom to step off his pedestal, give up his apparent life of luxury, and for one month try to live on $800 dollars. Perhaps then he will have a greater appreciation of the wages paid to him by the taxpayers of Nanaimo

FREE NANAIMO FROM KONTROVERSY

Many people have read about the “Free Nanaimo From Koruption” bumper stickers that have been floating around for the past year or so.

(Edition 2)

Since our Mayor Gary Korpan decided in his infinite wisdom to sue Tony Parkin (activist against waterfront highrises & re-institution of lifeguards at public beaches) and Angela Negrin (downtown small business owner - Pirate Chips) regarding the bumper sticker they have become ever more prevalent than they seemed to be prior. Korey Korolek, who announced on September 22, 2008 that he will be suing the City of Nanaimo, not over the bumper sticker, is routinely seen in newspapers wearing a t-shirt with what has now become a logo for those upset with the shenanigans of our civic leaders. At a recent council meeting I saw at least eight brave young souls wearing the bumper sticker taped to their shirts, apparently this even made it onto our local cable channel. I am even seeing far more vehicles sporting the distinct slogan.

After first accusing and threatening to sue myself and fellow directors of Friends of Plan Nanaimo in May of 2007;

(May 15, 2007)

To the so-called Friends of Plan Nanaimo political party
Imagine how your mother and family would feel if they saw signs and bumper stickers that demean and libel your years of public service, falsely alleging the you committed one of the vilest crimes in the Criminal Code.

(Edition 1)

If you have any shred of decency, you will stop production, retrieve, and destroy all copies, then donate your ill-gotten gains to the Homelessness work of the Salvation Army.

PS You should be aware that the very best Libel & Slander lawyer in BC lives in Nanaimo. He is a good friend of mine and he supports the NNC because it will revitalize downtown, diversify the regional economy, expand business opportunities, and create jobs.

Gary Korpan
Telephone
City Hall 250-755-4400
Home & Law Office 250-758-9445
Website
www.Nanaimo.ca
Illegitimi Non Carborundum

(FPN found out a week later that Mayor Korpan was no longer a member of the Law Society and should not have been mentioning a so-called law office in his signature)

The issue of the bumper stickers has spiraled to almost mythic, for Nanaimo, proportions. The initial threats against FPN were dropped, we had to hire a real lawyer, and then followed up with threats to take pictures of every vehicle with a Free Nanaimo From Koruption bumper sticker and take appropriate action against them all.

While one does not want to in anyway advocate the outright slander or libeling of a person, I don’t believe the bumper sticker in any way does, this is a but a sign of the continuing frustration of the electorate against our local government. On numerous occasions, as I have spoken to council, I have been called a liar, various names, as well as being one of many who have been denigrated when legitimately talking about issues we hold dear. Have I ever contemplated a lawsuit? No. It is unfortunate that it is those in power and with the financial means who willingly drags others, less able to afford the costs, through our legal system for what I consider a frivolous waste of everyone’s time.

As we move forward to the municipal election I would ask that Mayor Korpan drop the lawsuits against Tony Parkin & Angela Negrin, refrain from further threats against those sporting the bumper sticker and FREE NANAIMO FROM KONTROVERSY.

To express your opinion on this;
Phone Gary Korpan at:
City Hall: 755-4400
Residence: 758-9445
e-mail: gary.korpan@nanaimo.ca

Snail Mail
Gary Richard Korpan
3598 Hammond Bay Road
Nanaimo, B.C. V9T 1E9

Gordon W. Fuller - Sept. 25th 2008
gordonfuller.blogspot.com