Category Archives: Snafu

behaviour, Issues, Municipal, Snafu

Where’s the Homeless Housing?

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WHERE’S the HOUSING?

That is the question on the lips of the homeless after reading the “Homeless in the City” series of articles.

They had thought that ‘being homeless’ referred to those without housing, rather than ‘homeless’ referring to those who did not own their own homes.

The Harmony Flex Housing Development is about OWNERSHIP, about making home ownership a viable option for those whose income is not sufficient to achieve home ownership without the favourable terms associated with this development.

While we need to find innovative ways to make home ownership affordable for more people …… those who this development will enable to own their home are currently housed and not on or in danger of finding themselves on the streets of Abbotsford.

The Harmony Flex Housing Development has and continues to take time and attention away from the urgent, critical need for housing for the homeless, those who are on their way to homelessness and those in danger of becoming homeless.

Should the churches and others listen to Councillor Smith and focus on this type of development it would be to the detriment of the people in need of safe, healthy affordable housing.

The priority for housing is, as it has been for years: for minimal barrier housing for those with addiction and mental health issues and those just plain hard to house because they are who they are; for supportive transitional housing for all those coming out of treatment in order to break the cycle of relapse/treatment/relapse; for supportive housing that is stable and long term for those (brain injury, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome etc) who need continued support to thrive.

Contrast the effort and speed of getting homeownership housing built for those who are home(ownership)less with the years of excuse making the homeless living on streets of Abbotsford have faced on housing.

It is excuse making. Half the people voted against Plan A but council bulled ahead because they were determined to build Plan A. Council found land, money and when projects were over budget, council found more money; council wanted to build Plan A and, to *bleep* with the consequences they did.

If council had a desire to build affordable housing for the homeless rather than form a committee and pay lip-service to building housing for the homeless, then we would have built and be building affordable housing for the homeless and those in need and the homeless would not, year after year after year, be asking:

WHERE’S the HOUSING?

Issues, Municipal, Snafu

Abbotsford’s Housing Leadership Vacuum

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Reading Mayor George Peary’s comments regarding homelessness left me wondering if councillors are issued a simple ‘crib sheet’ or whether they are required to memorize the ‘official city response’ to parrot back on questions about homelessness.

Setting aside why it is that the City of Abbotsford  has such a limited amount of city owned land, one is left wondering why councillors keep pleading poverty whenever the issue of homelessness is raised.

I have not heard people clamouring for the city to fund homeless initiatives. This is hardly surprising since people are well aware that it is the provincial and federal governments that must provide funding if we are to begin addressing the complex issues of homelessness, addiction, mental illness, poverty etc. Not based strictly on whose responsibility it is, but because of the reality that the senior levels of government are the ones who have sufficient financial resources to fund solutions.

The city’s lack of funds is not the poverty that is, and has been for years, the major impediment to addressing, rather than avoiding, the issues connected to homelessness solutions.

A poverty of leadership from council, not a lack of funds, is the poverty that most interferes with making progress on these issues. It is this lack of leadership that has failed to rally the wide array of resources available in Abbotsford and the province of BC, preventing effective progress to be made on these issues.

The difference between those communities building affordable housing and striving to address the issues that surround and interconnect with homelessness versus the communities pleading poverty or that it is not their responsibility or whatever the excuse de jour is for wringing their hands then sitting on them – is leadership.

There is a desperate need for affordable, supportive, minimal barrier housing in Abbotsford. The Ebenezer home, a 91 bed supportive care home, sits empty. In a city with civic leadership on these issues … anything is possible.

To relieve tension over council

Municipal, Snafu

Abbotsford financial woes solved?

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It was a great relief to read the news that the City of Abbotsford’s financial crisis was resolved and that there would be no need to impose the 2 cents a litre gas tax or to impose more than modest property tax increases.

Obviously the financial problems and capital needs (road repairs and maintenance, the new water source, sewer and waste treatment, etc) have been solved … right? If these money issues had not been resolved Abbotsford would not have been spending money badly needed elsewhere on an unneeded play structure … would it?

After all, anyone with a single functional brain cell and the smallest iota of responsibility would have enough common sense not to fritter away money needed to keep Abbotsford operating on a frivolous toy.

This leaves the only conclusion as, in some mysterious way, all the financial and capital challenges that were facing the City of Abbotsford have been resolved and that the city no longer needs a large injection of cash.

I suppose alternatively … if the financial and capital challenges facing the City of Abbotsford have NOT been resolved, one must conclude from this purchase that Abbotsford city council and city staff are completely irresponsible, do not care about Abbotsford or its taxpayers, incompetent and/or brain dead and have no contact with financial reality or reality period.

If the financial and capital challenges have been successfully resolved then the mayor, council and staff deserve our appreciation, thanks and support.

If the financial and capital challenges have NOT been resolved then the mayor, council and staff deserve to be removed from the city’s payroll. Taxpayers deserve the resignations of mayor and council and the firing of staff responsible for this unnecessary and thoughtless expenditure.

Since such a course of action would require a sense of responsibility and caring for Abbotsford and its taxpayers that Abbotsford’s elected politicos have repeatedly demonstrated a complete lack of, I won’t be holding my breath.

I will however, be writing to Gordon Campbell, Mike de Jong, John Van Dongen and the Minister of Community and Rural Development (Bill Bennett) to point out this further evidence of Abbotsford’s civic government’s lack of financial planning, discipline and responsibility.

I will be asking that, in light of Abbotsford city hall’s and city council’s demonstrated irresponsibility and lack of financial ability, for the future of the City of Abbotsford and its citizens they refuse to enable council’s spendthrift behaviours and spending addiction by just saying no to the 2 cent a litre gas tax. I would suggest others contact provincial officials with this request as well.

City council and staff must be compelled to start acting responsibly and thoughtfully on financial matters – or replaced. Otherwise someone will be buying the Safari Kid Zone from the trustee handling the bankruptcy of the City of Abbotsford.