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REPORT TO COUNCIL STANDING COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL
APRIL 22, 2004 |
A Regular Meeting of the Standing Committee of Council on City Services and Budgets was held on Thursday, April 22, 2004, at 9:30 a.m., in Council Chamber, Third Floor, City Hall.
PRESENT: |
Councillor Tim Louis, Chair
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ABSENT: |
Mayor Larry Campbell, (Leave of Absence - Civic Business) |
CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE: |
Brent MacGregor, Deputy City Manager |
CITY CLERK'S OFFICE: |
Tina Hildebrandt, Meeting Coordinator |
* Denotes absence for a portion of the meeting.
VARY AGENDA
The Committee agreed to vary the Agenda in order to consider Items No. 2 and 5 first. For clarity, the Agenda items are minuted in the order in which they were dealt with.
ADOPTION OF MINUTES
The Minutes of the Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets meeting of March 25, 2004, were adopted.
RECOMMENDATION
2. Collingwood Neighbourhood House Society Gymnasium Operating Funding 2004 (File 1605)
The Committee had before it an Administrative Report dated March 12, 2004, in which the General Manager of Corporate Services, in consultation with the General Managers of Community Services and Parks and Recreation, sought Council's approval for 2004 operating funds for the Collingwood Gymnasium.
David Sherwood, Business Consultant - Business Support, was available to respond to questions.
MOVED by Councillor Cadman
THAT the Committee recommend to Council
THAT Council approve 2004 funding in the amount of $212,900 (an increase of 2% from the 2003 approved funding of $208,727) to the Collingwood Neighbourhood House Society for the operation of the Collingwood Gymnasium for the period January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2004; source of funds to be the 2004 Operating Budget.
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
(Councillors Roberts, Stevenson and Sullivan absent for the vote.)
5. City of Vancouver 2003 Annual Financial Report (File 1503)
The Committee had before it an Administrative Report dated April 14, 2004, in which the General Manager of Corporate Services/Director of Finance presented the 2003 Financial Statements for Council's information and to fulfill the legislative requirements of the Vancouver Charter.
MOVED by Councillor Green
THAT the Committee recommend to Council
THAT Council receive for information the City of Vancouver Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2003.
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
(Councillors Roberts, Stevenson and Sullivan absent for the vote.)
INFORMATION
1. Homelessness (File 4659)
At the Regular Council meeting on April 6, 2004, Lily Loncar, representing the Downtown Eastside Residents Association, requested to speak to Council on the issue of homelessness.
Council agreed to hear the delegation at today's Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets meeting.
The following spoke in favour of a proposal by the Hope Village Council to erect a Tent City called "Hope Village" on the south side of Union Street, between Main and Gore Streets:
Lily Loncar, Downtown Eastside Residents Association (proposal distributed - on file)
David Cunningham, Downtown Eastside Residents Association
Eric Holopainen
Anton Pillipa
Flo Ackey
Kim Kerr
James Nicholson
Sister Elizabeth Kelliater, Chair, Downtown Eastside Residents Association Board
Steve Varty, Business Agent, CUPE Local 1004
Wayne Clark, United Native Nations
Harvey Klotz
Ronald Whitehouse
Anita Chubb-Kennedy, Anti-Poverty Committee (brief distributed - on file)
Ashley Sagutch, VANDU
Marianna Young
A summary of speakers' comments follow:
· "Hope Village" is meant to become another part of the housing continuum; we envision this project complementing the current social housing system;
· Hope Village Council will adopt the same rules and regulations followed by Portland's tent city "Dignity Village"(sanctioned in March 2004) - no tolerance of violence, drugs and alcohol;
· this proposal will help get the homeless off the streets - it is not safe to sleep under bridges, in dumpsters, etc.;
· it is going to be more difficult and costly to turn over civic buildings for social housing than it is to give up public green space for tent cities;
· there are over 1,000 petitions which state a preference for the homeless living in tent cities rather than on the streets;
· "Hope Village" is an effort by homeless people to do something about their situation;
· many children do not have adequate food or secure, safe, stable housing and they develop psychological problems - at least this proposal will provide them with the shelter they need to develop normally;
· the choice is allow a tent city or force people into inhumane conditions - the City has a responsibility to try; this project is a harm-reduction measure similar to the supervised injection site;
· very strongly support the tent city concept because provincial and federal funding for social housing is inadequate and getting worse;
· we can all coordinate our efforts to make this pilot project work, including the Police who can monitor for drug activity.
The following spoke in opposition to the proposal for a tent city on Union Street:
Karen Barron, Out to Lunch Catering
Patsy McMillan, City Gate Inter-tower Community Group
A summary of speakers' comments follow:
· if this tent city is allowed there will be safety concerns, increased property crime, sanitation issues and rat problems;
· there may be negative impacts to nearby businesses;
· we cannot allow people to live in sub-standard housing such as tents - it could preclude the City looking at the bigger picture because once these tent cities start, they won't stop.
During the hearing of speakers, Councillor Stevenson rose on a point of order concerning the Chair's ruling that Council's questions be limited.
Councillor Stevenson challenged the ruling of the Chair.
The Chair then put the question:
Shall the ruling of the Chair be sustained?
(Councillors Bass, Cadman, Ladner, Louie, Stevenson, Sullivan and Woodsworth opposed)
(Councillor Green absent)
A two-thirds majority of those present is required to overrule the ruling of the Chair. Therefore, the ruling of the Chair was OVERRULED.
