Eiken’s "Mighty" Accomplishment

When I took over the city beat from Andrea Damewood, she gave me a few tips, such as the fact that Chad Eiken is the most powerful person in Vancouver City Hall.

Eiken, director of the Community and Economic Development Department, recently issued a six-page report on his department’s accomplishments for 2012.

Let’s see … consolidated a department, completed a parking assessment, responded to more than 5,400 code complaints, performed more than 31,500 building inspections, updated the Shoreline Management Plan …

With all due respect, Mr. Eiken, I believe you, as we say in the newspaper biz, buried the lede.

Wait. After reading all six pages, I take that back. You didn’t bury the lede. You left it out and didn’t mention your most Mighty accomplishment!*

Eiken, after all, helped make The Mighty Bowl a reality, and acknowledged that some city codes regarding food carts don’t make sense. It took owners Steve and Sherilee Valenta and Kevin DeGraw 18 months to get permission to open the city’s first mobile, fully-operational food truck.

After it opened, even Eiken couldn’t resist. If I were him, I would have put this photo on the cover of his report.

If you want to dig into a Mighty Bowl, you can find out where it is going to be on its website.

*According to a survey of reporters