Elected City Councillor
Bass was first elected to city council in 1999 as a member of COPE, and topped the polls when re-elected in 2002 with 70,525 votes. His political priorities were action on the environment and transit. Bass was outspoken in his opposition to the expansion of gambling and to excessive expenditures for rapid transit by a faction of his party under the leadership of Mayor Larry Campbell.
In 2003-2005, three COPE Councillors and the Mayor split from the party to form Vision Vancouver. Bass and councillors Tim Louis, David Cadman, Anne Roberts and Ellen Woodsworth remained in COPE. Bass was not re-elected in the 2005 election, finishing 12th overall with 48,248 votes.
Bass introduced a controversial motion in 2005 to widen the sidewalks on the Burrard Bridge to encourage cyclists and pedestrians, but first do a minimal-cost trial of using one lane in each direction for bicycles, reserving the existing sidewalk for pedestrians, despite the failure of a similar experiment in 1996. The sidewalk-widening was slated to cost $13 million if the $2 million trial failed. Some cyclists applauded the move, though other users of the current bridge sidewalks questioned whether any changes were necessary. Concerns about motorist rage did not deter Bass, who stated "Motorists called for my head long ago and my head is still on my neck." Heritage advocates strongly supported the bicycle trial, since the sidewalk-widening would impair the heritage value of this landmark, art deco bridge. Bass was the Council lead on the Vancouver Area Transit Plan, which planned six new bus routes and a number of transit-friendly changes.
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