Jill Davidson, Senior Housing Planner, and Judy Graves, Coordinator, Tenant Assistance Program, responded to questions related to this proposal, including Portland's tent city, shelter issues, cost estimates, child safety and issues concerning previous tent cities.
In response to a question, Ms. Davidson agreed to provide a memo on the costs involved in providing shelter and various forms of housing for the homeless.
Staff were asked to work with all stakeholders to come up with solutions to the issues expressed today and report back before the Summer.
RECOMMENDATION
3. Reconsideration of 2004 Cultural Grant Recommendation (File 2051)
The Committee had before it an Administrative Report dated March 29, 2004, in which the Director of Office of Cultural Affairs presented the results of staff's reconsideration of one Cultural grant application from the Operating and Project Grants deadline of December 2003 as requested by the grant applicant, and recommendations based on the outcome of this process. The General Manager of Community Services presented the foregoing for Council's consideration.
Karen Hasselfelt, Cultural Planner, was available to respond to questions.
MOVED by Councillor Cadman
THAT the Committee recommend to Council
THAT Council not approve a Project Grant to Full Figure Theatre Company, in accordance with the Director of Cultural Affairs' original recommendation.
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
(Councillor Stevenson absent for the vote.)
4. 2004 Property Tax Options: Tax Levy Distribution (File 1551)
The Committee had before it an Administrative Report dated March 30, 2004, in which the General Manager of Corporate Services/Director of Finance provided Council with the information required to make a decision about whether to adjust the relative shares of the tax levy paid by the non-residential and the residential property classes.
Ken Bayne, Director of Financial Planning & Treasury, was available to respond to questions.
The following spoke in general favour of staff's recommendation and expressed concern with regard to the inequity in property tax rates:
Bob Laurie, Co-Chair, Vancouver Board of Trade (presentation on file)
Janette Y. Pantry, Partner, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
Dave Park, Assistant Managing Director and Chief Economist, Vancouver Board of Trade
Andy Molloy, BOMA BC
Stuart Swain, Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association
Bill Rempel, Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association
A summary of speakers' comments follow:
· Vancouver businesses pay higher property taxes than other local municipalities;
· recommend reducing the ratio of business tax rate to residential tax rate from 5.16 in 2003 to 5.0 in 2004;
· Council needs to change its course on this issue of property taxation or businesses will move to the suburbs; jobs are fleeing from Vancouver as residential is encouraged and commercial discouraged;
· it is important to move forward to a long-term strategy of a 3.1 ratio.
Mr. Bayne responded to questions concerning the issues raised by the foregoing speakers and impacts related to tax shifts. In response to a question on whether there could be a workshop involving today's speakers, Mr. Bayne advised there will be a report back that will identify issues regarding tax policy and at that time a process will be set up which will involve stakeholders.
MOVED by Councillor Ladner
THAT the Committee recommend to Council
THAT Council approve a shift in the property tax distribution equal to one percent of the 2004 general purposes tax levy (approximately $4.3 million), applied proportionately from the non-residential classes (Class 2 Utilities, Class 4 Major Industrial, Class 5 Light Industrial and Class 6 Business/Other) to the residential classes (Class 1 Residential, Class 8 Seasonal/Recreational and Class 9 Farm).
LOST
(Councillors Bass, Cadman, Green, Louie, Louis, Roberts and Woodsworth opposed)
(Councillor Stevenson absent for the vote.)
The Committee adjourned at 1:53 p.m.
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CITY OF VANCOUVER REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
APRIL 22, 2004 |
A Regular Meeting of the Council of the City of Vancouver was held on Thursday, April 22, 2004, at 1:53 p.m., in Council Chamber, Third Floor, City Hall, following the Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets meeting, to consider the recommendations of the Committee.
PRESENT: |
Deputy Mayor Raymond Louie
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ABSENT: |
Mayor Larry Campbell, (Leave of Absence - Civic Business)
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CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE: |
Brent MacGregor, Deputy City Manager |
CITY CLERK'S OFFICE: |
Tina Hildebrandt, Meeting Coordinator |
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
MOVED by Councillor Louis
SECONDED by Councillor Cadman
THAT this Council resolve itself into Committee of the Whole, Deputy Mayor Louie in the Chair.
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS
1. Authority to Attend National Forum on Economic Growth of Big Cities in Canada (File 1254)
MOVED by Councillor Cadman
A. That Council authorize payment for Councillor Jim Green to attend the National Forum on the Economic Growth of Big Cities in Canada to be held in Montreal on June 9 - 13, 2004; funding estimated at $3,500 is available in the Council travel budget in the 2004 Operating Budget.
B. That Council authorize a Leave of Absence for Civic Business for Councillor Green for Council and Standing Committee meetings held on June 8 and 10, 2004.
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Report of Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets
April 22, 2004
Council considered the report containing the recommendations and actions taken by the Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets. Its items of business included:
1. Homelessness
2. Collingwood Neighbourhood House Society Gymnasium Operating Funding 2004
3. Reconsideration of 2004 Cultural Grant Recommendation
4. 2004 Property Tax Options: Tax Levy Distribution
5. City of Vancouver 2003 Annual Financial Report
Clauses 1 - 5
MOVED by Councillor Cadman
THAT the recommendations and actions taken by the Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets at its meeting of April 22, 2004, as contained in Items 1 - 5, be approved.
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
RISE FROM COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
MOVED by Councillor Cadman
THAT the Committee of the Whole rise and report.
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
ADOPT REPORT OF COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
MOVED by Councillor Roberts
SECONDED by Councillor Bass
THAT the report of the Committee of the Whole be adopted.
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
The Council adjourned at 1:55 p.m.
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