I hate to do this, but I am going to have to. I was underwhelmed by the Victoria Tallships 2008. I love sailing ships, I love the beauty of the tallships, but I was simply not that thrilled at this event.
I hate to be doing this because there are so many volunteers that worked so hard on the event, I also hate to do this because there are so many in this town that pride of the event. But, when it was all said and done, I was not impressed.
The dumb idea award has to go to the person who decided to have coupons for the food at all the stalls. These were non refundable coupons you had to buy at a festival stall before you could go buy any food. I was expected to stand in line to buy the coupons and guess how much I would need for my horde. This was fundamentally flawed and makes the festival look like it is money grubbing.
The ships were cool enough, but the idea if paying $15 per person to see a handful of ships I can not see at other times seemed excessive to me. I can understand the need to charge the money, but $75 for a family of five is not my cup of tea.
The site felt more like I was at the Government street market with all these vendors selling 'trinkets'. I would liked to have seen a lot more informative booths - demonstrations of the skills needed to build and maintain a tallship. Paying money to be able to to a site and be sold things I have no interest in is something that bugs me.
An event that appeals a lot more to me is the Victoria Classic Boat Festival. This takes place each year at the end of August. A number of the ships at the tallships festival will also be at the Classic Boat Festival, though not the big ones. The atmosphere of the Classic Boat Festival is much more inviting and open to the public. This is an event put together by the owners of the boats to show them off to the world, and they do a great job of it.
Tallships has the mock battles, which might be exciting if you are out on the water but is not much to see from the land. The Classic Boat Festival has the sailpast and the Steamboat parade up the Gorge - you get a great view of them on the Selkirk Trestle.
Tallships feels like what the Folkfest turned into, an event focused on the money and not the community. An event that makes tourism operators drool and the locals stay away.
Ultimately for my boys it was all about the foam swords, though they do seem interested in SALTS.
Monday, June 30, 2008
The Westshore Velodrome
Over in the Westshore they are talking about getting rid of one of the legacies of the 1994 Commonwealth Games, the Juan de Fuca Velodrome. The Velodrome is part of the Juan de Fuca recreation complex that is operated jointly by Langford, Colwood, Metchosin, Highlands and View Royal.
The Victoria region has become a more and more active region over the last generation. We see more outdoor activities, more sports, a lot more high level athletes and generally more people in motion. This region has the highest number of cyclist commuters of any city in Canada. We are also blessed with a climate that allows cycling for most of the year. And we have one of the few velodromes in Canada, in fact there are only eight in total in all of Canada.
As a comparison, Australia has 16, Belgium has 14, New Zealand has 11.
The JdF site is the only outdoor velodrome in BC.
What we need is not to get rid of this velodrome, but to build several more in the area. I would put one in at UVic and Camosun as well. With three facilities in the region, you will create local clubs of cyclists that will have a local series of races to compete with each other. Do this and Victoria will become more of a cycling city and we will have more Olympic athletes. We will have three or more times as many youth and adults involved with cycling as a sport.
Taking down the velodrome is short sighted and only makes sense to people when they think in small balkanized chunks and not about the city as a whole.
We do need some more stadiums in this city. It makes sense to build a place for 2000 to 5000 people to watch a sporting event outdoors. Ideally we should see a proper upgrade of Centennial stadium at UVic, the construction of another one at Camosun and one in the Westshore. I would also upgrade Royal Athletic Park.
Though there is one problem I have glossed over with the stadium idea, this region may have seen an increase in public participation in sports and active living, what we have not seen is any sort of public attendance at sporting events. We do hold a lot of major sporting meets, UVic has the best basketball in Canada, the Grizzlies are a showcase of up and coming hockey players - but the attendance is not good when you look at the over 300 000 people living in the region.
The Victoria region has become a more and more active region over the last generation. We see more outdoor activities, more sports, a lot more high level athletes and generally more people in motion. This region has the highest number of cyclist commuters of any city in Canada. We are also blessed with a climate that allows cycling for most of the year. And we have one of the few velodromes in Canada, in fact there are only eight in total in all of Canada.
As a comparison, Australia has 16, Belgium has 14, New Zealand has 11.
The JdF site is the only outdoor velodrome in BC.
What we need is not to get rid of this velodrome, but to build several more in the area. I would put one in at UVic and Camosun as well. With three facilities in the region, you will create local clubs of cyclists that will have a local series of races to compete with each other. Do this and Victoria will become more of a cycling city and we will have more Olympic athletes. We will have three or more times as many youth and adults involved with cycling as a sport.
Taking down the velodrome is short sighted and only makes sense to people when they think in small balkanized chunks and not about the city as a whole.
We do need some more stadiums in this city. It makes sense to build a place for 2000 to 5000 people to watch a sporting event outdoors. Ideally we should see a proper upgrade of Centennial stadium at UVic, the construction of another one at Camosun and one in the Westshore. I would also upgrade Royal Athletic Park.
Though there is one problem I have glossed over with the stadium idea, this region may have seen an increase in public participation in sports and active living, what we have not seen is any sort of public attendance at sporting events. We do hold a lot of major sporting meets, UVic has the best basketball in Canada, the Grizzlies are a showcase of up and coming hockey players - but the attendance is not good when you look at the over 300 000 people living in the region.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
More coming on all things Victoria, especially the elections, but first, Max is here!
At 8:50 pm Tuesday June 24th Sheila gave birth to Max Gordon von Schulmann. He came in at a healthy 4838 grams - almost 10 pounds 11 ounces.
I was very, very impressed with the Mother and Babe ward at VGH. I was horrifeid at what is supposed to be food in Vic General.
We are all home now and settling. Max's older brothers are very interested in him.
I was very, very impressed with the Mother and Babe ward at VGH. I was horrifeid at what is supposed to be food in Vic General.
We are all home now and settling. Max's older brothers are very interested in him.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Lana Popham on CFAX at the moment
I am getting a chance to hear Lana Popham on CFAX. This should give me a better idea what she is about.
The Disposable Society is the focus of her interview. She is pushing to get rid of plastic bags.
I like the sound of the Barking Dog award she is talking about - the idea is to reward local leaders who are making a difference.
She is giving Rick Kaspar the Barking Dog because of Sooke is getting everyone a reusable bag.
Certainly her having this regular slot to talk on Joe Easingwood's show is going to help her campaign to get elected to Saanich Council.
I like her focus on reducing instead of recycling. Though making an issue of plastic bags seems to me to be quaint. It is hardly a major issue and has very, very little real impact on our world.
She is now talking about disposable diapers. I would like to consider going without disposable, but the cost of cloth diapers or a diaper service is simply so much more expensive than disposables.
Must go for now - labour intervenes
A final thought about Lana - I will have to try the Barking Dog wine. If it is a good wine, that does say a lot about attention to detail, it is bad wine, I have to wonder about if she really should be on council. Once I go out to the winery for a tasting, I will tell you what I think,.
The Disposable Society is the focus of her interview. She is pushing to get rid of plastic bags.
I like the sound of the Barking Dog award she is talking about - the idea is to reward local leaders who are making a difference.
She is giving Rick Kaspar the Barking Dog because of Sooke is getting everyone a reusable bag.
Certainly her having this regular slot to talk on Joe Easingwood's show is going to help her campaign to get elected to Saanich Council.
I like her focus on reducing instead of recycling. Though making an issue of plastic bags seems to me to be quaint. It is hardly a major issue and has very, very little real impact on our world.
She is now talking about disposable diapers. I would like to consider going without disposable, but the cost of cloth diapers or a diaper service is simply so much more expensive than disposables.
Must go for now - labour intervenes
A final thought about Lana - I will have to try the Barking Dog wine. If it is a good wine, that does say a lot about attention to detail, it is bad wine, I have to wonder about if she really should be on council. Once I go out to the winery for a tasting, I will tell you what I think,.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Michelle Kirby running for Oak Bay Council
I came across the blog of Michelle Kirby where she has said she will be running for Oak Bay council in the fall.
I have enjoyed reading a lot of the blog and like how she has been pushing Oak Bay Council to ease up the rules on things like bee keeping and clotheslines. I like her emphasis on processing her own food. I have a lot in common with her on the day to day level.
She also is a fan of Corky Evans, one of my all time favorite politicians. She is also a fan of a number New Democrats that I have little or no time for.
But she also seems to have bought into the traditional NDP economics and world view. The group mind think thing the NDP has had going on for ages has always concerned me - this is when I considered myself on the left I was never comfortable with the NDP. I was too much of an anarchist for them.
I do like her approach to running, she seems to be very interested in engaging the public in debate and having the community organized.
If she did not mention the NDP, I would expect her to be a Green. Certainly her lifestyle and age would make being a Green much more likely than NDP.
I do not live in Oak Bay, so I could not vote for her, but if I did I would consider it even though she is a New Democrat. When I decide who I really like in Oak Bay, I will put it up on the blog.
I have enjoyed reading a lot of the blog and like how she has been pushing Oak Bay Council to ease up the rules on things like bee keeping and clotheslines. I like her emphasis on processing her own food. I have a lot in common with her on the day to day level.
