Renowned New York Times journalist Molly Ivans famously quipped, as the Texas legislature was about to convene, “every village is about to lose its idiot.”
With election season having just begun, our fears that the caliber of the incumbents would lead just about anybody to run since, well you know – if they can do I can sure do it – appear to be coming true.
Now homelessness, whatever you feel about the issue, is an important issue in this city and in this election, and people are stumbling all over one another to be on the right side of the issue.
No matter what you think should be done, we have learned as a community that glib one-liners, simple solutions that fail to take in the complexities of the issue and PR stunts are not what is needed.
May we introduce you to Lyle Caldwell, whose seems to think that Mayor Banman’s Chicken Manure Incident was an internet phenomenon which requires just a wee bit of social media PR to solve.
Lyle’s Chick Poo Solution
From candidate Lyle Caldwell on Facebook:
“Ok team ABBOTSFORD – as some of you may know.. our city logo is coming up… well with a bit of crap in it.. Can we all please copy, rename and repost a copy of the city logo (a nice good happy one.. – take a photo of the city cruiser, go take a selfie in front of a city sign you love.. or one of our downtown art sculptures) and name it “City of Abbotsford Logo” plus some descriptor.
NAME YOUR IMAGE
MAKE IT PUBLIC ON LINE
MAKE YOUR SHARE “PUBLIC” look for the globe under your Facebook post.
Please post it to one of your public “Pages” or your Google+ PAGE account and then repost to Twitter and tag Mrs236 and she will retweet it
***************lets get this pushed down the Google rankings and make our Chick poo incident history.. ”
Lyle’s Facebook page.
Editor’s Note: Before you send the emails accusing us of not being nice, please read: The Need To Be Nice … And The Damage Done first. If you still feel the future of your city is so unimportant we can afford to allow also-rans and lightweights get elected and to do anymore damage to it, by all means write us and accuse us of being mean. editor@abbotsfordtoday.ca
Gerry Hiebert Says:
Regardless, “fixing” Google does not deal with the real issue which is our city’s treatment of some disenfranchised citizens.
From Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Today-Media/447088788677534?sk=messages_inbox
Anyssa Carruthers Says:
this is what happens when you take stuff off of a personal facebook page and not look that I wrote it..Not Lyle Caldwell… and if the journalist agrees that they would like new visitors to see this image when they google #Abbotsford.. when together we can push it down with some great fun, well named images… I wonder who the real village idiot is.. http://sqwabb.files.wordpress.com/…/city-of-abbotsford…
http://sqwabb.files.wordpress.com
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Mike Archer Says:
Hi Anyssa, If Lyle Caldwell’s ‘personal’ Facebook page, which he uses to further his political chances as a candidate in order to get a public pay cheque, isn’t fair game for journalistic commentary, someone is living in the wrong century. Sharing means agreeing with, approving of or wanting others to consider what is being shared. Lyle is being very foolish in his very public pronouncements through social media. Using the “It was personal” excuse in 2015 about a post on the biggest political issue of the day certainly demonstrates a lot about this candidate’s judgement.
From Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Today-Media/447088788677534?sk=messages_inbox
Gerry Hiebert Says:
Regardless, “fixing” Google does not deal with the real issue which is our city’s treatment of some disenfranchised citizens.
Anyssa Carruthers Says:
Uh guys – I wrote it not Lyle lol … Did anyone actually read what the post was about .. It is about an image that is going around that represents Abbotsford .. NOT the poo incident .. Maybe you support that presentation of our city instead of it being got rid of by some fun well labelled photos so that Visitors are not reminded of an issue that isn’t they are look up Abbotsford on Google . Someone has taken a tourism / marketing issue … That is a valid concern .. And fixable. No one will listen when you might have something important to say..
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Mike Archer Says:
Hi Anyssa, I understand what you’re trying to do but the the only way to get chicken manure and homelessness in Abbotsford off of Google is to stop using chicken shit and solve homelessness, not use social media tricks. Abbotsford is not a tourism destination. Nobody vacations here unless they are on business or visiting family or friends. The way we have mistreated the homeless has nothing to do with tourism or fooling people into taking their holidays here. It has to do with not treating them like vermin. If we can start there the Google rankings will fix themselves. As for turning Abbotsford into a tourism destination … fill your boots.
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Linda Drummond Says:
I agree Mike. Because of the media circus surrounding those two issues that you mention, Abbotsford is rather notorious for resolving their issues in a chick-shit way rather than by good honest hard work. Everyone at a city council must perform their jobs with a sense of moral ethics and civic responsibility and when you consider anyone running you should be asking what their past track record is and how are each qualified. Are they taking a stand on the hard issues or are they trying to “bluff” their way win on the “popularity” platform.
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Lynne Bard Says:
This guy is the biggest loser of them all! Purely running on his wife’s shirt tales. Mr. Caldwell, I will not disrespect a woman you lost, but are you at all aware that she lost the last election she ran in. You need to stop trying to use your deceased wifes name to win this election and maybe come up with some original ideas of your own. I have read your website and see nothing that indicates you are not just another politician who knows nothing of the average citizen in the city. Whens the last time you actually worked, Hmmmmm that’s right, you worked for the City, but we all know you were hardly a stellar employee and now you want to try to get more money out of our tax dollars by being as lazy of a councillor as you were an employee. Interesting. certainly don’t have my vote or the vote of anyone i know.
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