He was born a ramblin’ man

Ah, you can almost hear the Allman Brothers in the background, warming up with the snippets of some road music.

The ramblin’ man of Prince Rupert returned to town last week, just in time for a photo shoot with the Daily News. In successive days of our daily paper, we’ve been treated to pictures of Mayor Herb Pond at the Fire Hall on the shiny fire truck, at the new Charles Hays track, at the new Charles Hays track and there again at the new Charles Hays track.

The pictures came just after he had completed a trip down to Vancouver to take part in the Premier’s Provincial Congress on Health and then to sit in on the Pacific Gateway funding announcement, where he got to rub elbows with the Prime Minister and other luminaries. He also had the opportunity to attend a formal dinner with Cabinet Ministers, MP’s and MLA’s where he heard many good things about Prince Rupert.

It was all part of the job of “waving the flag for Prince Rupert” as he put it, in an interview with the Northern View. The Mayor stressed how important it is that the city be represented at these events to make sure we’re on the radar.

So to make sure that those blips continue to scope, He’ll be back on the road again shortly, this time taking some city councilors and city officials with him to head off to the annual UBCM bunfest this year in Victoria from October 23-27. A five day gathering of networking and hand shaking that will be used to keep Prince Rupert on the minds of Provincial officials.

Last years UBCM took the Rupert contingent to Vancouver, the year before that it was down to the Okanagan for the hard work of lobbying for the Northwest, all while dealing with the distractions of the surroundings. They were evacuations of the city that left more than a few observers at the time questioning why such a large number of councillors and city staff had to make the trek annually.

For each gathering the work load was described as sufficient to require all hands on deck, so we imagine that next weeks trip to Victoria will likewise require a few hotel rooms. Though for a city that is pinching pennies these days, we’re hoping that its economy class surroundings for the gang while in the capital.

So if Gregg and the boys are ready a little music please, the bus is loaded and it’s time for a city council road trip, with the music to make the miles melt away…

“Lord, I was born a ramblin' man Tryin' to make a livin' and doin' the best I can And when it's time for leavin' I hope you'll understand ...”


Mayor, council set for UBCM meeting

By Shaun Thomas
The Northern View
Oct 18 2006

Mayor Herb Pond was in Vancouver last week participating in a number of meetings and events with provincial and federal representatives covering issues such as health and the development occurring in the Northwest.

Pond said he was invited to the meeting of the Premier's Provincial Congress on Health, attended the Pacific Gateway funding announcement by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and was able to talk with the Prime Minister, and also attended a formal dinner with a number of MLA's, MPs and cabinet ministers, and was pleased with what he heard.

"This has been a very concentrated time of waving the flag for Prince Rupert at the right time in the right settings. What was of note to me was that Prime Minister Harper spoke specifically of Prince Rupert and the Premier spoke specifically of Prince Rupert in almost every speech he made," said Pond from Vancouver.

"It has been a very busy couple of days-I think it is important the city always makes sure to have representation at these functions to ensure that we are always on the radar."

And while Pond will be back in town this week, he and a number of councillors and city officials will be preparing for the annual Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) meeting taking place in Victoria from October 23 to 27.

"We have a list of items that we will certainly talk about at the meeting, like where Prince Rupert sits in the Pacific Gateway Strategy, and we will be talking to key Ministers like Transportation and Finance about how to make sure we have the resources in place to meet the demands that are coming. Even though it is a federal issue we will be talking about concerns around EI and what we can do with the province to work together to influence the Federal Government to create a fairer system, and we will talk to key ministries about some key infrastructure developments," he said, noting that council will be meeting this week to finalize their priorities for the trip.