How to get the mayor’s goat

I know how to get the mayor’s goat.

If you want to get on his nerves some time, just ask Peter Milobar how his “task force on the economy” is going.

He insists it is not a task force. I’m not sure what it is, but if it looks, smells and sounds like a task force, to me it’s a task force.

Not to the mayor, though. It’s just a bunch of people sitting around talking about the economy, I guess, sort of a glorified coffee klatch.

A coffee klatch is defined as “a casual social gathering for coffee and conversation.”

A task force, on the other hand, is “a temporary grouping of individuals and resources for the accomplishment of a specific objective.”

If the mayor’s group is not a task force, we must assume that the group is not temporary, or that it doesn’t expect to accomplish anything, or, at least, it doesn’t have a specific objective.

Only four people showed up to the last meeting of the whatever-you-call-it, and there were no media there because the mayor sort of neglected to make sure anyone was told about it.

Mind you, it is summer, after all, and it’s tough getting things done in Kamloops in the summer. But I truly hope the mayor’s purpose for this group is more than sitting around having coffee and conversation. The economy remains of vital interest to our city, and the people the mayor has chosen for his whatever-it-is are all knowledgeable, capable folks.

Maybe he just needs to define more clearly what it is he wants to accomplish, and then decide what to call it. I hope it will be a task force.

Something missing in Place In Sun video

I’ve probably seen the Our Place In The Sun video at least 50 times, and it never fails to make me proud of Kamloops.

Last night, I saw it again during the civic dinner for the Communities in Bloom judges who were in town to look at our city. One of the people at our table made a very interesting observation about that video, something I had never picked up on before.

“It’s very . . . ” she said, pausing to find the right word . . . “white.”

Her point was that in the dozens of pictures in the video there’s almost no ethnic representation. Everybody is Caucasian.

I know for a fact this is completely unintentional. However, in a presentation designed to represent what Kamloops is all about, it is a fairly serious omission not to reflect the multi-cultural makeup of our city.

Fortunately, the video is updated from time to time, and this something that can easily be fixed.

The unsung heros on the other end of the phone

Armchair Mayor column, Kamloops Daily News, July 25, 2009

When I call up technical support at my satellite TV service provider, there’s a certain comfort in the words, “Yes, Mel, I can definitely help you with that.”

Right away, I figure he or she is going to be able to tell me why my screen just went blank, and fix it.

There’s also a certain comfort in knowing he or she is talking to me within my own country, assuming we consider Mississauga part of Canada.

There’s nothing wrong with living on the other side of the world, but I wonder how much someone in India is really going to know about television reception in Kamloops.

Wherever they are, though, I admire these call-centre reps — they are trained to be cool under fire. If I were in a war zone being shelled by the enemy, I’d want a couple of these guys guiding me through it.

Take Ronnie, Daniel, Alwin and Rajendra, for example, the first line of defense for HP (Hewlett Packard) in the CJay Dillman case. She’s the Kamloops woman whose laptop overheated and gave her second-degree burns.

It took her a good part of the week for HP to come through with a new computer and — as of yesterday — an insurance adjuster to discuss her injuries. Yet no corporate spokesman has talked to her directly, and no apology has been forthcoming.

Through it all, though, the call-centre people have been darned polite.

Here are just a few boiled-down excerpts of Dillman’s chatline conversations with HP.

RONNIE: Hi, Janine (CJay is a nickname), how are you doing today?

DILLMAN: Good, and you?

RONNIE: I am very well. Thank you for asking. Could you please elaborate the issue?

DILLMAN: On Saturday I chatted with a tech and was supposed to receive a call back today at 2 p.m. No one called. . . . I have second-degree burns on my leg from my laptop. . . . I have talked to a lawyer and if somebody from HP does not respond by noon tomorrow I will start the legal process.

RONNIE: Janine, I assure you we will surely call you.

This conversation goes on for some time. When she doesn’t get a call back, Alwin is next up.

ALWIN: Hello, Janine, how are you going?

DILLMAN: Alright.

ALWIN: That’s great! . . . If I understand you correctly, your notebook is getting very hot. Is this correct?

DILLMAN: Hot enough to give me SECOND DEGREE BURNS.

