Toward A More Compassionate and Productive Civic Governance

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Former senior City Planner and current UBC professor, Scot Hein, has written a plea for a more compassionate and productive civic governance. He begins by noting that:

“most of the parties vying for our vote on election day this Saturday … have been around awhile (The NPA, Vision and The Greens), and [they and] the newbies (ABC, Forward Together, One City and Progress Vancouver), are cut (more or less) from the same cloth … Make no mistake, all of these parties and related coalitions will continue to drive up rents and purchase prices notwithstanding any downturn in the market. If this is what you want, this is what you will get with any combination of those noted above.“

“Further, those parties noted above do not understand how Vancouver’s creative approach to development regulation actually works, or should work, to best serve the needs of the people. This has been exacerbated by the exodus of hard-fought experience across all departments, the disconnect of best practices at the wishes of the market, and a culture of “yes” that fails to properly evaluate proposals for their impacts, both experientially, economically and socially. Vancouver’s evolving relationship with the market, previously known for inventing win-win (industry-community) best practices that responds to the needs of the day, has been cast aside and replaced with a regressive “approval machine” that has turned its back on current and future Vancouverites.”

“As I think about casting my vote this Saturday, I am most interested in shifting towards a more responsive, productive and compassionate governance that puts people first. A governance that 1) more deeply understands how to best utilize the regulatory levers and tools currently available towards truly greater housing affordability while strengthening our neighbourhoods, and 2) better supports those with addictions and mental health challenges. I am therefore excited at the prospect of a TEAM/COPE Mayor and Council. I believe that this unique coalition would best address these acute challenges.”

“I am excited for Vancouver’s future with [Colleen Hardwick and Jean Swanson] and their respective slates of candidates, being given an opportunity to work together these next four years. I strongly believe that their proactive association will restore Vancouver as a thoughtful, compassionate “leading light” while also demonstrating how cities must immediately evolve to solve our grand challenges including those noted above.”

The full piece can be found at: CityHallWatch and it is well worth the read.

The End Result of Forward Together

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I came across another of Steve Cutt’s brilliant short animations today. This one is called “Man” and it made me think immediately of what Kennedy Stewart and his Forward Together party would do to Vancouver if given another term in office:

TEAM’s Cost-Effective Transit Plan

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TEAM for a Liveable Vancouver today issued their plan for significant improvements to transit throughout the city.

TEAM proposes to build 58km of Light Rapid Transit for the same cost as the 7km SkyTrain extension to UBC. Their plan improves transit right across the city, rather than on one specific route, and offers dramatic savings on vehicle emissions.

“For the same price as seven subway kilometres to UBC we can bring 58 kilometres of state-of-the-art light rail transit to every corner of the city,” said Hardwick. “This single decision, with input from the community, would have a transformational impact by extending rapid transit throughout our city.”

Moreover:

“Hardwick says 58 kilometres of light rail avoids tunnels and eliminates a massive source of carbon emissions. “Having multiple lines, rather than just one, takes cars off the road, and reduces congestion and greenhouse gases,” noted Hardwick. “Giving more people more options just makes good sense in so many ways that benefit our city.”

Stressing TEAM’s commitment to public input on such major decisions, she notes:

“I want to see our city and its neighbourhoods fully engaged in this discussion before any final decisions, but when tax dollars are involved, I want the most for our money, and that means a complete light rail network rather than a costly subway to just one neighbourhood,” added Hardwick. “More transit makes more neighbourhoods affordable, and dollar-for-dollar, 58 kilometres of transit beats seven kilometres of transit any day of the week.”

It is this kind of imaginative approach to problem solving that makes a TEAM majority on October 15 a vital part of Vancouver’s future.

Who To Choose?

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Coalition of Vancouver N’Hoods on Election 2022

The Coalition of Vancouver Neighbourhoods (CVN) is a nonpartisan network of resident and community groups citywide that have come together on common issues of agreement and concern. The following is our mission as stated in the Principles and Goals document approved by the CVN groups.

The mission of the Coalition of Vancouver Neighbourhoods (CVN) is to restore and strengthen the central role of neighbourhoods in shaping land use, transportation, and development decisions in the City of Vancouver. We aim for a genuinely collaborative partnership among the City and its residents, organizations, and businesses.

Neighbourhood-based planning founded on meaningful community involvement in decision-making is essential to Vancouver’s future as a liveable city of neighbourhoods that is more sustainable, affordable,
resilient and inclusive.

Read more: http://coalitionvan.org/principles-and-goals/

To that end, CVN is very concerned about the directions of the current planning process at the City of Vancouver. CVN is opposed to both of the recently approved Broadway Plan and Vancouver Plan that, if implemented, would shape future growth of the city as it becomes the Official Community Plan (OCP) and part of the Regional Growth Strategy (RGS). The province has threatened to change the Vancouver Charter to allow any rezoning application that is consistent with an OCP to proceed without a public hearing.

The CVN letters to City Council on these plans can be found as follows:

• CVN on the Vancouver Plan: https://coalitionvan.org/posts/2022-07-06-vancouver-plan-opposed/
• CVN on the Broadway Plan: https://coalitionvan.org/posts/2022-05-18-broadway-plan-opposed/
• CVN on the Regional Growth Strategy (RGS):
https://coalitionvan.org/posts/2022-06-20-metro-vancouver-2050-rgs-oppose/

Our conclusion, based on the information available for analysis on these key issues, is that only TEAM for a Livable Vancouver, with Colleen Hardwick for mayor, have policies to withdraw both the Broadway Plan and Vancouver Plan, to reconsider these plans under a new neighbourhood-based process with meaningful involvement of local residents and businesses, resulting in plans with a high level of their support.

Please be informed, do your due diligence, and vote wisely!

Advance voting: Oct.1 Oct 1, 5, 8, 11, 13 – Advance voting (Sat/Wed/Sat/Thurs) at most Community Centres
Oct 15 – Election day (Saturday)
Voting locations: 8am to 8pm. See City website/documents/voter cards for locations.
https://cityhallwatch.wordpress.com/election-2022/

Thank you

GWAC: School and Park Board

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