Councillor Heather King is the Best of Delta: Day 91

Did you see the article in the South Delta Leader? The article announcing the Best of South Delta?

 To see the entry form click here - notice that any name could be submitted for any category. To keep the voting results above scrutiny, the South Delta Leader hired an outside company.

The had a category "Best Political Move" and absolutely no surprise Heather won! The move that she is being credited for is her decision to run for mayor of Delta!  It was a fantastic decision and it's great to see that South Delta agrees!

I couldn't find a link directing you directly to the article on Heather, so I took a photo of it.

Pole-topper King is still Delta's favourite!

Philip Raphael, editor of the South Delta Leader, has just been added to my Heroes List. Bravo Philip you are with excellent company! Thanks for your contributions to South Delta!

News Flash -- Heroes List has been amended!

OH, SHUCKS! RATS and DOUBLE RATS! Councillor Robert Campbell has been bumped (once again), to make room for yet another amazing Delta Hero!

Barb's Heroes List

1. Councillor Heather King, Mayor Candidate
2. Neil Corbett , Council Candidate,
   
3. Francis Van Roode, VP Sunfish
4. Philip Raphael, Editor South Delta Leader
5. Councillor Robert Campbell

I did a HUGE woopies and gave Councillor King credit for Councillor Campbell's amazing idea.  In an effort to earn Robert's forgiveness, I have offered to wash his Jaguar.  But I am still in need of practice!

Tell Heather how YOU WANT YOUR money to be spent. Her information is at the top of the page. She WANTS you to talk to her.

                                                                                                                

Tell the KING!

Councillor Heather King #1 Hero: Day 87

First:
A grovelling apology.  (Indulge me, Blog Day 84: I did a HUGE woopsie and I must repeat my grovelling apology. A few keen folks read the blog before my errant ways were brought to my attention and corrected. Therefore,  I still need to redeem myself.):

In my zest, zeal and occasionally over-the-top support for Heather, I incorrectly gave her credit for the magnificent idea of installing a retractable roof for the North Delta Outdoor Pool! 

I am biased, but I truly do make every effort to clarify my facts before publishing. Sincere apologies to Councillor Robert Campbell and a humble offer to publicly wash his car at a time of his convenience! (read Day 84 for the rest of the story)

Robert, please forgive me. Your idea was brilliant! BRAVO! Thank you. You are #4 on my Hero's List. You're in good company; Heather, Neil, and Francis are #1, 2, and 3!

Second:
Chivalry is not dead. It is alive and well in North Delta. A HUGE thank you to Francis who answered my cry for help and saved the day!  Literally he saved  Day 79: Adventure of The Terry Fox Run Signs!  I was doing a "copy and paste" and ended up doing a "copy and delete". OUCH, yes, sometime it really sucks to be me!

But have no fear; Francis is here. He gallantly fought his search engine and sent me back Day 79! In honour of Francis, I have added him to my much coveted Heroes List. He is number #3!

      Blog days with Francis:

Francis Day 14

Francis Day 32

Francis Day 80

 (OK, true confession, before Francis sent me Day 79, Councilor Campbell was #3, but Francis bumped him!)
   






Third: a request for more vehicles to practice washing, before I tackle Robert's car. In preparation for my car washing redemption, I purchased a pair of pink rubber gloves, but Robert drives a Jaguar and I am I'm a titch nervous about washing it without adequate practice.  

In training to wash Councillor Robert Campbell's Jaguar!

@Barb_2U is my twitter account.

Hey, excellent fund raising idea:

The North Delta Sunfish Swimming & Water Polo Club could hold a car wash fundraiser!
I could be one of the washers, raise money for the Sunfish, and get supervised jag-washing practicing!  WIN-WIN-WIN! Hip Hip Hooray!

Sunfish club's fundraising efforts:

• they need cash, but they are no stranger to fundraising and to giving back. Francis told me,   "The Sunfish club has used the outdoor pool since it was built. We have saved it once by buying the new boiler. We want to ensure that while the opportunity exists, we upgrade it for MANY decades to come." 
• They usually have 160+ swimmers, but this year they lost 30+ kids because of their fee increase and pool. They have been fundraising like mad, but they are going to get saddled with a 10% increase in rentals come January 2012 and they may lose up to 30% of their gaming grant (sigh).  

