The first raft of motions from the new council just hit the decks. Enjoy your holidays, city hall staffers, because you’ll be scrambling when you get back to come up with answers and options for your new bosses.
What the new council is asking for”
- a staff report on options for the Burrard Street bike-lane trial by mid-February
- a staff report on options for a city arts council that would be in charge of giving out culture grants, instead of being solely in the hands of culture planners, by end of February
- a motion to ask for changes to the Residential Tenancy Act to extend the eviction-notice period, to try to prevent “economic evictions” and to require landlords to report on a whole raft of things, including rent rolls and numbers of evictions.
- a staff report listing every order made to city landlords about complying with the city’s standards of maintenance bylaw, along with a report on who has complied and who hasn’t, and then another report asking what would be entailed in having the city complete repairs for those not done by the landlords. this by January.
- a motion to move the head of the sustainability office onto the corporate management team (a move that seems innocuous but is a direct contradiction of the prevailing city hall policy for years, which was that there was no need for that because “every department incorporates sustainability into its plans already”), to ask for a report on progress with farmers markets and urban agriculture, and a request for a staff report back on car-free days every Sunday in thre different commercial districts. The first two by Jan. 15, the last one by end of February.
- and, of course, the motion to kick start the homelessness emergency response team.
6 responses so far ↓
1 Uhr uh, I can't decide // Dec 10, 2008 at 10:39 pm
Reports?
They can’t decide anything? They have few ideas, just vague
directions?
Surely they must have concrete (intended) plans to work on the
city.
And car-free in only two neighbourhoods?
Here is a chance to have every part of the city quiet and calm
for walkers and residents.
One of the greatest things was the closure of First avenue from
Rupert to Victoria for 3 months. You couldn’t believe the peace
and quiet from closing that almost freeway did to the neighbourhood.
2 nancy (aka money coach) // Dec 11, 2008 at 3:14 am
Hallelujah!! re: list of landlords who have received orders re: compliance with maintenance standards. I want to post that all over my ‘hood! (gastown/dtes)
3 Not running for mayor // Dec 11, 2008 at 3:14 am
I don’t have high hopes for this bunch, so it will be easy for them to impress me. But they are starting off pretty badly, more motions that are outside their control and jurisdiction . I just have flashbacks about discussing banning weapons in space.
4 Wagatoast // Dec 11, 2008 at 3:41 am
How is “placing the sustainability manager into the Corporate Management Team” at the first council meeting indicative of “they can’t decide anything”?
5 Jeannette M // Dec 11, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Wow this is awesome. And do the haters who are wondering if they are just being indecisive or don’t like the fact that most of these aren’t ‘concrete’ consider that a lot of these ideas (car free days monthly, bike lane on the bridge) are new ideas for this city and it would be irresponsible for them to make these decisions without having information at hand that might offer insight into logistics and impact.
I think this is an awesome start. Progressive, inquisitive, and forward thinking. Exactly what I voted for.
6 independent mind // Dec 11, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Wagatoast stick to your day job.
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