Monthly Archives: June 2006

Consider, Homeless

It is all in your Perspective.

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I was recently reminded that how one feels about or looks at what is happening can very much depend very much on where you are standing. There can easily be two very different ways of seeing the same events, depending on whether one is on the inside or the outside.

I had a discussion with some people involved with the decision making process on actions to take in addressing homelessness. They felt things were moving along nicely, with all necessary speed. Later I had the chance to discuss what was taking place with the homeless. They felt things were moving at a glacial pace on making (non) decisions.

Clearly your view on these matters, whether or not decisions and actions occurred in a timely manner, was dependant on your living arrangements – literally whether you were lining on the outside or the inside of homeless issues. To those living on the outside – on the streets – and waiting on these decisions to obtain access to food, shelter, basic hygienic facilities, counselling and other forms of needed help, timely is pretty much NOW. To those making the decisions and who at the end of the “working day” go home to the comfort of shelter and food, timely does not have a set schedule or the same sense of urgency. When you think about it this difference is not surprising, that those with food and shelter lack the driving motivation for action of those without shelter or food.

Reality is that motivating those responsible for addressing problems to act in a timely manner is often difficult. How then do we provide motivation to those facing the highly complex and perplexing issues of homelessness and poverty? How do you motivate action and overcome the fear of making the tiniest mistake in a situation were even the very best choices are likely to give rise to some negative outcomes?

Creatively! I propose that those faced with making decisions on these issues be given an education immersion course that would enable them to gain first hand experience with the barriers faced by, and the needs of, those living homeless. We send those involved with planning and decision making to live in Compassion Park until some plans, decisions and actions are forthcoming. The City’s recent actions have rendered it unoccupied, clean and available for use. This way those tasked to address these issues gain both education and motivation. I am sure this would provide for planning and action in a much more timely fashion.

Homeless, Municipal

Leadership, Leadership, where for art thou Leadership.

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While it was a refreshing change to finally have heard our City government recognize that Abbotsford has a homeless quandary, they now appear to regret this admission. With the serving of notice, the eviction of the homeless camping in “Compassion Park” and subsequent public statements, there is a dishearteningly familiar sound of the old song and dance performed by the City regarding homelessness, poverty and other social issues. Given that they are moving forward with forming a council advisory committee responsible for addressing social concerns and matters such as the homeless, I expect them to fall back upon that old refrain “we cannot act until we get a committee report – no matter that the situation and need is such that procrastination puts lives at risk. This brings two pictures to mind, first the image of a camel – a horse designed by a committee and secondly, the image of Nero fiddling while Rome burns.

Fiddling around twiddling ones thumbs accomplished nothing, except to allow the situation to worsen and grow. There has been more than enough banal lip service and prevarication on these pressing social issues. Provide some leadership or at least be responsible enough to stop stalling, admit to a lack of any notion of how to proceed, listen to ideas and adopt a policy of not raising barriers but to help efforts by others in the community to address and meet portions of the need.

What is really needed here is Leadership. Take note that Leadership does not involve sitting around ignoring reality, hoping for some kind of miracle or waiting to see which way the people want to head then running to get to the front and an appearance of leadership. Leadership involves having a vision, working to build co-operation and consensus regarding what we want to achieve, A willingness to focus on what we can do, on solutions rather than what we cannot do or how large and complex the problem is. Instead of whining about the responsibility of the Federal and Provincial governments or others, you tell them what you are going to do and what you need them to do. Providing direction to get the citizens of Abbotsford involved in generating ideas, plans and actions, then participating in addressing the needs of their less fortunate fellow citizens. Leading a wide open, far ranging discussion in order to give rise to a compelling vision of how and what we want our community to be. Co-operating and working to contribute to the creation of a community wide movement for change. It is time to accept the challenge, to take action and make our City a vibrant community.

Municipal

This City needs some sense of proper priorities.

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One can only wonder were exactly the heads of our local politicians are buried with reference to their proposed capital projects. A sports/entertainment center, another recreation/community center and a museum/art gallery. Do not get me wrong; these are all facilities that our city can use. In fact, it is only because our local government has demonstrated an inability to properly plan and manage growth and development that these facilities do not currently exist. Which means they will be built at a cost millions of dollars higher than it would have cost with a well thought-out and managed capital building plan.

I would love to see a properly designed multi-use pool built in the city as part of a recreation/community centre. Of course with the city’s track record on building capital projects the citizens are not very likely to get either a well designed venue or good cost management, maximizing our bang for the buck, on any city (mis)managed project. However I have a sense of priorities. When you choose to proceed with only 3 projects, you have to set priorities, not just choosing popular projects. Excuse me, I should say that it should mean not just going with popularity as the way of choosing projects to proceed with. Unfortunately it appears that the city has done this.

As much as I would wish for a new pool, I can see more important needs. The old library in downtown Abbotsford desperately needs replacement. Not only is it inadequate in size, but when the staff warns users not to plug in their laptops because the electrical system cannot be trusted not to fry them – it is time to replace the building. A library may not be a “sexy” project but for students, people needing access to the internet, research, literacy programs, encouraging young people to read and supporting the general public in reading it is a priority. A new library is long overdue.

Perhaps it is that because any new library would fall under the Fraser Valley Regional Library that it lacked any champions at City Hall to point out that a library should be a priority. Or perhaps it is just that those in parks, recreation and culture were much better at political infighting – since all three projects fall under their control. What is clear is that there should have been public discussion and debate about our city’s priorities before any decision on which three projects the city should proceed with, since it is clear from their three choices that neither city management or our elected local politicians have any sense of proper priorities for our City. Of course this would have required leadership and vision, qualities that seem non-existent in our local government on a wide range of social, development, growth and capital projects issues.