This makes no sense. We want to keep kids in organized sports and involved in our community. We want to empower Delta's youth to succeed in life! We want them to stay swimming with the Sunfish! Prevention is a brilliant crime reduction strategy, as it's way cheaper to keep a child in sports than in Juvie (juvenile detention center).

On a cheerier note, the Sunfish predict that they, "Could easily have  200+ kids, if the outdoor pool was improved and made the proper regulation length." How cool is that?

They also very boldly stated that, "We could  make Delta the Mecca for Water Polo, if we had a regulation pool." That's even cooler! Mecca, eh? I am liking the sound of that! Kind of hard to imagine with the technicolor image of the "bloody toes" bouncing around inside in my frontal lobe.

"Sunfish Piggies in Pain"

 Creative math by Barb_2U 

$250,000 for the improvements to the North Delta Outdoor Pool.
200 kids X 10 toes  = 2,000 toes
$250,000/2,000 toes = $125 per toe What a deal!

$    250,000 = 3.33% of Gateway Expansion Expropriation Money
$ 7,500,000

$          125 =  0.00166% of available funds for each young Sunfish's toe saved
$ 7,500,000

Wonder how these figures compare with our dollars for "youth crime prevention strategies".


New Thought: Maybe the Corporation of Delta could host a fundraiser. Folks could pledge $125 to save a toe. 2,000 toes means that we would just need is 2,000 generous folks! Problem solved!

Forth: congratulations to Heather for her Best of South Delta 2011 Award.
Photo below is from page 19 of today's South Delta Leader! South Delta folks voted for Heather on-line one click at a time. Well done Heather!  Turns out your decision to run for Mayor has made many folks happy! (Who is surprised?) Thanks for fighting for the future, for our kids.

Your ROYAL PURPLE CAPE and turbo boost of common sense, really works!

Fifth: special thanks to Neil Corbett for bringing the state of the North Delta Outdoor Pool to the attention of the Parks, Recreation and Culture Commission (PRCC) at the meeting on Thursday evening!  Heroes are hard to come by and I really appreciate Neil's due diligence.

Sixth: a mini-disclaimer or two:

I do not speak for Heather, I merely blog my thoughts regarding her campaign. I am not paid.  I am a HUGE Heather supporter and I enjoy flaunting my biasedness, but I do not speak for her. Yes, admittedly, if I think it's funny, I sometime go to the extreme; however, most of my comments are said with a smile and tongue in cheek. I am self-appointed, here to have fun, and to bring her campaign to you!

Neil and Heather are not running together. As far as I know, they have not endorsed anyone. They are both independents, running as true independents. Neil touched my heart by going to bat for the kids. He read my blog and acted on the information, so I feel it appropriate to publicly thank him and wish him well in this election. 

Tell Heather how YOU WANT YOUR money to be spent. Her information is at the top of the page. She WANTS you to talk to her.

                                                                                                                

Tell the KING!

Councillor Heather King's Rescue: Day 84: Blood in North Delta Pool

The North Delta Sunfish's young athletes, coaches, and parents are a hard-working, diligence group, as proven by their amazing accomplishments. These accomplishments are even more noteworthy when one realizes the improvements that are needed for the North Delta Outdoor Pool. 

North Delta Outdoor Pool

For the past several months, Heather she has been in consultation with the Sunfish regarding the improvements needed for the North Delta Outdoor Pool. (Blog Days: 14 & 32)

North Delta Outdoor Pool needs to be:

• resurfaced: the rough surface is causing extensive injuries to the swimmers' feet,
• regulation size, so that swimmers can properly train (length timing is vital for competing), and so the club may host official summer swim meets at this great outdoor pool. The pool is NOT regulation size and does not have the proper 8 lanes & outside lane space for FINA rules.  (Ladner has a regulation length outdoor pool; North Delta does not.)

Don't get me or the Sunfish wrong, North Delta Outdoor Pool is a LOVELY swimming pool, if you don't mind bloody, scraped-up feet and a pool that is not suitable for regulation swim meets.

