MAYOR CAMPBELL'S STRATEGY IS THREE PILLARS SHORT

Looks Like This Problem Will Be Left To His Namesake

For months now, the main storyline in B.C. politics has consisted of
the tale of the two Campbells -- the one effective but unpopular, the
other his polar opposite.

Indeed, I got used to thinking media darling Larry Campbell was a cert
for a second term as Vancouver mayor, if only because he seemed to be
having so much fun.

But lately, I'm not so sure Larry will be such a shoo-in.

The reason? I think he's been spending too much time fiddling with his
friends while Rome is burning -- or at least having its homes broken
into.

The Hastings Street heroin-injection site hasn't proved the panacea it
was cracked up to be. Property crime is sky-high. And the city that
once boasted of its safe, clean streets is fast gaining a global
reputation as a centre for mayhem, misery and crystal meth.

Not that this appears to bother Larry, as he divides his time between
devising how he can have his COPE cake and eat it, too -- and lashing
out at those rash enough to challenge his divine right to rule any
darned way he pleases.

To be fair to Larry, the position of chief Vancouver ribbon-cutter is
no longer as significant as it once was.

Most of the important decisions are made at the regional or provincial
level by less charismatic folks -- like the other Campbell, Premier
Gordon, and TransLink boss Doug McCallum, the business-like Surrey
mayor.

And the fact is, during the recent RAV gabfest, Larry seemed to expend
more energy being mean to the mayors of Burnaby and Pitt Meadows than
making meaningful contributions to the marathon debate.

He's also become increasingly dismissive of those city ratepayers who,
like teacher Patti Milsom, are disgusted at what drug crime is doing
to their neighbourhoods.

These folks, let's face it, are not rushing to join the Friends of
Larry Campbell. They're too busy bolting the doors of their houses and
picking up the shards of their shattered car window glass.

Mother-of-two Milsom told me Friday she voted for Larry in the last
election. Now she's considering running against him.

Milsom is one of a number of south Granville residents who've become
disenchanted with the bullying ex-cop and his blase attitude toward
drug crime.

"We've got seniors who are so anxious and upset they're afraid to
leave their homes," Milsom said.

Instead of lending a sympathetic ear to their concerns, Larry has been
berating Milsom for her threatened tax revolt, writing her off as a
whiny, west-side matron.

But it's the laddish Larry who is all wet. Milsom understands drug
addicts at least as well as he thinks he does -- if only because she's
taught their children.

"I did vote for him . . . I supported him because I thought he was a
visionary. I thought we had a Burt Lancaster type rising from the
ashes. But we don't," she noted.

No, we don't. And Milsom is as unimpressed as I am with how the
much-hyped "four-pillar" approach to addiction is being
implemented.

"I only see the one pillar, and that's the drug-enabling pillar," she
said.

The other pillars, it's clear, Larry's leaving to the other Campbell,
the effective one whom no one loves.