She also is a fan of Corky Evans, one of my all time favorite politicians. She is also a fan of a number New Democrats that I have little or no time for.
But she also seems to have bought into the traditional NDP economics and world view. The group mind think thing the NDP has had going on for ages has always concerned me - this is when I considered myself on the left I was never comfortable with the NDP. I was too much of an anarchist for them.
I do like her approach to running, she seems to be very interested in engaging the public in debate and having the community organized.
If she did not mention the NDP, I would expect her to be a Green. Certainly her lifestyle and age would make being a Green much more likely than NDP.
I do not live in Oak Bay, so I could not vote for her, but if I did I would consider it even though she is a New Democrat. When I decide who I really like in Oak Bay, I will put it up on the blog.
CIty of Victoria Advisory Committees
I understand the city is not happy with the way the committees work. I can see that the way they are set up encourages a system of talking shops as a farm league for people wanting to be municipal politicians. I suggest changing to a jury style system.
What I suggest the city do is move to ad hoc committees filled with randomly selected citizens to serve on them. The ad hoc committee would be created for a specific topic for a specific length of time. At the end of the time the committee would report out on what they thought about the subject.
People would be selected for the committees randomly from people living in the city. You send out several hundred letters and invite all the people to an introduction meeting. At that meeting, anyone interested in serving would allow their name to stand for a random selection of 12 people to serve.
What this would do is that it would mean we have people on the committees that are unlikely to be there because of their special interest group or because of their political desires. You would also get a better representation of people in the city on the committees. Most people in Victoria choose not to vote but they are not the ones serving on the committees at the moment. It is bad governance not hear from the majority.
We trust juries to make decisions in court cases, certainly we could trust a similar process for issues in local governance. I have a huge faith that the politically uninvolved public has a lot of smarts and commonsense that can be used to create innovative solutions to our problems.
What I suggest the city do is move to ad hoc committees filled with randomly selected citizens to serve on them. The ad hoc committee would be created for a specific topic for a specific length of time. At the end of the time the committee would report out on what they thought about the subject.
People would be selected for the committees randomly from people living in the city. You send out several hundred letters and invite all the people to an introduction meeting. At that meeting, anyone interested in serving would allow their name to stand for a random selection of 12 people to serve.
What this would do is that it would mean we have people on the committees that are unlikely to be there because of their special interest group or because of their political desires. You would also get a better representation of people in the city on the committees. Most people in Victoria choose not to vote but they are not the ones serving on the committees at the moment. It is bad governance not hear from the majority.
We trust juries to make decisions in court cases, certainly we could trust a similar process for issues in local governance. I have a huge faith that the politically uninvolved public has a lot of smarts and commonsense that can be used to create innovative solutions to our problems.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
2008 Civic Elections in Greater Victoria
Well, here is the task of the year. I am going to try and list on the sidebar here all the people running for all of the offices in the CRD this year.
I am a reasonably well informed person when it comes to politics, but even I had huge problems in 2005 in being able to find out much about the people running in one municipality. I think the public of Greater Victoria would be served well if there was one place to go to read about candidates. No one did this in 2005, 2002 or 1999. Lets see if I can do it.
I am going to have all the websites about candidates linked here that I can find.
I will try and meet as many of the candidates as I can between now and November. I will post my impressions of as many of them as I can. I would like to also track who is endorsed by which groups.
I will be listing at the top of the page the people I support - it will be an iconoclastic list.
I will try to have all the all candidate meetings listed.
Please let me know about any candidates or please get them in contact with me.
bernard@shama.ca
ps Give me a few weeks to get this rolling
I am a reasonably well informed person when it comes to politics, but even I had huge problems in 2005 in being able to find out much about the people running in one municipality. I think the public of Greater Victoria would be served well if there was one place to go to read about candidates. No one did this in 2005, 2002 or 1999. Lets see if I can do it.
I am going to have all the websites about candidates linked here that I can find.
I will try and meet as many of the candidates as I can between now and November. I will post my impressions of as many of them as I can. I would like to also track who is endorsed by which groups.
I will be listing at the top of the page the people I support - it will be an iconoclastic list.
I will try to have all the all candidate meetings listed.
Please let me know about any candidates or please get them in contact with me.
bernard@shama.ca
ps Give me a few weeks to get this rolling
The Greens in the 2008 Victoria Civic Elections
In 2005 the Greens in Greater Victoria had two interesting breakthroughs in the local elections. Jane Sterk topped the polls in Esquimalt and Sonya Chandler managed to get elected in Victoria. I believe that big reason Sonya managed to get elected is because she had Green Party on the ballot behind her name.
So what will be happening in 2008? Here is some of what I have heard.
Greens will be on the ballot in Victoria again and Sonya Chandler and Phillipe Lucas will be running as candidates for the Greens - the party might run more than that, but the moment that is it.
Esquimalt will have one Green running for council, though I do not know if the party name will be on the ballot.
I believe we will see Steve Hurdle run as a Green in Langford. I believe that he would benefit dramatically if he had the party label on the ballot.
In Saanich I hear the Greens are looking but have not yet found candidates to run there. I give Steve Burtch and crew a lot of credit for making sure they vet their potential candidates and not just run whatever warm body they can find.
I have not heard anything about any of the other muncipalities, though there could be Greens running for School District 61. Frankly, if the Green label is the ballot, I do not think it would a stretch to think the Greens could win a number seats. It is also possible for the Greens to take control of the School Board if they ran five or more candidates. I can see many of you out there thinking the man has decided to smoke something, but nope. Greater Victoria School Board elections are so low key that no one I know of has any idea who any of the candidates are and simply do not vote or only vote for the one name they many have heard of. Green on that ballot could mean a sweep - who would not be tempted to vote for some Greens to round out there nine votes given that the local civic Greens are only running strong candidates?
I like seeing that the Greens in Greater Victoria are cooperating across municipal boundaries and taking a holistic view of the region. We are one city divided into multiple small governments - our local politicians should be working region wide and not just for that random selection of the city they are elected in.
Voter turn out in our region is low in Victoria and Saanich. I firmly believe that this has to do with the fact that most people do not know who the candidates are and have no way on election day to figure out who they would like to support. This can be fixed by having party labels on the ballot. The Greens showed how well this worked in 2005 when Sonya Chandler got elected and Phillipe Lucas just missed. I really would like to see them do the same in Saanich.
I would like to see a region wide NDP friendly group emerge (could the Saanich Civic League be the start of this?) and I would like to see a region wide civic party emerge that is first and foremost in favour of amalgamation - this one I would get very involved with.
So what will be happening in 2008? Here is some of what I have heard.
Greens will be on the ballot in Victoria again and Sonya Chandler and Phillipe Lucas will be running as candidates for the Greens - the party might run more than that, but the moment that is it.
Esquimalt will have one Green running for council, though I do not know if the party name will be on the ballot.
I believe we will see Steve Hurdle run as a Green in Langford. I believe that he would benefit dramatically if he had the party label on the ballot.
In Saanich I hear the Greens are looking but have not yet found candidates to run there. I give Steve Burtch and crew a lot of credit for making sure they vet their potential candidates and not just run whatever warm body they can find.
I have not heard anything about any of the other muncipalities, though there could be Greens running for School District 61. Frankly, if the Green label is the ballot, I do not think it would a stretch to think the Greens could win a number seats. It is also possible for the Greens to take control of the School Board if they ran five or more candidates. I can see many of you out there thinking the man has decided to smoke something, but nope. Greater Victoria School Board elections are so low key that no one I know of has any idea who any of the candidates are and simply do not vote or only vote for the one name they many have heard of. Green on that ballot could mean a sweep - who would not be tempted to vote for some Greens to round out there nine votes given that the local civic Greens are only running strong candidates?
I like seeing that the Greens in Greater Victoria are cooperating across municipal boundaries and taking a holistic view of the region. We are one city divided into multiple small governments - our local politicians should be working region wide and not just for that random selection of the city they are elected in.
Voter turn out in our region is low in Victoria and Saanich. I firmly believe that this has to do with the fact that most people do not know who the candidates are and have no way on election day to figure out who they would like to support. This can be fixed by having party labels on the ballot. The Greens showed how well this worked in 2005 when Sonya Chandler got elected and Phillipe Lucas just missed. I really would like to see them do the same in Saanich.
I would like to see a region wide NDP friendly group emerge (could the Saanich Civic League be the start of this?) and I would like to see a region wide civic party emerge that is first and foremost in favour of amalgamation - this one I would get very involved with.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Police Incident on Harriet Road Last Night
Should we cry? Should we laugh? Who knows.
Last night about 10:30 there was a VERY drunk guy standing in the middle of Harriet Road screaming at the top of his lungs that he was going to beat the crap out of someone. I called 911 - as did other neighbours. This guy was violent and irrational looking enough that I did not want to deal with him seeing me and coming up to my house, though he seems to have gone through my yard earlier.
Shortly there after the cops arrive - this should be the end of the problem, right?
