Anti Vancouver Casino Advocate to Run for Vancouver City Council
Buoyed by the perceived success of her Vancouver Not Vegas! group, and their efforts to prevent the building of Vancouver casino, anti casino lobbyist Sandy Garossino has announced that she will be running in the Vancouver municipal elections next month.
Garossino, who is the co-founder of the now infamous anti casino lobby group, announced her bid to run for Vancouver city council in the November 19 race, after making headlines as the city's prime anti Vancouver casino advocate.
She will run as an independent candidate, despite the fact that those who have tried their luck independently historically, haven't had a lot of success in their efforts.
However, Garossino seems undeterred, as she explained. "It's a very purposeful decision and a choice to run as an independent. The political mudslinging is not doing anybody any good. It's great theatre, it draws a lot of eyeballs, but it doesn't get problems solved.
"We need to work collaboratively. We've got to stop being pitted against each other in a winner-takes-all dogfight. This kind of politics, this kind of dealing with problems, is keeping the best people out of the game," she said.
Nevertheless, fellow Vancouver Not Vegas! group co-founder Sean Bickerton - who is running for an NPA seat on the council - said that he had spoken to Garossino about possibly joining his mainstream political party.
Garossino Worked Hard to Stave off Vancouver Casino
"I have tremendous admiration for Sandy Garossino for all the hard work that we did together organizing the Vancouver Not Vegas Coalition," he said. "I would have loved to see Sandy run with us. I certainly made efforts to have Sandy run with us."
Garissono said that the financial support for her election campaign would be sourced from a "variety of individuals", although she was not too concerned with the financial aspect of her efforts.
"We were able to stop the casino on a budget of under $10,000," she said. "So we're not concerned about the financial side of this. We know what people want. People want an alternative. It doesn't cost a lot of money. When you're doing what people want, you don't need money to get your message out. You need money when you're having trouble getting your message out."
Garissono is also involved in community work with non-profits and arts groups and worked as a Crown prosecutor until 1988. She now runs a company that utilizes technology to help businesses keep down legal costs.