New Sign for North Delta Outdoor Pool?

To think I used to worry about someone peeing in the pool! 

OUCH, this is not right! 

    
Truly North Delta athletes DO have tremendous diligence

 "Piggies in pain"

Bottom line: the rebuild for length, depth and surface is critical for young North Delta Sunfish athletes, who are DAILY users of the pool. 

 

COST:

I am not 100% sure, but I understand that city hall estimated the rebuild to be $750,000; however, an independent North Delta contractor's estimate was only $250,000.  $250,000 for a exceptionally well-used recreation facility - deal!

  

Seriously, it looks like a no-brainer. BONUS we have the $250,000 and it's just a drop in the $7.5 Million bucket that is available via Gateway Expansion's expropriation of public land for the South Fraser Perimeter Road!

Crack, Crack! Get that construction going! The Sunfish will have a regulation outdoor pool ready for next swimming season!

'Er,  I don't think so.

Turns out, the bucket will be completely drained  by the North Delta Recreation Centre Expansion Project.

What?  What about the bloody piggies, don't they get a say?

Ta-Da, once again Councilor KING dons her ROYAL PURPLE CAPE, uses her turbo boost of common sense, and swoops to the rescue (See Day: 79)! 

Monday's Council meeting:

The meeting was was hosted at the Kennedy Seniors' Recreation Centre in North Delta. 
One of the main agenda items was the $9.1 Million expansion of the North Delta Recreation Centre.

First: Heather, being quick with the math, stated we only have $7.5 Million. 
           
Second: Then she asked the $1.6 Million Dollar Question: how would the $1.6 Million 
               shortfall be financed? 

George Harvey, Corporation of Delta's CAO,  said that the Corporation of Delta has more land for sale. Specifically he mentioned, that the Wilson property in the Tilbury Industrial Area would be sold to offset the additional costs.

Third: Heather states that more public consultation is needed PRIOR to October's budget meeting!

The North Delta Recreation Centre Expansion Project is absolutely beautiful, but King wants feedback from Delta residents, as it's our money. What do the people want? Were we asked? King is concerned:  $9.1 Million is a LOT of money to spend without proper public consultation.

Heather wants all Delta stakeholders to be represented at the public consultation meetings (Duh, another no-brainer).  The city held a couple of public consultation in July, but seriously folks, July is not the best month for an authentic public consolation. As a result, very few people attended. The North Delta Sunfish were not there! There needs to be more dialogue,  $9.1 Million is a HUGE whack of coin!

OK, here is another $7.5 or $9.1 Million Dollar Question: if King says we need more consultation in regards to how we want OUR money being spent, how come the Corporation of Delta's website states that the North Delta Recreation Centre Expansion plans have begun? Who decided? Did I miss the referendum?  

OK, now that we're asking, here is another Multi-Million Dollar Question: if the North Delta Sunfish Swimming & Water Polo Club, a major stakeholder in the expansion project, was not represented in the July meetings, how many other stakeholders were absent or uninvited??? What's going on at City Hall?

Can't imagine what  would happen at City Hall without Heather, her ROYAL PURPLE CAPE, and her turbo boost of common sense!

Same song, different note: 
*** First grovelling apologies, in my zest, zeal and occasionally over-the-top support for Heather, I incorrectly gave her credit for this magnificent idea! I am biased, but I truly do make every effort to clarify my facts before publishing. Sincere apologies to Robert and a humble offer to publicly wash his car at a time of his convenience!
COUNCILLOR ROBERT CAMPBELL  (notice: if you want more information on Robert, click his name) had a clever, fresh, innovative idea for the pool: consider installing a retractable roof! The longer season would have the possibility of attracting other revenue generating fitness clubs (kayaking, scuba, synchronized swimming, underwater hockey, aquasize ...). It is feasible that the funds generated by the retractable roof could fund all the enhancements for the pool! 

I pinched these photos from Sunroom's website. I am not suggesting this is the style that would be appropriate for North Delta Outdoor Pool. .

 

Tell Heather how YOU WANT YOUR money to be spent. Her information is at the top of the page. She WANTS you to talk to her.