ALWIN: Alright. These sort of things happen occasionally, I’d be glad to resolve your issue for you. May I know since when have you been experiencing this issue?

DILLMAN: How long have I had second-degree burns? Since yesterday.

ALWIN: Alright, no problem.

No problem, indeed. A few second-degree burns aren’t about to rattle HP tech support. Next up is Daniel.

DANIEL: How are you?

DILLMAN: Really, really unhappy! How are you?

DANIEL: Don’t worry, I am here to help you.

DILLMAN: I hope you can, this is my third time contacting HP. . . .

DANIEL: I apologize for the inconvenience caused to you.

DILLMAN: Thank you. . . .

DANIEL: Janine, as I read the previous transcript the notebook has burned your leg and you want somebody from HP should give you a call and in this issue you were promised for a call back. Am I correct?

DILLMAN: Yes, twice they have not called.

Daniel asks her to wait a couple of minutes and then returns.

DANIEL: Janine I have checked with the service ticket. The case has been already escalated to our complaints department. I request you to please wait for a few more hours. . . .

DILLMAN: Can you get a supervisor? My lawyer said if no one contacts me by noon to start the legal process. It is 35 minutes past.

DANIEL: Yes. Please be online.

SUPERVISOR: Hi, I am Rajendra. . . . I am the supervisor. . . . As I have checked your service ticket, your case is already escalated to the second level. It might take two to three business days.

DILLMAN: . . . I have second-degree burns and no one is doing anything about it. If someone does not contact me now I am going to tell my lawyer to start litigation and I will call the news stations and the newspapers and make a blog about HP computer burns. I’m not kidding.

SUPERVISOR: I again apologize for the inconvenience. Now what I can do, I will re-escalate the issue.

The conversation, however, doesn’t do much to resolve the situation, and they sign off.

RAJENDRA: . . . I sincerely appreciate your willingness and patience to work with me on this issue. It was a pleasure assisting a person like you.

DILLMAN: Have a great day.

RAJENDRA: You, too, God bless. Thank you for contacting HP Total Care Real-Time Chat Support.

Now, you might think CJay Dillman deserves some kudos for sticking to her guns but you must grudgingly admire the polite persistence of the folks from the HP support centre, as well.

I mean, somebody is very unhappy that their product gave her serious burns, is threatening a lawsuit, media coverage and Internet trashings, and they tell her God bless and have a great day.

I thought I’d test it out myself, so I phoned HP and Brian came on the line. Brian, by the way, is in the Philippines.

We had a pleasant conversation, with Brian thanking me profusely every few words, and it ended with him providing me with information on how to contact the company’s CEO Mark Hurd (by email, no phone calls allowed) and an HP office in Richmond.

Brian then asks if there’s anything else he can help me with today.

MEL: No, thank you. You have a good day.

BRIAN: Thank you. You, too, have a very good day.

How can you get mad at people like this? Even CJay Dillman found herself exchanging pleasantries while nursing her second-degree burns.

That doesn’t make her feel much better about HP itself, mind you. She used to work at a call centre, and knows the drill for unusual complaints — call the supervisor, the supervisor calls corporate, solution found.

So she’s still waiting for a call from HP corporate. Meantime, she could always pass some time chatting with Ronnie, Daniel and the guys in the Philippines.

At the opening of Spirit Square. . .

Got there a little late for the official opening of Spirit Square this morning and missed the speeches but had a burger and some chitchat.

It’s a nice new feature for the Tranquille Road shopping area, tying together the business corridor and McDonald Park. It cleans up an otherwise very average piece of land, and when the vision is complete, and the vegetation mature, it will be even nicer.

MLAs Terry Lake and Kevin Krueger were there, along with good representation from council — Pat Wallace, John DeCicco, Marg Spina, Mayor Peter Milobar and probably others I missed.

The mayor foresees some other improvements to the immediate vicinity that will really spruce things up. The North Shore BIA’s Peter Mutrie, whom I found chomping on a burger with onions and the works, envisions the square as a great place for organized events, in the same way the bandshell at McDonald Park has become a popular venue.

Larry Foss was there, too, planning his comeback. He is still suffering the effects of his dreadful horse-breaking accident of many many months ago, but is determined to ride again by next summer.

