VISIONING
You know an election is coming when the ruling Vision Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»council set a table of issues at city hall this week that could feed a journo for weeks.
Council's last meeting of the summer was Thursday, and Mayor Gregor Robertson and his Vision team are keenly aware the fall will be all about the November civic election.
In other words, not a lot of time to debate big issues.
So what did Robertson and his council cram in over two meeting days this week?
Topics included safety for pedestrians in the Downtown Eastside, a housing and homelessness strategy, an update on the separated bike lanes and the future of the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts.
Here we go, one at a time. A six-block stretch along East Hastings will have its speed limit reduced to 30 km/h in an effort to decrease the number of pedestrian injuries and fatalities-despite opposition from the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Police Department, which believes engineering solutions that prevent jaywalking are the way to go.
On the housing and homelessness strategy, the city set an ambitious target of building 7,900 new units of so-called non-market housing over the next 10 years to provide homes for the increasing number of homeless people.
Although the immediate focus of the strategy is to build housing for homeless people, the city's housing plan calls for the construction of 11,000 market rental housing units and 20,000 "condos and affordable" homes by the year 2021.
On the polarizing issue of separated bike lanes, the mayor said businesses claiming losses because of the downtown lanes will not be financially compensated. Robertson, when he was an NDP MLA, called for compensation for Cambie businesses affected by construction of the Canada Line.
On the viaducts, well. they won't be coming down anytime soon or turned into a park like the appealing High Line in New York City. Council has instead approved a 10-month study of the city's eastern core, from B.C. Place Stadium to Clark Drive.
Also this week, the mayor's office issued a release Wednesday that said Robertson is pleased with a report authored by the West End Advisory Committee that lays out recommendations for better relations with the city. This is interesting since YouTube watchers will recall that Mr. Mayor dropped a critical f-bomb in a July 2010 meeting while referring to citizens who questioned the creation of an advisory committee to make decisions on behalf of the neighbourhood.
So what the eff is the mayor saying now? "I want to thank the dedicated volunteers of [the committee] for spending countless hours so that we can get updated information on priorities for the West End," the mayor said. "This report provides a great snapshot on community priorities from a diverse range of local perspectives, and I want to make sure it is reflected in city decisions going forward."
Some of the promises Vision has left to fulfill from its 2008 campaign booklet include establishing a roundtable on prostitution to create a plan for dealing with the sex trade.
Developing a rental bike program with hubs across the city, revitalizing the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Agreement (does it even exist anymore?) and encouraging property owners to "unlock" vacant condo units for rent are other promises.
One promise, which I've been around the block on with the mayor and Vision Coun. Kerry Jang, is the party's desire to establish a mental health advocate.
It's right there in the booklet, gentlemen.
Twitter: @Howellings
