Neighbourhood activists fear political partisanship will colour the Mayor’s West End Advisory Committee, which is to be composed of appointees.

Credit: Doug Shanks

NEWS: Mayor’s foul language clouds West End debate

Mayor Gregor Robertson was left red-faced after his expletive-laden comments about a group of West-End activists wound up on the City’s website following a July 8 council meeting. However, one of the activists who spoke that night, Randy Helten of the community group West End Neighbours (WEN), says the real issue isn’t Robertson’s choice of words. What galls him is the dismissal of community members who stuck out a marathon meeting to voice their concern over a controversial new plan to increase public consultation around development in the West End. “The profanity was a minor concern for me,” he says, “the real issue was the disrespect for those of us citizens who’d spent eight hours waiting for a chance to speak...

“As in the meeting, their little chat with the hot microphone didn’t show that they had any understanding of the core issues that we are trying to bring forward,” he continues.

Robertson referred to Helten and other speakers as “hacks” and repeatedly dropped the f-bomb in an exchange with Vision Vancouver councillors Tim Stevenson and Heather Deal following a meeting of the Planning and Environment Committee. Unbeknownst to the mayor, a nearby microphone was on and the comments were broadcast on the City’s internet feed.

The issue at hand for that meeting, one which has now been obscured by the mayor’s gaffe, was Robertson’s motion to create a Mayor’s West End Advisory Committee. Aimed at increasing public consultation on future development in the West End, the committee would see 12 West End representatives from stakeholder groups such as the gay and lesbian community, seniors, renters, new immigrants, and refugees, appointed by city councillors. These appointees would advise the mayor on development priorities in the West End and meet with developers about rezoning applications.

The committee is meant as an interim solution for communities, like the West End, that are awaiting an official set of guidelines to regulate development known as a Community Vision. However, the proposed motion raised the hackles of some West End residents who have been pushing for an end to spot rezonings (which allow for the construction of new condo towers) until the lengthy Community Vision process is complete.

Speakers against the proposed committee included WEN’s Helten, Ned Jacobs of Neighbourhoods for a Sustainable Vancouver (NSV), and veteran West End activist Carole Walker, all of whom were united in their opposition to the motion. Speakers said they feared the hand-picked committee would leave out other interested parties, such as owners of West End businesses who don’t live in the area, property owners, and those between 40 and 65 years of age. They were also concerned that with City politicians appointing committee members, decisions could be made on the basis of political partisanship.

Furthermore, most were outraged the motion — which appeared on the City website just days prior — was being debated by council without much public notice, and before a staff report from previous West End community consultation meetings had been made public.

“It gives me a feeling of déjà vu, like the STIR (Short Term Incentives for Rental Housing) program rushed through by council,” Helten said at the July 8 meeting, referring to the City’s controversial program to increase rental stock. “No one in the community — unless they were watching carefully — would have known about this motion,” he insisted.

Robertson rejected implications his motives for proposing the committee were underhanded, chalking up the opposition to a misunderstanding.

“It feels like there’s been a disconnect over the intention of this motion,” Robertson said. “This is not a planning process.” Rather, he continued, the committee is simply “a way to start accelerating the dialogue,” which was conceived in response to the community’s call for increased consultation.

That doesn’t appease NSV’s Jacobs, who worries the interim process will become “interminable” and supersede the establishment of Community Visions in neighbourhoods across the city — a fear mirrored by COPE Councillor Ellen Woodsworth who opposed the motion, along with NPA councillor Suzanne Anton.

Despite the outcry, the motion passed, supported by all Vision Vancouver councillors present.

reporter@westender.com