That’s when, he says, he will join with yours truly and Premier Gordon Campbell for a special staging of a train robbery of 2141. The timing is good — it will take me a year to get back in riding shape. . . not to mention my horse, who’s forgotten what a saddle is.

Flying Phil looks good in bronze

Monday’s unveiling of the statue of Flying Phil was an emotional occasion for Bob Gaglardi and his daughter Andrea, who both came up from Vancouver for the event.

It was gratifying to see so many people attend, but especially important that members of the former highways minister’s family were there. Bob was scheduled to speak but asked Andrea to take his place, and she did a great job of expressing the family’s love and respect for her grandfather — the controversial little man who did so much for Kamloops and the province.

It also provided a reunion opportunity, as Lee Morris of Tourism Kamloops was there — Andrea and Lee were roomies in their younger days.

Former MLA Claude Richmond, who knew Phil Gaglardi well, was there too, and happened to have a copy of his new booklet on the Rube Band with him, so he provided me one.

As for me, I very much enjoyed the opportunity to speak at this occasion, which brings a sort of closure to the quest for an appropriate way to honour our most famous politician.

Reaction to the statue seems very positive, and the unveiling and reception created a venue to the retelling of many stories about Phil.

It seems like a very short time ago that I called Ken Endean and asked him to take on the project, but it was more than four years ago. Ken later turned over chairmanship of the Friends of Phil Gaglardi to Doug Scott, but continued (as did I) to be a director of the society that raised the money for the project.

As I drive past Gaglardi Square each morning now, I glance over at Flying Phil posed in full oratorical flight, and I have to say, he’s looking pretty good.

One thing missing when Flying Phil statue is unveiled

Armchair Mayor column for the Kamloops Daily News, Saturday, July 18, 2009

Aside from the man himself, there will be one other thing missing from the unveiling ceremony Monday for the statue of Flying Phil Gaglardi.

I’ve watched the various stages of creation of the statue by sculptor Terry Norlander, and it has turned out magnificently. It captures the energy of the man, which is pretty amazing for a stationary object made of bronze.

What will be missing, what we won’t have the great privilege of experiencing, is the famed Gaglardi voice. It was hard to believe, at times, that such a voice, so capable of amazing oratory, could come from within a five-foot-five-inch body. It was as though it had a life all its own.

Opposition leader Robert Strachan once said a Gaglardi speech in the legislature was like “a thundering herd of buffalo with about as much sense of direction.”

Gaglardi never spoke from notes — he didn’t have to. Neither did he think much about what he was going to say before he said it. You could point him to a microphone, give him a topic, and he’d be good for five minutes or 50 minutes, whatever you wanted.

His persona and his achievements are being honoured with this statue. When we asked people four years ago what they thought would be a fitting way to recognize Gaglardi, the most popular idea was a statue.

Among those who knew Gaglardi, or knew of him, the controversies that marked his life and career continue. For those who worry about spending public money on such things, relax — the $43,000 project has been paid for with private donations raised by the Friends of Phil Gaglardi Society. (The statue now becomes the property of the City of Kamloops.)

The group was formed after renaming the Overlanders Bridge was rejected, and the statue idea put forward. City council agreed to allow the statue to be placed in Gaglardi Square next to the former Calvary Temple (St. Andrew’s on the Square). It’s a fitting location, as Gaglardi once preached every week from the pulpit at the church.

Doing Gaglardi justice was a challenge for Norlander, who also co-sculpted the Overlanders statue at the corner of Victoria Street and First Avenue. Since so many people are familiar with the Gaglardi countenance, he couldn’t take much poetic licence, and had to get it as close to reality as possible.

I provided Terry with the photos I’d collected for the biographical book I’d written about Flying Phil some 18 years ago. Working from photographs is tough for a sculptor because people’s faces change expression so much, and the physical features change over time.

He also used Tom Gagardi, Phil’s grandson, as a model — though Tom is much larger physically than Phil was, his face bears a remarkable resemblance to Phil as a young man.

Norlander wisely chose not to put Gaglardi in the standing pose typical of statues, instead posing him in a speaking position, one hand and finger jabbing the air for emphasis, the other holding what could be a set of highway plans, and one cowboy-booted foot cocked on its heel.

