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 memorialThe 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.
"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."
ReplyDeleteDid Stew really say that? If he did, then I'm going to vote against him in the next election.
Oooops. Can't do that. No one will run against him. Langford mafia is in control.
Stew needs to consider that the flip side of taking credit for ALL of Langford's prosperity is taking sole blame for what is about to happen.
ReplyDeleteI'm betting that it'll be a cold day in hell before Langford sees any money from Bear Mountain.
Hope Stew has a good speechwriter with a gift of positive spin or the ability to deflect the blame. Teflon Stew anyone?
The Stewpid Bridge is a much better name than the generic Bridge to Nowhere - it keeps the issue pinpointed here and will remind us at election time what a fiasco this whole thing turned out to be. Hats off to the good folk who contributed to this day and keep this issue alive.
ReplyDeleteEveryone seems to have missed the fact that this "bridge to nowhere" has two ends to it. Why is it a Bear Mountain problem when it connects to other developments on the other side of the highway that will contain more home than Bear Mountain plus it actually connects up to another development (South Skirt) long before it connects up to Bear Mountain.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that this bridge will service thousands of people who DO NOT live at Bear Mountain. Perhaps as Bear Mountain was the first development of its kind in Langford it is taking the flack from the uneducated who never seem to see beyond thier own agendas
My neighbour's mother bought a condo in Langford and a few months after the price of the unsold condos in her building took a big drop in price.
ReplyDeleteI use to live in Langford and it is a good place to be from. Look at what they've got for a mayor and that says plenty about the place.
Wow - your neighbours mother bought a place in Langford and then prices dropped. No wonder Langford is a good place to be from. Every other city in North America has seen a dramatic price increase after someones neighbours mother buys. Langford is definately a disaster! Get out while you can!!
ReplyDeleteLangford blows!
ReplyDeleteAll this talk that Stew doesn't care about the wild life is BS. He spent millions of tax payers dollars to build a deer crossing at Spencer rd. Come to think about it the geese are still trying to hatch there eggs every spring in the salt pile at main road construction. Hmmm maybe not......
ReplyDeleteHey see that bylaw guy in white in the photo. He and another officer got fired because they tried to enforce regulations against a developer friend of Stew. I guess the "Langford Laws" don't apply to the wealthy and connected. WTF! Langford is so corrupt!
ReplyDeleteWow, Stew Young is a bully, using political office to threaten anyone who stands in his way just because of a sign is disgraceful. The people have right to be heard.
ReplyDeleteThe picture to the right shows former Administrator Rob Buchan. He quit because he couldn't stand working for Stew and all of his corrupt councilors any longer. WTF?
DeleteAnnon.Feb 9, 2011 post is correct and it is a dissgraceful display of corruption and abuse of power that should be adressed.
ReplyDeleteIm sure the officer was just doing his job.. so wrong
ReplyDelete