WTF Langford: May 2010

How cool is this? Stew Young, our very own mayor-for-life, has mastered the hot, hip, new social media of blogging and Facebooking! Young has forged bravely into the second millennium and started up his very own blog on Blogger, where he personally posts summaries of exciting City of Langford press releases. For example:

New Sports Field is a Hit

and in case you didn't get it, here it is again:

New Sportsplex Will Benefit a Growing Community

Yes, the new Sportsplex will "fill a void in the region for bowling enthusiasts." How admirable is that? But it gets better! Someone has created a Stew Young Fan Page on Facebook! And it's been up since February! Let's check in.

Congratulations to Stew Young - winner of this year's WTF Award for Excellence in Social Media!

(Update: The fan page pictured above has been DELETED. Well, if you can't win, don't play!)

In a simple but heartfelt May Day ceremony, Langford's finest installed this tribute to Mayor Stew Young at the Bear Mountain Interchange.

Hundreds of commuters enjoyed the salute to Langford's mayor, and plans are in the works for a permanent marker to acknowledge Young's unique contribution to the half-built, unfunded interchange. The banner memorializes Young's heroism in smacking down residents who questioned the wisdom of borrowing up to $25 million for the project, and those who argued that a sacred cave and rare ecosystems were more important than enhanced highway access for a bankrupt resort.

Now that the Bear Mountain and Skirt Mountain developers have defaulted on paying back the cost of construction, Langford residents are taking the initiative to honour the mayor who made it possible. From the beginning, Stew Young led the charge to push the project through at any cost. The climax came in February 2008, when he arranged for a hundred RCMP officers to descend on a small protest camp in a military-style raid. The cops kept onlookers away while city crews cut the trees and filled the sacred cave with rebar and cement.

Artist's concept of a permanent Stew Young memorial

The original name of the bridge, Bear Mountain Interchange, was axed by Langford council in favour of Spencer Interchange, a confusing term that refers to Spencer Road half a kilometer away. The label Bridge to Nowhere is more accurate, but it may be trademarked by former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, so it should be avoided for official purposes.

The STEWPID Bridge, on the other hand, is PERFECT.

A few words from Stew Young, mayor of all of Langford and most of Bear Mountain

"I've had about enough of this. It's vexatious or vindictive. These are people who have no respect for this council, and we have the right to take you to court and sue you."

"I know it's trying to get money out of people who can't rub two nickels together, but we have to go after some of you anyway. Otherwise, you will kill Langford’s economy. You will kill Victoria’s economy. Bear Mountain and Len Barrie have invested a lot of money and I don't want their name tarnished -- or the City of Langford's name tarnished."

"This isn't a threat. I'm just saying if you criticize development, then I'll use whatever resources there are under the law to shut you up."

(Thank you, Your Worship! We'll be waiting for you in the grotto, can you please bring the ball gag and the handcuffs?)