Not one cop car, numerous cop cars arrive, an ambulance arrives, the street is cordoned off, the media arrives. This circus continues on for several hours. My bedroom walls were flickering blue and red like a bad disco.
They all finally clear out sometime after 1:30 in the morning.
So what happened? I had no idea. There was nothing in today's media telling me what happened.
A few minutes ago I noticed Stephen Andrew out on the street in front of my house - A Channel was back. I went out to ask them what happened.
Harriet Road is the boundary between Victoria and Saanich - that was the problem. No one could decide who was responsible, which police force should investigate. The guy was bleeding from falling at the party he had been at but the police feared that he may have been stabbed, so that had to close the street and get a detective in. It took till 1:30 for the detective to arrive because no one could decide who was responsible.
The word of possible stabbing explains the arrival of the media.
Three hours of multiple police officers from two municipalities were hanging out on Harriet Road. All this to deal with one drunk.
Harriet Road is in the middle of our neighbourhood but for the police it is some sort of bureaucratic barrier. I worry now what happens if I phone 911 from my phone to deal with a fire - I have no idea which fire department I would be routed to and if they would come or argue?
We need to amalgamate now, this having police forces that act on imaginary lines and do not operate based on neighbourhoods is irrational.
Last night about 10:30 there was a VERY drunk guy standing in the middle of Harriet Road screaming at the top of his lungs that he was going to beat the crap out of someone. I called 911 - as did other neighbours. This guy was violent and irrational looking enough that I did not want to deal with him seeing me and coming up to my house, though he seems to have gone through my yard earlier.
Shortly there after the cops arrive - this should be the end of the problem, right?
Not one cop car, numerous cop cars arrive, an ambulance arrives, the street is cordoned off, the media arrives. This circus continues on for several hours. My bedroom walls were flickering blue and red like a bad disco.
They all finally clear out sometime after 1:30 in the morning.
So what happened? I had no idea. There was nothing in today's media telling me what happened.
A few minutes ago I noticed Stephen Andrew out on the street in front of my house - A Channel was back. I went out to ask them what happened.
Harriet Road is the boundary between Victoria and Saanich - that was the problem. No one could decide who was responsible, which police force should investigate. The guy was bleeding from falling at the party he had been at but the police feared that he may have been stabbed, so that had to close the street and get a detective in. It took till 1:30 for the detective to arrive because no one could decide who was responsible.
The word of possible stabbing explains the arrival of the media.
Three hours of multiple police officers from two municipalities were hanging out on Harriet Road. All this to deal with one drunk.
Harriet Road is in the middle of our neighbourhood but for the police it is some sort of bureaucratic barrier. I worry now what happens if I phone 911 from my phone to deal with a fire - I have no idea which fire department I would be routed to and if they would come or argue?
We need to amalgamate now, this having police forces that act on imaginary lines and do not operate based on neighbourhoods is irrational.
Just adding to the problems of housing
This comes from the Victoria News. We need to have a regional approach to the issue of secondary suites and we need it now.
More people living in the existing buildings will improve density in the neighbourhoods without adding more buildings.
More suites will also reduce the problems people are having in finding places to rent.
People keep talking about the need to build more affordable housing, how about having local governments offer planning support to people wanting to have secondary suites? The local governments could waive all the permit and building fees and offer a small tax reduction to encourage more secondary suites.
It is time for creative solutions and not a time to stop people from using wasted extra space in their houses.
More people living in the existing buildings will improve density in the neighbourhoods without adding more buildings.
More suites will also reduce the problems people are having in finding places to rent.
People keep talking about the need to build more affordable housing, how about having local governments offer planning support to people wanting to have secondary suites? The local governments could waive all the permit and building fees and offer a small tax reduction to encourage more secondary suites.
It is time for creative solutions and not a time to stop people from using wasted extra space in their houses.
Esquimalt targeting illegal suites
June 17, 2008
Esquimalt has warned 12 duplex owners suspected of housing illegal suites that they are coming to investigate.
During the past year, the municipality has brought enforcement actions against 26 other residences containing illegal suites. Landlord Diego Lauricella was the next name to be added to the list.
On Monday council ordered Lauricella's two one-bedroom suites at his Shearwater Avenue duplex be removed, after an inspector stated the units were unsafe.
Lauricella said the news is shocking as he has rented the suites for 19 years. He blames the decommissioning of his suites on a new bylaw adopted in the municipality's official community plan in March.
Before its introduction, Esquimalt turned a blind eye to illegal suites unless receiving two complaints from residents of properties within 100 metres of the alleged suite. Now one complaint from any Esquimalt resident is sufficient.
The new bylaw not only allows anyone with a personal vendetta to close down an illegal suite, but also allows single tenant to skip unpaid rent, Lauricella said.
"The landlord, you got him over a barrel because they don't want to lose their suites," he said.
Esquimalt desperately needs a policy on secondary suites, so conflicts can be solved, Lauricella said.
Secondary suites have been a hot topic on council's agenda.
With Greater Victoria's rental vacancy rate one of the tightest in Canada, at .3 per cent, the last thing councillors want to do is kick people out of affordable housing, said Mayor Chris Clement.
But safety and health comes first, he added.
Landowners of secondary suites are also avoiding higher tax payments, Clement noted.
The new system of reporting illegal suites needs to be re-examined, Coun. Hy Freedman said. As it stands he agrees with Lauricella that people not directly affect by such units have the power to close them down.
The municipality is working on a secondary suite policy. So far, it focuses on the secondary units in single family homes, not duplexes, as does Victoria's policy, adopted in late spring.
Saanich and Oak Bay are investigating legalizing secondary suites. Oak Bay has set up a secondary suite committee which includes three members of the public.
raldous@vicnews.comEllice Street Park and the Proposed Shelter
I live in Burnside Tillicum neighbourhood and not that far from the proposed shelter site. I know all about the problems we have in this neighbourhood with drugs, homelessness, and crime. I vividly remember the Irma Street house and I see constant problems at the SRO motels along Gorge Road. This is the problem neighbourhood. I have lost several thousands of dollars worth of goods over the last four years to crime. One time there was a break in where the thief must have come within a few feet of my kids. Another time they cleaned my freezer out of meat.
This shelter is not going to make things worse than they are. 80 people having a decent place to kip is not going to make things any worse in this area. 80 people being able to get services dealing with their issues and problems is not going to make things worse.
The bottomline is that the people who will be using this shelter are already here - not having it in this neighbourhood is not going to improve things.
The Burnside Gorge Community Association is organizing a door to door petition to get the signatures needed to put the deletion of the park to a city wide referendum. I was pulled out of the tub to the door by a canvasser today. I was standing their dripping and in a towel and she could not accept the fact that I was not opposed to the plans.
The agruments were as follows:
There will be more crime - I can not see how in the residential areas there will be any increase and given that there will be a police presence at the site and more services for people to deal with the problems, I would see crime dropping
It is too big, there should be a number of them all over the city - 80 beds is hardly big and if there is this sort of a NIMBY reaction where the problem is, imagine trying to build a shelter in Fairfield or near Hillside mall.
This is a provincial responsibility - I am not even certain where this argument is meant to go, I presume meaning the province should deal with the situation - are they not willing to provide the funding?
Why not build it in James Bay? Great idea, but where, how do you deal with the further distance people would have to go for the services, and why is that better than here in the first place?
The city should not be getting rid of Elice Park - I have an advantage on most people in respect to this park, I have been aware of it for the last four years and have wondered why the city never disposed of this vacant lot years ago. I have young kids, I have spent a lot of time in parks and this is not one I would ever consider using. It is an ugly location with a big wall on the south side blocking out the sun. We have a bunch of much better parks in the neighbourhood that people do use. One is at the Selkirk Waterfront, another at the south end of Washington Street, another at Cecelia st, there is a good one at the old Burnside School and one more at Sumas Park a block east of the school.
Slightly further afield, but still a short walk, we have the the trestle Banbury park, a nice small playground on Qu'Appele St and then there is Rudd park.
No where in what I have heard from people opposed to the shelter is anything addresses their values that would be under attack if the shelter is built.
All I ask is that the city guarantee a 24/7 police office at the location for as long as there is a shelter there. Victoria really screwed up when it got rid of the community police stations, they should have beefed them up and not shut them down.
This shelter is not going to make things worse than they are. 80 people having a decent place to kip is not going to make things any worse in this area. 80 people being able to get services dealing with their issues and problems is not going to make things worse.
The bottomline is that the people who will be using this shelter are already here - not having it in this neighbourhood is not going to improve things.
The Burnside Gorge Community Association is organizing a door to door petition to get the signatures needed to put the deletion of the park to a city wide referendum. I was pulled out of the tub to the door by a canvasser today. I was standing their dripping and in a towel and she could not accept the fact that I was not opposed to the plans.
The agruments were as follows:
There will be more crime - I can not see how in the residential areas there will be any increase and given that there will be a police presence at the site and more services for people to deal with the problems, I would see crime dropping
It is too big, there should be a number of them all over the city - 80 beds is hardly big and if there is this sort of a NIMBY reaction where the problem is, imagine trying to build a shelter in Fairfield or near Hillside mall.
