A few hours before Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt was going to deliver his State of the City address, I was drifting around the neighborhood. I like to do this to take my own assessment of the place we live before I hear it from the mayor.
Look, all these “State of …” addresses have the potential to be smoke-blowers. They are mostly intended to paint a positive picture of the present and an uplifting peek at our future. This is Marketing 101, folks.
And — truth is — I like it that way. We see enough of the underbelly of life. We’ve also literally seen enough of Leavitt’s underbelly, so we were all hoping he’d keep his shirt on this time.
My walk on this sunny Thursday took me to just outside the work being done on the proposed waterfront project. When completed, it could be the jewel of Vancouver with hotels, shops, housing and parks.
As I moved closer to the project, a suit emerged. Hey, it’s a construction site! No suits allowed. But then I saw who was wearing it.
Eric Holmes. Eric is the city manager. He’s a very good guy and — in my view — the perfect fit for our city. He’s bright, has a calm demeanor and knows how to tap dance between the political minefields that always exist in a job where you have seven bosses.
Sure, I’ve beaten Eric up more than a few times in my column. But I think he understands that’s life when you’re a public figure. He also understands it’s not personal.
So when he recognized me, he crossed the street to say hi. He hadn’t been down to the site recently and likely wanted a visual update before the State of the City address.
Still, I thought because it was only a couple of hours before the big address, he might be busily preparing. But he noted it’s really the mayor’s thing, so there wasn’t much for him to prepare. I inferred, then, that Eric wasn’t helping the mayor to write his address.
OK, it makes sense the mayor is mostly doing his own thing on the address. But, hey, being the helpful kind of guy that I am, I told Eric I had slipped the mayor a few ideas … to help his address.
That’s right. Most politicians know me as “Mr. Helpful.”
I noted to Eric I had mentioned to the mayor that he should use my Don’t do stupid stuff line in his address.
Well, to be more specific, I suggested that’s all his address should be. Period.
My instructions were, and I quote:
“Walk out onto the stage. Pause for a moment. Look into the eyes of the crowd. Say — with conviction — Don’t do stupid stuff! Drop mic. Walk off stage. Just in case you wanted to be remembered forevermore!”
We both agreed that was highly unlikely to happen. But a guy’s gotta try, right?
o o o
Hey, I try all sorts of things. For example, because I had a Don’t Do Stupid Stuff mug on me, I asked Eric to hold it so I could get a photo. What? You don’t carry around your Don’t Do Stupid Stuff mug? Worse, you don’t even know what it is? Come on, man. It’s the craziest thing since the M&M boys were elected.
But I digress.
Eric agreed to pose (I told you he was a good guy!) but asked if I would be using the photo judiciously. I told him no and shot the photo.
o o o
A few hours later, we both found ourselves at the opulent City Hall, where the mayor’s address would be delivered. And the city would be trying something new this year. Even though most city councilors are older than dirt, they wanted to go high-tech. So everyone at the gig was being encouraged to pull their phones out and tweet quotes, observations and photos. Then, all that tweet gunk would be displayed on large monitors for everyone there to see.
Wait a second. Tweet photos? For everyone to see? Well, I just happened to have a photo of the city manager holding my Don’t Do Stupid Stuff mug.
Yep, I tweeted it.
Surely, I figured, the city would have some tweet police around, screening stuff like mine out. Well if they did, they missed it. There was the smiling city manager … and my mug on full display!
Eventually, the mayor turned around to see how this new tweet concept was working. He recognized the city manager’s picture quickly, but it took him a second to see what he was holding.
The mayor grinned and pointed at Eric.
And (dramatic pause required here) the good mayor actually uttered the words “Don’t Do Stupid Stuff mug.”
o o o
I’m pretty sure Eric was good with all of this, although he did later tweet me this: “Last picture you ever take of me!”
I think that’s his way of saying thank you for making him famous.
In the end, I give the mayor’s address high marks. He’s becoming more comfortable in his own skin as he gets more used to this mayoral gig. And his message was — in my view — on point.
But would it have been better if he had followed my instructions exactly?
Of course! Drop mic.