                                                                                                                

Tell the KING!

Councillor Heather King at Sunfish Awards Night: Day 80: Incredibly talented and diligent DELTA athletes!

Friday, September 16th, Heather ended her incredibly busy day, by attending the North Delta Sunfish Swim Club's Awards Banquet. 

Canada wins the gold medal at Junior Pan Am water polo championships! At the awards night, two sunfish alumni were honored for their Pan-America medals in Water Polo: 

•  Hayley McKelvey is currently a Grade 10 Student at Seaquam,
• Gurpreet Sohi is currently a Grade 12 Student at Seaquam. Gurpie scored 30% of the   goals & BC Girls scored 60% of the goals!!!

Another terrific Sunfish alumni, Ryan Anderson, was also honored for receiving 3 Gold Medals (as well as a Silver and Bronze one too!) at the Western Canada Summer Games as part of Team BC.  

Click her to read more about the WESTERN CANADIAN GAMES

Apparently, not everyone received the memo, but those who came were inspired.

"Dory, the Sunfish", the Sunfish Mascot, did not receive the memo

Obviously Heather and Josh got the memo, wear red and smile!

Josh Ling had plenty to smile about, he earned both The "Hardest Worker Male" Award AND The Marilyn Gottardi Memorial Award. Bravo Josh!

The Marilyn Gottard Memoral Award is a $500 bursary designed to help Sunfish swimmers who are  interested in furthering their coaching training and who exhibit the same enthusiasm for coaching as Marilyn did! (I love ca$h awards!)

Well done Josh, Marilyn sounds like a gem, but a tough act to follow: she "was a 'model' swim parent with the sunfish for 15 years. Her easy going sincere manner endeared her to many that met her during those years and she was often regarded as a goodwill ambassador for the club. She highly values family, competition and physical fitness through sport. She was fiercely supportive of swimming, the team and the coaches."  

Josh is obviously an enthusiastic junior coach, on his way to becoming an excellent senior coach.

Eric Fraser infectious attitude earned him the Team Spirit Award

If Eric's smile is an indication of his Team Spirit, the Sunfish Club is a lucky swim club! He is inspirational just to look at!

Note: Heather has earned a few trophies in her many, many days, but none as large as this one! Heather's trophy collection includes a hockey trophy and  golf trophy. She was also a Girl Guide, piano player and earned her Bronze Medallion in swimming.

***On the other hand, Barb_2U was kicked out of Brownies and suspended from Sunday School! (Thankfully, I am not running for Mayor, because the opposition would dig that dirt up and do a smear campaign on me!)

Megan Low, recipient or the "Hardest Worker Female" Award  - Emcee in background,  Cavelle Makazus, Sunfish Director of Awards

Francis van Roode, Vice President, North Delta Sunfish Swim Club telling the folks how much Heather has supported the club and youth sports.

Heather was impressed with the swimmers, parents, coaches, and directors diligence

Heather told the group that she was reading  The Richest Man Who Ever Lived: King Solomon's Secrets to Success, Wealth, and Happiness by Steven K. Scott.  In the book, Scott stresses that one of the keys to being rich in life is "diligence". She was very proud of all the young athletes. Their achievements are more than just their giftedness and their attributes (webbed feet?): these athletes have the diligence that it takes to succeed in and out of the pool. Without a doubt, Heather wants to keep her eye on the young athletes, because they have such promising futures.

King knows what she is talking about: she is all about passion, diligence, and hard-work.

Tell Heather if you have a concern. Her information is at the top of the page. She WANTS you to hear from you.

                                                                                                                

Tell the KING!

Councillor Heather King Rescues the Terry Fox Run Signs: Day 79

When Mike, Gail's hubby, gave me a flyer advertising the Terry Fox Run at the last outdoor movie event, I was surprised, as I didn't realize he was a Rotarian too! (Truly, those do-gooders are popping up all over Tsawwassen.)

Mike laughed and assured me that he wasn't a member, Gail was. Then he mischievously

declared that he's on the "Spousal Program".  I think that it's also called the "Yes Dear Program", or the "Successful Marriage Program"!
 