This is a provincial responsibility - I am not even certain where this argument is meant to go, I presume meaning the province should deal with the situation - are they not willing to provide the funding?
Why not build it in James Bay? Great idea, but where, how do you deal with the further distance people would have to go for the services, and why is that better than here in the first place?
The city should not be getting rid of Elice Park - I have an advantage on most people in respect to this park, I have been aware of it for the last four years and have wondered why the city never disposed of this vacant lot years ago. I have young kids, I have spent a lot of time in parks and this is not one I would ever consider using. It is an ugly location with a big wall on the south side blocking out the sun. We have a bunch of much better parks in the neighbourhood that people do use. One is at the Selkirk Waterfront, another at the south end of Washington Street, another at Cecelia st, there is a good one at the old Burnside School and one more at Sumas Park a block east of the school.
Slightly further afield, but still a short walk, we have the the trestle Banbury park, a nice small playground on Qu'Appele St and then there is Rudd park.
No where in what I have heard from people opposed to the shelter is anything addresses their values that would be under attack if the shelter is built.
All I ask is that the city guarantee a 24/7 police office at the location for as long as there is a shelter there. Victoria really screwed up when it got rid of the community police stations, they should have beefed them up and not shut them down.
Vote for Chris Coleman
I figure it is time to state who I am supporting and why in the local elections.
I will support Chris Coleman for council or for mayor - I really think he should run for mayor of Victoria as there is no one else I have met that would make a better mayor for this city at this time.
I will put signs for him and campaign for him.
Chris is thoughtful. Many people get elected to local government as prep to become an MLA or MP, I do not see that as significant motivation for Chris. Chris also really gets the concept of civic engagement, this is the single most important issue for me and the major reason I was so disappointed by last night's Saanich Civic League meeting.
Chris is not non partisan, but post partisan. What I mean by that this term is that Chris has clear political beliefs but he is not weighed down by adhering to an ideology and is more interested in being able to make a good decision that is driven by good information. He can work with anyone that is willing to discuss core values and interests and find some common ground or some common respect for differences.
Chris is also someone that can unite our city in developing a vision for our future.
I will support Chris Coleman for council or for mayor - I really think he should run for mayor of Victoria as there is no one else I have met that would make a better mayor for this city at this time.
I will put signs for him and campaign for him.
Chris is thoughtful. Many people get elected to local government as prep to become an MLA or MP, I do not see that as significant motivation for Chris. Chris also really gets the concept of civic engagement, this is the single most important issue for me and the major reason I was so disappointed by last night's Saanich Civic League meeting.
Chris is not non partisan, but post partisan. What I mean by that this term is that Chris has clear political beliefs but he is not weighed down by adhering to an ideology and is more interested in being able to make a good decision that is driven by good information. He can work with anyone that is willing to discuss core values and interests and find some common ground or some common respect for differences.
Chris is also someone that can unite our city in developing a vision for our future.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Saanich Civic League Meeting June 19th
The Saanich Civic League held a meeting tonight in downtown Victoria at the Grand Pacific in the ballroom (first time I was in that room for an event that was not a federal Conservative event). It was billed as From Paralysis to Action: Engaging our neighbours in a new kind of politics.
About 240 people arrived to hear about civic engagement at the local level. I had hoped for something new and interesting, but alas it was not to be. There are also no shortage of locations in Saanich that could have hosted the meeting, the choice of the location makes a silent plea for civic amalgamation.
The crowd was old - I am guessing an average age of 55, I was young for that crowd. The crowd was very white bread middle class. It also looked significantly left of centre. What worried me the most was that about 1/3 of the crowd were people I recognized. I was not worried that I recognized so many Victoria lefties, but there is something wrong if the people that show up at this sort of an event are the set of people I could have predicted would show up. There was a serious absence of much new blood.
On the bright side, I managed to catch up with a number of people I have not seen for awhile.
The claim was that the event was non partisan, but the big Victoria Labour Council sign at the back of the room and the word progressive on the literature certainly set the tone as one from the bland and boring pointless NDP left in BC. The aging boomers with beards were also a dead give away.
The evening started with Will Horter of the Dogwood Initiative speaking. Why him, I have no idea. Certainly his talk had no real connection to civic engagement, it was a partisan diatribe about the world ending due to global warming and that locals need to band together to do something and that the current councilors in Saanich (I assume they were the ones he meant) were all old politics and thinking in the past. He added nothing to the evening and only distracted from the reason I went.
I was interested to hear about the story of th e Guelph Civic League. Annie O'Donoghue gave a good talk about the work her group had done in Guelph. Even though they were somewhat leftish in tenor, the Guelph group did a good job of being non-partisan and engaging with the people of Guelph and figuring out what their core values were and then using those values as a way to measure the council and the candidates for office. They had a lot of success, the council in Guelph is one that mainly fits closely with their values.
Meanwhile there has been a Saanich Civic League created. It is not the same creature as the Guelph one, they are not non partisan. Their process also seems flawed. They are surveying people about a narrow set of motherhood statements as their equivalent to set of values. They did not start with a blank slate and let the public define the values.
Horse before cart comes to mind.
I read through the list of values - there is no one who is on the current Saanich council that would not pass with flying colours, but that is not the agenda here.
The SCL is not a spontaneous grassroots movement, but something nurtured through a grant from the Columbia Institute and financial support of the Victoria Labour Council. Not there is anything wrong with getting this money, but all money comes with strings.
Let me be cynical for the moment, I think the Saanich Civic League is a back door effort by some New Democrats to create a municipal slate NDP slate. It reminds me of the crypto NDP group, the Conservation Voters of BC. Their patina of being anything other than a NDP support group was and is laughable.
The Saanich Civic League is going nowhere unless it takes ten steps back and starts at the beginning. Ask the people who hate politics and do not vote what the values are that matter to them in their neighbourhood - remember that Saanich is not a community but a collection of suburban neighbourhoods. Ignore all activists, politicians and special interest people. Maybe the people of Saanich who do not vote have some real ideas about their community.
The SCL also needs to get political balance or it needs to get rid of all of the NDP connected people. Being non partisan means being welcome and open to the people you dislike and going out of your way to give them a voice. Being non partisan means soliciting your opponents to work with you.
About 240 people arrived to hear about civic engagement at the local level. I had hoped for something new and interesting, but alas it was not to be. There are also no shortage of locations in Saanich that could have hosted the meeting, the choice of the location makes a silent plea for civic amalgamation.
The crowd was old - I am guessing an average age of 55, I was young for that crowd. The crowd was very white bread middle class. It also looked significantly left of centre. What worried me the most was that about 1/3 of the crowd were people I recognized. I was not worried that I recognized so many Victoria lefties, but there is something wrong if the people that show up at this sort of an event are the set of people I could have predicted would show up. There was a serious absence of much new blood.
On the bright side, I managed to catch up with a number of people I have not seen for awhile.
The claim was that the event was non partisan, but the big Victoria Labour Council sign at the back of the room and the word progressive on the literature certainly set the tone as one from the bland and boring pointless NDP left in BC. The aging boomers with beards were also a dead give away.
The evening started with Will Horter of the Dogwood Initiative speaking. Why him, I have no idea. Certainly his talk had no real connection to civic engagement, it was a partisan diatribe about the world ending due to global warming and that locals need to band together to do something and that the current councilors in Saanich (I assume they were the ones he meant) were all old politics and thinking in the past. He added nothing to the evening and only distracted from the reason I went.
I was interested to hear about the story of th e Guelph Civic League. Annie O'Donoghue gave a good talk about the work her group had done in Guelph. Even though they were somewhat leftish in tenor, the Guelph group did a good job of being non-partisan and engaging with the people of Guelph and figuring out what their core values were and then using those values as a way to measure the council and the candidates for office. They had a lot of success, the council in Guelph is one that mainly fits closely with their values.
Meanwhile there has been a Saanich Civic League created. It is not the same creature as the Guelph one, they are not non partisan. Their process also seems flawed. They are surveying people about a narrow set of motherhood statements as their equivalent to set of values. They did not start with a blank slate and let the public define the values.
Horse before cart comes to mind.
I read through the list of values - there is no one who is on the current Saanich council that would not pass with flying colours, but that is not the agenda here.
The SCL is not a spontaneous grassroots movement, but something nurtured through a grant from the Columbia Institute and financial support of the Victoria Labour Council. Not there is anything wrong with getting this money, but all money comes with strings.
Let me be cynical for the moment, I think the Saanich Civic League is a back door effort by some New Democrats to create a municipal slate NDP slate. It reminds me of the crypto NDP group, the Conservation Voters of BC. Their patina of being anything other than a NDP support group was and is laughable.
The Saanich Civic League is going nowhere unless it takes ten steps back and starts at the beginning. Ask the people who hate politics and do not vote what the values are that matter to them in their neighbourhood - remember that Saanich is not a community but a collection of suburban neighbourhoods. Ignore all activists, politicians and special interest people. Maybe the people of Saanich who do not vote have some real ideas about their community.