He depicts Gaglardi at his political prime in mid-life. Some will say the statue looks exactly like him, others will have criticisms, and that’s part of public art. But when I look at the statue, I hear Flying Phil declaring, “If I tell a lie, it’s because I think I’m telling the truth!” and “I’m not bragging, just telling the truth!” and “When God made Phil Gaglardi, he threw away the mould.”

A couple of days ago, after I’d started writing this column, I got a call from Phil’s son Bob — who will be here for the ceremony Monday — and he coincidentally mentioned Phil’s gift for oratory.

That gift was honed as a Pentecostal preacher and perfected as a politician. Even in casual conversation, he tended to punch certain syllables and words at random, in his own unique accent. And pretty much every sentence ended in an exclamation mark.

“JUMpin’ JUPiter!” he’d say. “I’m Phil GagLARDi! HOW you doin’?”

But while the voice and the bravado were part of his image, he went much deeper. People know all about the controversies over highway development and speeding tickets and the Lear jet he used to fly around in, but few are as familiar with his kindness, generosity, and sense of service.

Few would probably believe that inside this larger than life character who called himself “the best little shrimp God every made” was a shy man who preferred people approaching him to wading into a crowd to work a room.

As Bob Gaglardi said, his father never concerned himself with money, and never worried about being paid back when he helped out a parishioner or a constituent.

Phil was our MLA for 20 years, a pastor for even longer, the most prominent member of the Bennett cabinet, and our mayor. During his time in provincial government, he established the B.C. Ferries system and built the likes of the Port Mann Bridge, the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge, the B.C. section of the Trans Canada Highway and, yes, the Overlanders Bridge.

There was nothing simple about Phil Gaglardi. He remains the most colourful, famous and accomplished — and controversial — politician ever to have come out of Kamloops, and it’s about time he receives appropriate recognition in this, his “home” town.

If Phil Gaglardi could be asked Monday the secret to success, he might fall back on one of his favourite phrases — “There’s no limit to what a man can do if he doesn’t care who gets the credit.”

Which might sound curious, since he was not a modest man, but some 37 years after he left provincial office, and a dozen years after his death, he’s finally getting some of that credit in the city he served for so long.

Mel Rothenburger is editor of The Daily News, author of the 1991 Gaglardi biography Friend O’ Mine, and a director of the Friends of Phil Gaglardi Society that commissioned the statue of Phil Gaglardi.

No sneaking peeks on statue of Flying Phil

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking you’ll go take a sneak peek at the city’s newest piece of public art — the statue of Flying Phil Gaglardi — before the official unveiling Monday at St. Andrew’s on the Square.

Forget it. The 5 ft. five inch lifesize bronze won’t be erected until very shortly before the 2 p.m. ceremony, and will remain covered until about 2:10 p.m.. For the past several weeks, it’s been in storage in a crate up at the City’s Public Works compound.

I’ve seen the final product — lying down, mind you — and I like it very much. Over the past several months, I saw the sculpture in its early stages as well, while Terry Norlander was still working in styrofoam, and then plasticeen before it was completed and sent to a foundry in Vancouver for casting.

Terry, who also worked on the Overlanders statue, has come up with something special. He’s rendered our famous one-time highways minister and Kamloops mayor in a speaking pose. The face has largely been created from a big pile of photographs I had collected when writing Phil’s biography quite a few years ago. But he’s also taken just a snippet of artistic licence in capturing the amazing spirit of the man.

It took a long time to get it right. Each time Terry was ready with another version, we (members of the Friends of Phil Gaglardi Society, which raised the cost of the statue with private donations) would show up at his workshop and look intently at it from every angle. “I think his nose was a little sharper,” one of us would say, or “his hairline is just a little off.”

Among those who vetted the creation was Tom Gaglardi, Phil’s grandson. Tom has an amazing facial likeness to Phil when Phil was a young man, and Terry used him as a check on how close we were getting.

I think the proudest man at the ceremony Monday will be Bob Gaglardi, one of Phil and Jennie Gaglardi’s two sons. It will likely be an emotional moment when the veil is pulled from Phil’s likeness.

If you can’t make it to the unveiling, take a drive or a walk by St. Andrew’s on the Square later Monday for a look. I’m writing more on this for Saturday’s Daily News Armchair Mayor column.