NOTE: Gail's maiden name is Smart and one of her infamous quotes is,
              "I used to be Smart, and then I got married".

For months Gail, Mike, and other volunteers have been hard at work organizing the Tsawwassen Terry Fox Run

Thanks to Councillor King for literally lending her hands for the photo

Tuesday the Terry Fox Run signs were installed throughout Tsawwassen!

Unfortunately, with a few hours ALL the signs were taken down and thrown into the back of a Corporation of Delta truck! HUH? Honest, I am not making this up.

With much weeping and gnashing of teeth, Gail stormed City Hall.  I heard  it was ugly.  (OK, I didn't hear anything, but potentially it could have been ugly.)

NOTE: Delta has a by-law prohibiting the installation of "unauthorized signs". To get authorization it is rather simple: apply. If your signs are deemed worthy of "authorization status",  then they get on the "Official Sign Exceptions List".

Obviously, The Terry Fox Run was supposed to be on "Official Sign Exceptions List". However, there was a glitch and  it was not on the "Official Sign Exceptions List"!

Rules are rules and the Corporation employees were instructed to take down the Terry Fox Run signs.

Thankfully, Gail's wails for help reached the KING's ears!

Ta-Da Councilor KING swoops to the rescue! 

OH, I wish I had a picture of Heather in her ROYAL PURPLE CAPE swooping in to save the day!  Just imagine:    SWOOP,  SHOOP,  SHOOSH      (Try saying that really fast!)
 
KING used the rare and wonderful ingredient that is so often missing when "status quo bureaucracy" mates with "butt-stupid red tape": common sense.

YES, shocking as it sounds, Councillor KING used common sense to solve the sign problem!!!! Go figure.

I don't know the details, but Heather waved her magically common sense super powers  and "Abracadabra" The Terry Fox Run appeared on  the "Official Sign Exceptions List"!

YIPPEEE, now Gail and her volunteer crew could retrace their steps and put back ALL the signs!

Ponder:  how many volunteer hours? How many Corporation hours?  How much MONEY did that "glitch" cost us tax payers? What else happens that we don't know about? Now I am wailing and gnashing my teeth.

Thank goodness KING has a ROYAL PURPLE CAPE and a turbo boost of common sense!

This afternoon I zipped over to Heather's to help her put up her allotted number of Terry Fox Run signs.

We are out the door when her phone rings. She takes the call thinking it's going to be quick call. It wasn't.  

 


While we were waiting, Joan, Heather's mom, lovingly told me that Heather was a very, very, shy child!

I guffawed and wondered aloud if Joan, like Tootles, has finally lost her marbles! Seriously, Heather shy?

Joan heard the challenge in my voice and took me into Heather's office and showed me a picture of  shy Heather.

I involuntarily shuddered, as the Ghost from Childhood Past conjured up my dental imprint immortalized on an Ivory bar.Secretly--I was relived, I thought she was going  to take me into the washroom to taste soap!

Dad, Tommy Douglas, and Shy Heather

 The handsome man on the left is Heather's dad, the man on the right is Tommy Douglas and the shy little girl is our mayoral candidate, Heather...who may never leave her mother alone with me again!

Heather's Dad

This is the photo of Heather's dad that sits above her desk. Joan's eyes sparkle when she tells stories of their adventures together! 

Speaking of "good old dads", I showed up at Heather's driving my Dad's new car - it had been in his driveway for  less than 7 hours, before I "borrowed it".  (Some things never change, right Dad?)

I handed her the keys and asked if she would like to drive!!! OH, ya! It was a bit squishy with the sign wires poking into me, but we were zooming off on a Super Hero mission in a red, sporty, Super Hero mobile!

                                    Signs reinstalled - Mission accomplished!

                            Do the math: Heather X Car = Smart squared!

If you need a super hero with a turbo boost of common sense, contact Heather. Her information is at the top of the page.
****car not included, but she might wear her ROYAL PURPLE CAPE

                                                                                                                 

Stop the wailing & gnashing: Vote KING and let her serve you!

Councillor Heather KING a true Visionary: Day 76

Hats off to Marsha, who organized the GALA in 8 weeks!  The GALA lived up to it's hype: it was a KING of an evening!