The SCL also needs to get political balance or it needs to get rid of all of the NDP connected people. Being non partisan means being welcome and open to the people you dislike and going out of your way to give them a voice. Being non partisan means soliciting your opponents to work with you.
Madrona Farm
There was an interesting article in today's T-C about Madrona farm in the Blenkinsop valley. Dave and Nathalie Chambers are currently farming the land.
The farm is a 28 acre property of which 15 acres are under cultivation. The farm is on the market for $2 000 000. The brother's that owned it have offered $600 000 towards The Land Conservancy buying the farm. Another $1 400 000 needs to be raised to complete the deal. There is a two year timeframe to complete the deal with $250 000 having to be available by December of this year.
In general I am in favour of this sort of private sector approach to protecting farmlands. As the owner the TLC can decided how the land is managed and a Panama Flats issue is unlikely to occur.
I know the land out in the Blekinsop valley is not all usable for farming, so the Chambers may never be able to use all of the land for production of food. The article states that they produced about 125 000 pounds of food on the land, that number seems low to me, but I do not know what the limitations of the land is and I do not know what labour limitations they have - working 15 acres of market garden is very labour intensive.
There may also be infrastructure issues with the farm. It sounds like it was left fallow until Dave Chambers took over the land in 1999. I have seen some amazing intensive organic operations in the Okanagan, but the up front capital outlay to prepare the land was in the range of $50 000 an acre. The growers that have done this have more than made the money back over a short time.
Since they only produce 125 000 pounds of food, it is likely there is a problem with storage and distribution of the produce. Getting into both is very expensive.
I ask these questions because I think that the issue is not that the land is too expensive to buy for farming, but that the Chambers are under capitalized.
If I were to put the 15 acres into strawberries, I would expect to yield about 160 000 to 200 000 pounds of fruit. At a price of $2 a pound, this would translate into $300 000 to $400 000 gross income. In any case, with the right crops, I believe that the 15 acres under cultivation should be able to produce a gross income of $300 000 to $400 000.
If I were to farm that land, I would put a fair amount of it into tree fruits. Specifically cherries, apples and plums. With the newer intensive plantings, the yields per acre have risen dramatically. I also like the tree fruits because the labour inputs are less and spread out over the year. Harvesting 20 pounds of apples takes a few moments. 20 pounds of berries takes a very long time. Cherries are more labour intensive when being picked, but the price cherries can command are stunning.
The price of $2 000 000 for the land also includes the house. Given the going rate for a cheap house in Victoria, the farm land itself is only $1 600 000. A mortgage for the full value on the property would run you about $160 000 to $200 000 a year. Yes, the numbers look marginal but they are not impossible. If you can increase the land under cultivation to 20 acres, the gross income should rise to about $400 000 to $500 000. At this level the land becomes viable as a commercial farm.
I wish the Chambers and the TLC well in their efforts.
The farm is a 28 acre property of which 15 acres are under cultivation. The farm is on the market for $2 000 000. The brother's that owned it have offered $600 000 towards The Land Conservancy buying the farm. Another $1 400 000 needs to be raised to complete the deal. There is a two year timeframe to complete the deal with $250 000 having to be available by December of this year.
In general I am in favour of this sort of private sector approach to protecting farmlands. As the owner the TLC can decided how the land is managed and a Panama Flats issue is unlikely to occur.
I know the land out in the Blekinsop valley is not all usable for farming, so the Chambers may never be able to use all of the land for production of food. The article states that they produced about 125 000 pounds of food on the land, that number seems low to me, but I do not know what the limitations of the land is and I do not know what labour limitations they have - working 15 acres of market garden is very labour intensive.
There may also be infrastructure issues with the farm. It sounds like it was left fallow until Dave Chambers took over the land in 1999. I have seen some amazing intensive organic operations in the Okanagan, but the up front capital outlay to prepare the land was in the range of $50 000 an acre. The growers that have done this have more than made the money back over a short time.
Since they only produce 125 000 pounds of food, it is likely there is a problem with storage and distribution of the produce. Getting into both is very expensive.
I ask these questions because I think that the issue is not that the land is too expensive to buy for farming, but that the Chambers are under capitalized.
If I were to put the 15 acres into strawberries, I would expect to yield about 160 000 to 200 000 pounds of fruit. At a price of $2 a pound, this would translate into $300 000 to $400 000 gross income. In any case, with the right crops, I believe that the 15 acres under cultivation should be able to produce a gross income of $300 000 to $400 000.
If I were to farm that land, I would put a fair amount of it into tree fruits. Specifically cherries, apples and plums. With the newer intensive plantings, the yields per acre have risen dramatically. I also like the tree fruits because the labour inputs are less and spread out over the year. Harvesting 20 pounds of apples takes a few moments. 20 pounds of berries takes a very long time. Cherries are more labour intensive when being picked, but the price cherries can command are stunning.
The price of $2 000 000 for the land also includes the house. Given the going rate for a cheap house in Victoria, the farm land itself is only $1 600 000. A mortgage for the full value on the property would run you about $160 000 to $200 000 a year. Yes, the numbers look marginal but they are not impossible. If you can increase the land under cultivation to 20 acres, the gross income should rise to about $400 000 to $500 000. At this level the land becomes viable as a commercial farm.
I wish the Chambers and the TLC well in their efforts.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Who is Running - Saanich
At this point it looks like Frank Leonard is the only one going for mayor. There needs to be a race for this position, but because of the nature or our city, the only mayoralty race that counts is the one for Victoria. No matter how long Frank is mayor of Saanich and no matter how much bigger Saanich is, the mayor of Saanich will never speak for the region, only the mayor of Victoria gets to do that.
For Council:
Incumbents
Susan Brice
Judy Brownoff
Vic Derman
Wayne Hunter
Jackie Ngai
Vicki Sanders
Leif Wergeland
Given the nature of Saanich and the low voter turn out, unseating an incumbent is effectively impossible. Because seven people are running for re-election, there is only one open seat for all the rest. I do not see any situation at the moment that would make me think anyone of them will lose.
Newcomers
Lana Popham
Paul Gerrard
Deborah Dickson
All three are declared. I am personally very supportive of Paul Gerrard. This is a man that should have won in 2005, but due to disconnect that people in Saanich feel to their local government, most people chose not to vote because they have no easy source to find out about their local candidates. Paul Gerrard should be running for mayor, this is the man that has the vision we need to move things forward. If he can get elected to council, one hopes he could run for mayor in 2011.
In the wings
Dean Murdock
Patrick Chenier
We should hear shortly about these people. There are more people out there thinking, but the task in Saanich is beyond huge.
For Council:
Incumbents
Susan Brice
Judy Brownoff
Vic Derman
Wayne Hunter
Jackie Ngai
Vicki Sanders
Leif Wergeland
Given the nature of Saanich and the low voter turn out, unseating an incumbent is effectively impossible. Because seven people are running for re-election, there is only one open seat for all the rest. I do not see any situation at the moment that would make me think anyone of them will lose.
Newcomers
Lana Popham
Paul Gerrard
Deborah Dickson
All three are declared. I am personally very supportive of Paul Gerrard. This is a man that should have won in 2005, but due to disconnect that people in Saanich feel to their local government, most people chose not to vote because they have no easy source to find out about their local candidates. Paul Gerrard should be running for mayor, this is the man that has the vision we need to move things forward. If he can get elected to council, one hopes he could run for mayor in 2011.
In the wings
Dean Murdock
Patrick Chenier
We should hear shortly about these people. There are more people out there thinking, but the task in Saanich is beyond huge.
A proposal for the libraries....
We operate a public library system and libraries within all of the schools. Why not combine the two into one system?
If they were one system, there would be a number of benefits:
1) Introduction to the library system by all kids
2) more books available
3) One central search system for all the books in Victoria
4) More library resources in the schools
5) Public use of school buildings after school hours - each school could function as a small branch of the library system.
6) Pooling of capital resources to build better libraries.
I can not see any down sides to this idea.
If they were one system, there would be a number of benefits:
1) Introduction to the library system by all kids
2) more books available
3) One central search system for all the books in Victoria
4) More library resources in the schools
5) Public use of school buildings after school hours - each school could function as a small branch of the library system.
6) Pooling of capital resources to build better libraries.
I can not see any down sides to this idea.
Recreation divided....
As I am looking through the recreation offerings by the local governments, I am once again amazed at the fundamental stupidity of this city.
I live on the boundary of three municipalities, my ex lives on the boundary of three municipalities (though not the same three as myself). We are trying to figure out what programs there are for our kids and we are looking through the guides of four local governments.
If we can not amalgamate the local governments, we should at a minimum amalgamate all the parks and recreation services of the core. The peninsula and the western communities have already done so, though I know they have their problems.
The moronic local boundaries that run through the middle of neighbourhoods means that local governments can not realistically restrict use to their own residents. No one asks if I am a Saanich resident when I use Pearkes. Esquimalt does not look for my address when I am at Archie Browning. Why are we operating all these facilities separately?
