Downtown CD Zone will have the same effect as red zoning

The shocking assault of elderly resident David Post near Richmond Avenue and Kelglen Road by drug users who had been red-zoned from the downtown seriously calls into question the strategy of addressing our downtown crime problems by just sweeping them out of that locale. This incident comes on top of the recent invasion of the Capri area by the same type of offenders. It is apparent that red-zoning does not solve these social problems but just moves them from one neighourhood to another making them someone else’s problem.

 

The same will be true of the city’s multiple highrise Comprehensive Development Zone proposed for the downtown. The City has promoted this project as the ultimate solution for cleaning up the social problems in the Lawrence and Leon Avenue area, but just like dealing with downtown drug users through red-zoning, all this project will do is displace these problems to nearby neighbourhoods making them unsafe in which to live.

 

Complex social problems require complex solutions and those who offer facile remedies like densifying the downtown in order to deal with the drug abuse and vagrancy found there are paying city residents are great disservice that borders on the criminal. These bureaucrats and politicians will be held to account when these simplistic answers result in more assaults and possibly murders in what used to be safe Kelowna neighbourhoods.

Kelowna city council directionless on affordable housing

The decision at the September 15 Kelowna city council meeting to approve a strata conversion of a 30 unit rental property at 1777 Water Street is yet another example of the thoughtless and confused policies of our city council on the important issue of affordable housing. Most observers of the scene agree that there is an acute shortage of rental units here. In fact, this past spring city council decided that their priority would be to create affordable rental units rather than affordable ownership units. Why then did city council unanimously agree to remove 30 rental units from the market in return for the owner offering to create 2 affordable strata units along with 28 market ownership units in the project?

 

This decision is indicative of the muddled thinking of our city council when it comes to the dealing with the crisis of affordable housing here. At a time when the rental vacancy rate in Kelowna is near zero, there should be a moratorium on strata conversions. But don’t tell our city council as it is apparent that when it comes to the subject of affordable housing, they don’t know what they are doing from one week to the next. 

Letnick does the right thing

Councillor Norm Letnick has announced that as he is seeking the Liberal nomination for MLA in the Kelowna-Lake Country riding, he will not be running for re-election as city councillor. Norm has done the right thing, and I wish him all the best in his bid for that seat.

Survey of Kelowna residents regarding the 2008 civic election

I have created a survey for Kelowna residents in order to better help me to understand the attitudes of the public towards the exisiting city council and the important issues in this election campaign. Please help me by completing the survey questionnaire. Please click on the following link to take the survey: http://www.sureforms.net/forms.aspx?form_id=1556

Letnick should choose which office he’s seeking: more

It seems that U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama does not have a monopoly on audacity as there is much of it to be found in Kelowna city councillor Norm Letnick, who has for all intents and purposes announced that he is running for two different offices — that of Kelowna city councillor and  provincial MLA. In regards to the latter, at one time Letnick was just interested in Sindi Hawkins’ seat, but he now says that either her seat or that of Al Horning would be just fine, and that he will bide his time until one ailing MLA or other decides not to run again – a pretty good prospect. In the meanwhile, he has announced that he will seek re-election as Kelowna city councillor. So what happens if Letnick gets re-elected to city council and an opportunity comes up to run for MLA next spring? It is apparent that the ambitious Letnick would resign from his council seat to run for MLA and that there would then be a need to have a city by-election at a cost to taxpayers of about $60,000.

 

Now I acknowledge that Letnick is an intelligent man who regularly contributes to the discussions at council meetings. However, I do not think that his record has been so exceptional that Kelowna voters should be satisfied to have him on council for only another six months after his current term expires and then have to pay the tab for a by-election when he decides to turn his back on the city to move up the political ranks. I think that Letnick should make up his mind right now to seek either re-election to council or to run for election as MLA next spring, but not both. And if Letnick refuses to choose, the voters of Kelowna should choose for him by not re-electing him to city council as I think there is enough talent in this city to adequately fill his shoes, and not allow him to play games with the electorate.