"Why the hell would I want to meet with The Coast?" Brad Johns says when I ask for an interview. "You guys keep giving me a D and I get elected with more votes than anyone else."
Subsequently, Johns offered to give me a tour of Sackville, then cancelled due to a family illness. We tried to reschedule, but it never happened.
Johns isn't exactly the most noticeable guy on council. If you're not focusing sharply on him, you might lose him in the pattern of the wallpaper or overlook him in the excitement of an extended discussion of subsection 3.8 of clause 16 of the subcommittee's review of the consultant's report.
That said, Johns' biggest accomplishment recently was getting $500,000 added to this year's road-paving budget. That says something about his abilities, and something else about his priorities.
Grade: D Cell: 476-1234
WHAT WE SAID IN 2000 (Grade: D)¨
In keeping with the theme from some of the other high-teen district councillors---except taking it to a new and nutty extreme---¨Johns made headlines by suggesting that city hall be moved out of City Hall and into, oh, say, Bedford. Everyone loves Bedford, right?
Johns seems to have a little bit of the downtown envy, or at least, a perception that the downtown takes things away from his more rural riding of Middle and Upper Sackville---which is probably true, to some degree. In March, when council decided to spend $121,000 on new garbage receptacles for the downtown, Johns complained that litter was not confined simply to that area, and that his area should also get new bins.
Remarks:
The “I want that too” attitude doesn’t do anyone any good in a municipality the size of HRM. Plus, it feels reactionary. And as for the idea of City Hall in Bedford? No offense Bedford, but we doth protest.