The core region of Victoria has seven pools (two of them not public), seven ice sheets (though three of them are not really available to the public), and 8 recreation centres (one not public).
When one looks at Esquimalt, Oak Bay, Saanich and Victoria, you can see which one is the weakest at offering services - my home city of Victoria. Victoria does not have a single decent recreation centre, though it does have 7 community centre type facilities. The city does not have a single ice sheet of its own for use by the community. The city has a single pool that is not even on a par with what Oak Bay and Esquimalt have. Saanich has two pools.
Victoria should consider a major upgrade to the Crystal Pool facility, but it should also build a pool in the Gorge area of the city. Ideally one should get Saanich and Victoria to coperate on building two new pools, one near to Burnside and Harriet and another at the Cedar Hill rec Centre. The two should also build a two rink ice sheet at Cedar Hill Rec.
If the core municipal governments pooled their resources, the ability to build better and more complete recreation facilities would be easier.
There has been some cooperation in the region between Saanich and SD 61. Saanich put some money into the construction of the new Colquitz. I think this is a good model for use of the buildings. Personally I would like to see all the schools used more often by the public. The same for the school grounds. Our schools are woefully underused as they stand at the moment. I believe it would make sense to have all the physical infrastructure of the schools become the property of the local government.
As far as I can see at the moment, we are not using our recreational dollars wisely and not maximizing our use of the existing public buildings.
I live on the boundary of three municipalities, my ex lives on the boundary of three municipalities (though not the same three as myself). We are trying to figure out what programs there are for our kids and we are looking through the guides of four local governments.
If we can not amalgamate the local governments, we should at a minimum amalgamate all the parks and recreation services of the core. The peninsula and the western communities have already done so, though I know they have their problems.
The moronic local boundaries that run through the middle of neighbourhoods means that local governments can not realistically restrict use to their own residents. No one asks if I am a Saanich resident when I use Pearkes. Esquimalt does not look for my address when I am at Archie Browning. Why are we operating all these facilities separately?
The core region of Victoria has seven pools (two of them not public), seven ice sheets (though three of them are not really available to the public), and 8 recreation centres (one not public).
When one looks at Esquimalt, Oak Bay, Saanich and Victoria, you can see which one is the weakest at offering services - my home city of Victoria. Victoria does not have a single decent recreation centre, though it does have 7 community centre type facilities. The city does not have a single ice sheet of its own for use by the community. The city has a single pool that is not even on a par with what Oak Bay and Esquimalt have. Saanich has two pools.
Victoria should consider a major upgrade to the Crystal Pool facility, but it should also build a pool in the Gorge area of the city. Ideally one should get Saanich and Victoria to coperate on building two new pools, one near to Burnside and Harriet and another at the Cedar Hill rec Centre. The two should also build a two rink ice sheet at Cedar Hill Rec.
If the core municipal governments pooled their resources, the ability to build better and more complete recreation facilities would be easier.
There has been some cooperation in the region between Saanich and SD 61. Saanich put some money into the construction of the new Colquitz. I think this is a good model for use of the buildings. Personally I would like to see all the schools used more often by the public. The same for the school grounds. Our schools are woefully underused as they stand at the moment. I believe it would make sense to have all the physical infrastructure of the schools become the property of the local government.
As far as I can see at the moment, we are not using our recreational dollars wisely and not maximizing our use of the existing public buildings.
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Getting on and off the Island - YYJ and YQQ
The new flight to San Francisco is an interesting addition to options from Victoria. There has been a lot of self congratulatory brouhaha about the benefits of the flights from the usual local promoters.
It is a nice addition to options for getting off of the island, but I do not see the real benefits of this new flight. Yeah, it will be nice to be able to get to the Bay area faster and with the new BART link from the airport it is easy access to the centre of the city, but I do not see the real benefit.
We now see flights from Victoria to eastern Canada via West Jet, and this is a nice addition, so are the flights in and out of Comox to Edmonton.
I will get excited about flights once we see one going from Victoria or Comox to either Europe or Asia.
You look at the current schedule for both airports and see that the bulk of the traffic is to Vancouver followed by Calgary and then Seattle.
Everything is still oriented around getting Vancouver Island people to one of the three closest hub airports. We have over 750 000 people on the island now, and the population is growing by 20 000 a year. We have enough people on the island now to support flights to other locations.
Is it unrealistic to think that there are 300 to 400 people a week that would be interested in going to London? Or how about to Asia? I think Victoria Airport Authority could compete with both Vancouver and Seattle by offering cheaper landing rights. Make Victoria the Newark to Vancouver's JFK. What about getting the people flowing from the lower mainland to fly out of Victoria?
Comox is unfortunately still too small a market to manage to offer the draw in people to make even cheap landing rights worth it.
A first step might be to concentrate the people in Victoria - say a Comox to Victoria flight. Then as a second step start to promote flying from Vancouver to Victoria and then onto other locations. At the moment only the San Francisco flight works for this, but if there are more options, there is something there to market.
It is a nice addition to options for getting off of the island, but I do not see the real benefits of this new flight. Yeah, it will be nice to be able to get to the Bay area faster and with the new BART link from the airport it is easy access to the centre of the city, but I do not see the real benefit.
We now see flights from Victoria to eastern Canada via West Jet, and this is a nice addition, so are the flights in and out of Comox to Edmonton.
I will get excited about flights once we see one going from Victoria or Comox to either Europe or Asia.
You look at the current schedule for both airports and see that the bulk of the traffic is to Vancouver followed by Calgary and then Seattle.
Everything is still oriented around getting Vancouver Island people to one of the three closest hub airports. We have over 750 000 people on the island now, and the population is growing by 20 000 a year. We have enough people on the island now to support flights to other locations.
Is it unrealistic to think that there are 300 to 400 people a week that would be interested in going to London? Or how about to Asia? I think Victoria Airport Authority could compete with both Vancouver and Seattle by offering cheaper landing rights. Make Victoria the Newark to Vancouver's JFK. What about getting the people flowing from the lower mainland to fly out of Victoria?
Comox is unfortunately still too small a market to manage to offer the draw in people to make even cheap landing rights worth it.
A first step might be to concentrate the people in Victoria - say a Comox to Victoria flight. Then as a second step start to promote flying from Vancouver to Victoria and then onto other locations. At the moment only the San Francisco flight works for this, but if there are more options, there is something there to market.
Friday, June 06, 2008
Reducing Homelessness
The CMHC revealed today that Victoria has the lowest vacancy rate in Canada.
We also are dealing with more homelessness issues here than ever before.
House prices are also high, too high for our own good.
These high prices have been created by a largely local government induced scarcity in housing through interference in the market with planning restrictions and growth management ideas.
There is a simple solution. A lot more housing units need to be built. Allow more density, allow new lands to be built on with few or no restrictions. Pull land out of the ALR to allow houses to be built. Scrap the urban containment boundary.
Every action taken that makes it harder to develop a property, every charge that has to be borne by a developer, every time delay, all restricts the housing supply. Restrictions to the housing supply increases the cost of housing and keeps rentals at a minimum.
Over the next five years we need to add somewhere around about 6000 housing units just to hold steady. In reality we need to add closer to 15 000 over that time to make a dent in housing prices and improve the rental market.
There is no shortage of flat farmlands in Saanich which could be home to thousands of houses. The farm lands in the Blenkinsop valley and out interurban could house almost all of the increases needed.
These lands would be better used as housing now and not for fallow farming or Galley farm amusement park operations. The problems at Panama Flats that the farmer is having with Saanich is a clear indication that farming close to the city is not going to allowed to be done in sort of an economic manner. The best use for these lands is for housing.
Both locations are better situated than anywhere else in the CRD to provide for more housing for people that is well situated to where people might work. Much better than more people in the western communities.
With enough houses built, there will be units coming up for rental. As the price of houses come down because of the higher supply and a clear indication that there will not be another planning induced scarcity as we have at the moment, then there will be more interest in building for rental and using units for rentals.
With more rentals, there will be a higher vacancy rate and this will reduce rents in the city. Lower rents will mean more people can afford to rent units and less desirable renters will be able to rent units again.
The city of Victoria can do some innovative things to increase the housing stock within the city. Allow automatic approval of any property subdivision if the lots remain over 3000 sq feet, and give approval in a matter of a two to three weeks.
Allow in street housing - this means building on existing streets. There are a lot of streets that should be made into cul-de-sacs and putting a house into the current street to make the cul-de-sac is the best to go about it.
Reduce the front of house set backs to the street to five feet. This would make small lots much more useful for people by putting the majority of the greenspace into one part of the yard.
Allow people to build houses with two or three units within it without any zoning or planning restrictions.
Increase the floor to space ratio of lots so that more house and more units in a house can be built on a lot.
Guarantee building approval in less than one week if no zoning changes are needed.
Change building permits costs to reflect the actual cost of the work of the inspectors. Every dollar spent on the permits increases housing costs with no benefit to anyone.
The more units that can be built for the least cost will make the fastest change to problems with housing in this city.