Hats off to Heather for being the one to champion change for Delta - for both North and South Delta!

Greg saying grace

Heather looking radiant

Delta Youth Orchestra played during the evening

I arrived as the orchestra was entering the building. Holding the door open, I greeted the musicians and welcomed them to the gala.

One of their moms asked, "Are you Heather King?"

I couldn't resist, I met her eyes, put on my best imitation of  Heather's smile, and rather humbly said, "Yes!"

Thinking I was Heather, she immediately gushed over me. I mean, she really, really gushed over me. She loved me! Seriously, I don't  know how Heather can handle all that constant gushing and flattery.  OK, I ate it up. I loved it. It was marvelous! I was a star!

Unfortunately, my fame was short lived. As soon as we stepped into the foyer, a large photo of Heather welcomed us to the GALA.

BUSTED, but delighted with myself for having the MOXIE to impersonate HEATHER KING at her GALA! 

(Whoopsie! This may be my last blog, so enjoy.)

Table 8: Enthusiastic Heather supporters!

Ruth (table 8) and Heather*

Linda, Ian, and Laura

Neil, Linda, Ian, Laura, Brian

Laura & Brian - John in background (my favourite video guy)

Table 2: The Traditionalists

Behaving like grown-ups, but don't be fooled!

Wearing their traditional hats*

  

As soon as the biding started, they turned their napkins into hats and went wild. 

Apparently, it's their tradition to wear napkin hats, have lots of fun, and bid like crazy!

  
Table 6: The mature table

Robin flanked by wife Sharon and Marsha

Paula, Bank manager by day, comedian and emcee by night

Robin, another South Delta Grad and Dean's university room mate, is sitting right in front of the server.








Paula our emcee:
 
Bank manager Paula might not approve your loan, but you'll leave her corner office laughing! She kept us chuckling all evening.

TIP: if you need a loan, she can be bought! Shoes are her currency! She is a shoe junkie with an unquenchable addiction for bling.



 Love at first bite:

The salad to put all other salads to shame

Beef medallions with a Merlot Demi glaze, goat cheese and chive mashed potatoes, wild mushrooms, buttered baby vegetables. WOW

  

Favourite video guy, John
 

 Delicious, but the flower was a bit tough*

Finalists Yvonne & David Anderson

Finalists for Delta Chambers Hats off to Excellence Awards:

Check out Bobby and Manjit, sitting below the mirror.

Bobby, my newest and funniest best friend, was thrilled that their visas permitting them to travel from North Delta to the GALA were approved in time!

Finalist Charlene Lewall (and hubby Rick)*

Finalist Jim Stimson (and wife)*

Congratulations and good luck to everyone!

BLOG ALERT: Jim was featured in Day 72: Keeping track of the KING!






The auctioneer:

Auctioneer Dean, AKA Mr. Heather King, letting us know how the auction works: if you sneeze, you buy!

The Paula and Dean tag team kept the jokes and money flowing

The speeches:

A team leader and a team player!

Heather never ceases to impress me: it was her night, her GALA, yet, she graciously shared the limelight and offered School Board Candidate, Donna Burke and Councillor Candidate, Neil Corbett the microphone! 

                                         Donna Burke

                                 School Board Candidate*

 Neil Corbett

                                  Councillor candidate

 Rick Lewall had the privilege of introducing Heather.

He impressed us with her list of accomplishments.

  Heather's visionary speech earned her a standing ovation! 

Heather honoured Marsh with flowers

The gift of sight: a perfect gift.

In total Heather donated 12 pairs of glasses and four cataract operations on our behalf.



I guess I should be used to her by now, but I am still touched by her thoughtfulness - three weeks ago I had my left cataract replaced. I loved my flowers, but the gift of vision is truly the best gift.

Go figure, KING a visionary giving the gift of vision.  She doesn't just talk the walk: she walks the talk.

She is changing the world, not just Delta!

A true visionary! What a clever and thoughtful gift.

 *Pictures swiped from Ruth Howard Katagi facebook page 

If you have any concerns, contact Heather, her information is at the top of the page.

                                                                                                                

It was a KING of an evening