As a quick codicil, as much as many people may hate Bear Mountain, it is at least offering more housing and easing housing supply problems in the city. When someone moves from Fairfield to Bear Mountain, someone can move from Fernwood to Fairfield and then there is an empty house in Fernwood. Each housing unit built is part of the housing chain and a unit at the top will do as much for housing issues as one at the bottom end, though the top end ones cost government nothing to build.
We also are dealing with more homelessness issues here than ever before.
House prices are also high, too high for our own good.
These high prices have been created by a largely local government induced scarcity in housing through interference in the market with planning restrictions and growth management ideas.
There is a simple solution. A lot more housing units need to be built. Allow more density, allow new lands to be built on with few or no restrictions. Pull land out of the ALR to allow houses to be built. Scrap the urban containment boundary.
Every action taken that makes it harder to develop a property, every charge that has to be borne by a developer, every time delay, all restricts the housing supply. Restrictions to the housing supply increases the cost of housing and keeps rentals at a minimum.
Over the next five years we need to add somewhere around about 6000 housing units just to hold steady. In reality we need to add closer to 15 000 over that time to make a dent in housing prices and improve the rental market.
There is no shortage of flat farmlands in Saanich which could be home to thousands of houses. The farm lands in the Blenkinsop valley and out interurban could house almost all of the increases needed.
These lands would be better used as housing now and not for fallow farming or Galley farm amusement park operations. The problems at Panama Flats that the farmer is having with Saanich is a clear indication that farming close to the city is not going to allowed to be done in sort of an economic manner. The best use for these lands is for housing.
Both locations are better situated than anywhere else in the CRD to provide for more housing for people that is well situated to where people might work. Much better than more people in the western communities.
With enough houses built, there will be units coming up for rental. As the price of houses come down because of the higher supply and a clear indication that there will not be another planning induced scarcity as we have at the moment, then there will be more interest in building for rental and using units for rentals.
With more rentals, there will be a higher vacancy rate and this will reduce rents in the city. Lower rents will mean more people can afford to rent units and less desirable renters will be able to rent units again.
The city of Victoria can do some innovative things to increase the housing stock within the city. Allow automatic approval of any property subdivision if the lots remain over 3000 sq feet, and give approval in a matter of a two to three weeks.
Allow in street housing - this means building on existing streets. There are a lot of streets that should be made into cul-de-sacs and putting a house into the current street to make the cul-de-sac is the best to go about it.
Reduce the front of house set backs to the street to five feet. This would make small lots much more useful for people by putting the majority of the greenspace into one part of the yard.
Allow people to build houses with two or three units within it without any zoning or planning restrictions.
Increase the floor to space ratio of lots so that more house and more units in a house can be built on a lot.
Guarantee building approval in less than one week if no zoning changes are needed.
Change building permits costs to reflect the actual cost of the work of the inspectors. Every dollar spent on the permits increases housing costs with no benefit to anyone.
The more units that can be built for the least cost will make the fastest change to problems with housing in this city.
As a quick codicil, as much as many people may hate Bear Mountain, it is at least offering more housing and easing housing supply problems in the city. When someone moves from Fairfield to Bear Mountain, someone can move from Fernwood to Fairfield and then there is an empty house in Fernwood. Each housing unit built is part of the housing chain and a unit at the top will do as much for housing issues as one at the bottom end, though the top end ones cost government nothing to build.
Steps to reduce Greenhouse Gases in this Region
1) Improve traffic flows:
In Greater Victoria there is a lot a fuel used by drivers sitting in traffic and not moving, if you get the cars moving again, you reduce the greenhouse gases produced. Now here comes the part that will make people flip. The easiest way to do this is to make Hwy 17 and Hwy 1 full freeways.
The addition of interchanges at Mackenzie/Admirals and Tillicum on Hwy #1 will move the traffic faster in and out of town and will reduce the stop and go of the traffic to one location and not three at the moment.
Mackenzie from Hwy 1 to Hwy 17 needs to all the traffic lights removed - as time goes by this road will gain more and more traffic as people live in western communities and work in Central Saanich. Right now using that stretch of road you deal with four traffic lights.
Hwy 17 needs to have all the lights out to the ferry terminal removed - that is six traffic lights. The fact that we have the ferry terminal at the end of Hwy 17 means we have 'intsa' traffic jams because when each ferry empties its load. The first two or three lights you can watch your fuel efficiency drop as traffic slows and stops.
Doing all this will improve fuel efficiencies by about 10 to 15% on most trips on these routes. Given that the vast majority of people travel via private cars, doing this will have a huge impact on CO2 emissions in this region.
The cost of building all the interchanges would be in the region of $500 000 000. Less than the cost of any light rail system but with a huge impact on CO2 emissions. Over a twenty year period, this would imply a cost of about 25 to 50 cents per kilo of CO2 avoided. This is a dramatically lower a cost than comes from any rail system per kilo of CO2 avoided.
2) Introduce trolley buses
Vancouver has used this buses for several generations. They are slower than conventional buses, but would be a good a fit on the heavy load routes such as the ones going from downtown to UVic or the routes operating with a lower average speed such as the #1 or #5.
The CO2 emissions from trolley buses are very low. Though the cost of the buses is higher than conventional buses and the city does not have the infrastructure in place to run them.
I figure trolley buses will not happen because the NIMBYs of the city will scream about the wires.
It should be noted that trolley buses, while more expensive, slower and less flexible than conventional buses, they beat streetcars on all those fronts.
3) Toll the highways:
Once you get all of Hwy 1 and Hwy 17 freeway, you introduce tolls for use of them. You also vary the toll based on the time of day. The heavier the traffic, the higher the tolls.
By putting tolls on the highway, you reduce traffic demand and speed up the traffic and thereby reduce CO2. You also raise the money to look after the road and pay for the construction of the highway.
Higher commuter costs will move more people into buses.
4) Have a countdown on each traffic light:
If people could see that they are going to sit for 30 seconds at a light and can prepare for when they will be allowed to drive, they can turn off their car at the intersection. Less idling means less fuel used and less CO2.
I try to turn off my car at intersections as much as possible. Doing this saves me about 10 to 15% in fuel. I reduce my CO2 emissions by about 5kg per 100km by doing this.
In Greater Victoria there is a lot a fuel used by drivers sitting in traffic and not moving, if you get the cars moving again, you reduce the greenhouse gases produced. Now here comes the part that will make people flip. The easiest way to do this is to make Hwy 17 and Hwy 1 full freeways.
The addition of interchanges at Mackenzie/Admirals and Tillicum on Hwy #1 will move the traffic faster in and out of town and will reduce the stop and go of the traffic to one location and not three at the moment.
Mackenzie from Hwy 1 to Hwy 17 needs to all the traffic lights removed - as time goes by this road will gain more and more traffic as people live in western communities and work in Central Saanich. Right now using that stretch of road you deal with four traffic lights.
Hwy 17 needs to have all the lights out to the ferry terminal removed - that is six traffic lights. The fact that we have the ferry terminal at the end of Hwy 17 means we have 'intsa' traffic jams because when each ferry empties its load. The first two or three lights you can watch your fuel efficiency drop as traffic slows and stops.
Doing all this will improve fuel efficiencies by about 10 to 15% on most trips on these routes. Given that the vast majority of people travel via private cars, doing this will have a huge impact on CO2 emissions in this region.
The cost of building all the interchanges would be in the region of $500 000 000. Less than the cost of any light rail system but with a huge impact on CO2 emissions. Over a twenty year period, this would imply a cost of about 25 to 50 cents per kilo of CO2 avoided. This is a dramatically lower a cost than comes from any rail system per kilo of CO2 avoided.
2) Introduce trolley buses
Vancouver has used this buses for several generations. They are slower than conventional buses, but would be a good a fit on the heavy load routes such as the ones going from downtown to UVic or the routes operating with a lower average speed such as the #1 or #5.
The CO2 emissions from trolley buses are very low. Though the cost of the buses is higher than conventional buses and the city does not have the infrastructure in place to run them.
I figure trolley buses will not happen because the NIMBYs of the city will scream about the wires.
It should be noted that trolley buses, while more expensive, slower and less flexible than conventional buses, they beat streetcars on all those fronts.
3) Toll the highways:
Once you get all of Hwy 1 and Hwy 17 freeway, you introduce tolls for use of them. You also vary the toll based on the time of day. The heavier the traffic, the higher the tolls.
By putting tolls on the highway, you reduce traffic demand and speed up the traffic and thereby reduce CO2. You also raise the money to look after the road and pay for the construction of the highway.
Higher commuter costs will move more people into buses.
4) Have a countdown on each traffic light:
If people could see that they are going to sit for 30 seconds at a light and can prepare for when they will be allowed to drive, they can turn off their car at the intersection. Less idling means less fuel used and less CO2.
I try to turn off my car at intersections as much as possible. Doing this saves me about 10 to 15% in fuel. I reduce my CO2 emissions by about 5kg per 100km by doing this.
Thursday, June 05, 2008
That Vision Thing
All I can say is that I started the blog because of my main pet peeve about Victoria, the lack of any vision of greatness for this city.
Given that we are in an amazing geographic location and given that we have all the pieces one needs for a great city, why are not better known than somewhere like Salzburg? Or Austin Texas?
The idea is to have a place for me to think out loud about a vision for our city. The downside of putting my views out there so publically is that I have killed any chance of ever being a successful politician in this city - though that is an upside for my wife.
In retrospect, anything with vision is such an automatic for ueber political spin masters out there, especially politicians that would never more than just tweak the status quo (Vision Vancouver comes to mind)
I would love to hear what people think it would take to make Victoria a world class great city.
Give me your ideas, or tell me where we can begin the debate.
Given that we are in an amazing geographic location and given that we have all the pieces one needs for a great city, why are not better known than somewhere like Salzburg? Or Austin Texas?
The idea is to have a place for me to think out loud about a vision for our city. The downside of putting my views out there so publically is that I have killed any chance of ever being a successful politician in this city - though that is an upside for my wife.
In retrospect, anything with vision is such an automatic for ueber political spin masters out there, especially politicians that would never more than just tweak the status quo (Vision Vancouver comes to mind)
I would love to hear what people think it would take to make Victoria a world class great city.
Give me your ideas, or tell me where we can begin the debate.
2008 Municipal Elections - The One Issue That Matters
November 2008 is coming quickly and there is a single issue that everyone running for office needs to address - the irrational balkanization of Greater Victoria.
People in Esquimalt, Oak Bay, View Royal, Saanich etc.... all use Victoria for addresses.
People all over the region do not hold themselves to one local government when it comes to the use of parks and recreation facilities.
We lack a single comprehensive plan for our city.
We have large areas of our city cross boundary shifts in zoning ruin neighbourhoods. When it comes to that, there are numerous neighbourhood communities that are forced to deal with two or three local governments. The classic example is my own Burnside Tillicum neighbourhood - Saanich and Victoria do not manage this community as a single entity.
We have multiple sets of by-laws, multiple building inspection departments, and multiple planning departments for one city. I have yet to hear anyone give a rational reason why an obviously singular city like Victoria needs so many different by-laws.
The easiest way to decide if the status quo makes any sense is to ask if we would create what we have on the ground at the moment if we started with a clean slate. If Oak Bay makes sense as a local government, why not Gordon Head or Fairfield?
Anyone not willing to admit that we need to fix our problem with multiple municipal governments now is someone I could never vote for. Frankly I would wonder what personal parochial interests are coming into play if someone is running for municipal office this fall and not willing push for amalgamation.
As time goes by, I am going to see if I can find who supports amalgamation and who is opposed and what reason they offer for being opposed.
People in Esquimalt, Oak Bay, View Royal, Saanich etc.... all use Victoria for addresses.
People all over the region do not hold themselves to one local government when it comes to the use of parks and recreation facilities.
We lack a single comprehensive plan for our city.
We have large areas of our city cross boundary shifts in zoning ruin neighbourhoods. When it comes to that, there are numerous neighbourhood communities that are forced to deal with two or three local governments. The classic example is my own Burnside Tillicum neighbourhood - Saanich and Victoria do not manage this community as a single entity.
We have multiple sets of by-laws, multiple building inspection departments, and multiple planning departments for one city. I have yet to hear anyone give a rational reason why an obviously singular city like Victoria needs so many different by-laws.
The easiest way to decide if the status quo makes any sense is to ask if we would create what we have on the ground at the moment if we started with a clean slate. If Oak Bay makes sense as a local government, why not Gordon Head or Fairfield?
Anyone not willing to admit that we need to fix our problem with multiple municipal governments now is someone I could never vote for. Frankly I would wonder what personal parochial interests are coming into play if someone is running for municipal office this fall and not willing push for amalgamation.
As time goes by, I am going to see if I can find who supports amalgamation and who is opposed and what reason they offer for being opposed.
Paul Gerrard running for Saanich council
I am glad to see that Paul Gerrard will be trying again to get elected to Saanich council this fall. I will not be able to vote for him because I live in the city of Victoria, though 80% of my neighbourhood is in Saanich and Paul Gerrard has been a real mover and shaker in making the whole neighbourhood a better place over the years.
My plans are to give him a donation and also to likely do some volunteering on his campaign.
Paul Gerrard is a prime example of one of the core problems with local politics in Victoria. Our one town is divided into a number of municipalities that have no connection to living, working and playing patterns of those of us who live here. Because we have 13 municipalities, when it comes to election time the regional media (T-C, CFAX, A Channel etc....) do not cover the local elections in any detail. Saanich has about 120 000 people living in it and no effective way for anyone running for council to be known over the whole municipality.
In 2005 Paul Gerrard ran for council and campaigned hard but did not get elected. He lost because his name was not well enough known. Honestly, most people in Saanich could not access enough information about the candidates running to make a decision and therefore stayed home.
If we were to amalgamate the core municipalities, we will see more people engaged in the elections because they will know the people running. It will also mean that the people running will have to all campaign more and the people who work harder campaigning will be more likely to get elected than now.
I wish Paul lots of luck and success, though I wish he was running for mayor because he is the sort of man Saanich needs as mayor now.
My plans are to give him a donation and also to likely do some volunteering on his campaign.
Paul Gerrard is a prime example of one of the core problems with local politics in Victoria. Our one town is divided into a number of municipalities that have no connection to living, working and playing patterns of those of us who live here. Because we have 13 municipalities, when it comes to election time the regional media (T-C, CFAX, A Channel etc....) do not cover the local elections in any detail. Saanich has about 120 000 people living in it and no effective way for anyone running for council to be known over the whole municipality.
In 2005 Paul Gerrard ran for council and campaigned hard but did not get elected. He lost because his name was not well enough known. Honestly, most people in Saanich could not access enough information about the candidates running to make a decision and therefore stayed home.
If we were to amalgamate the core municipalities, we will see more people engaged in the elections because they will know the people running. It will also mean that the people running will have to all campaign more and the people who work harder campaigning will be more likely to get elected than now.
I wish Paul lots of luck and success, though I wish he was running for mayor because he is the sort of man Saanich needs as mayor now.
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Taken from Monday Magazine
Too much 2020 vision
Maybe it’s just us, but there seems to be a distinct lack of creativity when it comes to putting a name to discussions on civic politics in the city—or maybe its just the limitations of trying to come up with catchy alliterations involving the letter “V.”
This is in today's Monday. I find it humorous that somehow they have noticed what I post here from time to time.... Even though Dean Fortin will likely be elected mayor and will likely do a decent and competent job as mayor, vision is not something I see coming from him. Odds are not his favour for him getting my vote, but much will depend on who else runs.
_________________________________________________________-
Take the slogan on Dean Fortin’s invitation to his aforementioned candidacy announcement, “A Vision for Victoria.” This should not be confused with the ongoing blog on local affairs from observer Bernard Schulmann called “Victoria Vision.”
Then there is the newly launched website from BC Liberal organizer David Davies called “Victoria2020—A clear vision,” which has already set about questioning the credibility of left-leaning candidates Fortin and Pieta VanDyke.
Davies’ website name sounds perplexingly like that of the Downtown Victoria 2020 group—dv2020.ca—which hosted a series of public forums a few years ago seeking ways to bring vibrancy back to the core and now hopes to see its objectives revived as possible election issues in November.
Stay tuned for Monday’s election blog, tentatively titled vibrantvictoriavision2020.ca.
Spring arrives
Finally the months of grey bland weather has given away to dry warmth. I can work in the garden, the city emerges properly outside and it moves from an insular hide out to a vaguely bucolic stupor.
In many ways I find May and June the most disappointing months for the people of Victoria. The arrival of rebirth of the growing season is not accompanied by a rebirth in people wanting a new and better city.
I was in Vancouver yesterday and saw how much more alive the city is when compared to Victoria. Even a small suburban area like Tsawwassen has more sense of vision than anywhere in Victoria. We continue with our 13 municipal governments and lack of vision for the region year in and year out.
Why can we not deal with homelessness and the drug problems in the city? Because we can not get people to get beyond the most parochial NIMBYism. Why is better and more transit stalling? More backward looking NIMBYism.
I would love to see some real visionaries run for office this November, people willing to shake this region out of it's slumber and wake people up and push us to greatness, push Victoria to become the great world city it can be.
In many ways I find May and June the most disappointing months for the people of Victoria. The arrival of rebirth of the growing season is not accompanied by a rebirth in people wanting a new and better city.
I was in Vancouver yesterday and saw how much more alive the city is when compared to Victoria. Even a small suburban area like Tsawwassen has more sense of vision than anywhere in Victoria. We continue with our 13 municipal governments and lack of vision for the region year in and year out.
Why can we not deal with homelessness and the drug problems in the city? Because we can not get people to get beyond the most parochial NIMBYism. Why is better and more transit stalling? More backward looking NIMBYism.
I would love to see some real visionaries run for office this November, people willing to shake this region out of it's slumber and wake people up and push us to greatness, push Victoria to become the great world city it can be.
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