Victoria News, May 16, 2012

Last week two Victoria city councillors hosted a forum on selling public land to help highlight decisions coming down the pipeline – the potential sale of industrial property surrounding the Point Hope Shipyard and land near the Northern Junk building.

Councillors Ben Isitt and Shellie Gudgeon asked the question: what degree of disclosure and consultation is appropriate?

When it comes to real-estate deals, transparency should trump secrecy when it comes to managing public assets.

Ralmax Group of Companies, owner of Point Hope Shipyard and United Engineering, is interested in buying a number of city lots it currently leases, to help provide certainty for expansion plans along Harbour Road.

This proposal makes economic sense and there is no reason why Victoria shouldn’t consider the offer. But at the same time, the city needs to find a mechanism to keep its citizens in the loop – that such proposals exist shouldn’t be the result of rebellious city councillors using process to release the information to the public.

Land sales are usually wrapped in secrecy (discussed behind closed doors) until the deal is done, allowing little or no public input on disposing of public land. The recent provincial proposal to sell Provincial Capital Commission land highlights the arrogance of playing fast and loose with public property.

After its last budget, the government announced it would sell an undisclosed number of PCC properties, which range from parking lots and prized downtown buildings, to blocks of forest on the Trans-Canada Highway approach into the city. There wasn’t a whiff of public process in the decision.

Once public land is sold, it’s expensive and difficult to acquire other land, especially in the Capital Region. View Royal, for instance, paid more than $2 million for 2.4 acres of land for a new fire hall.

Municipal councils and senior governments need to have policies that give the public disclosure and input. Residents deserve to know decisions being made in their names.

By Roszan Holmen, Victoria News, May 14, 2012

As the city prepares to entertain the possible sale of a second piece of prominent public land, some are calling for a made-in-Victoria policy to guide such sales in the future.

Irwin Henderson presented his research to a standing-room only community forum last week.

“It’s a matter of fairness, that you want buyers and the taxpayers to be treated fairly over time, as well as in individual cases, and that’s why it’s important to have a policy,” said Henderson, an active community volunteer.

City councillors Ben Isitt and Shellie Gudgeon hosted the community discussion, which attracted nearly 100 people. While some people feel public land should never be sold, others have argued for more transparency, open competition, or other standard criteria.

Both Isitt and Gudgeon recently opposed the majority vote by council to consider an offer from Ralmax Group of Companies to purchase the city-owned marine industrial land at Point Hope.

That decision sparked the community forum, but the issue of public land divestiture has been a sore point since January.

That’s when details of the Northern Junk proposal came to light.

Two years ago, council granted developer Reliance Properties permission to submit a rezoning application for the public land surrounding its privately-owned property on Wharf Street.

The company proposes to restore the two heritage buildings on its own lot, and to build a multi-use development extending into property currently owned by the city.

While council still has the authority to reject the rezoning application, it risks a lawsuit if it withdraws its offer to include municipal property in the development plan.

For many, the irreversible nature of the deal came as a nasty surprise.

The public learned of the situation thanks to a motion by Coun. Lisa Helps to report on the council decision made behind closed doors.

It was Helps who again made a motion in late April to report on council’s motion to entertain an offer by Ralmax.

“That’s important to me that the conversation happens in public,” she said at the time.

Isitt argues that the process is backwards.

“The city should really be the driving force (behind land sales),” he said.

When faced with an offer to buy land, he added, the city’s first question should be ‘is this surplus to the city’s current or future needs?’

By agreeing to consider an offer before this analysis, the city is sending the message that ‘if the price is right, the land is surplus,’ he said.

Read more »

Listen to this CFAX 1070 radio interview with Adam Sterling from May 11, 2012, where I discuss issues including the proposed sale of City-owned land as well as proposals for regional policing:

Link to CFUV radio interview, May 11, 2012

Download CFAX radio Podcast

Letter to the editor published in Victoria News, May 9, 2012
 

Re: Tax break irks neighbour (News, May 4)

Thanks to Bill Sudds and Victoria Coun. Ben Isitt for speaking out on tax breaks for private schools. Yes, Glenlyon is only one school, as Coun. Marianne Alto says, but it is an example of systemic injustice.

Glenlyon Norfolk is hardly a “public good.” It’s a universe of screened-entry small classes for those who can afford it.

For most of us, it’s an exclusive enclave that our children and grandchildren will never benefit from (though many of us would rather be part of the non-exclusive welcome that public education provides).

We’re all subsidizing playing fields for this “charity of the wealthy” while many public school parents struggle with fundraising to buy playground equipment. And as Coun. Isitt pointed out, we all subsidize those $16,040 tuition fees for schools we cannot afford to send our own kids to.

Tax dollars given to independent schools increased by 2.8 per cent in 2011-12, while many public school districts run ongoing structural deficits of millions of dollars because of shortfalls in funding.

Over the last 10 years the public school system has lost about $3 billion in funding. Meanwhile, over 2008-09, the B.C. government provided $217 million to independent schools. In 2010 the B.C. School Trustees Association passed the Cowichan School Board’s resolution to “request the Ministry of Education to redirect to the public education system the public money spent on independent schools, other than band schools.”

As a trustee on the School District 61 Board of Education, I commend the BCSTA for this stand. Trying to move the current British Columbia government away from the ‘public bad, private good” mindset is a continual struggle. We need to have this discussion in a very public way.

Diane McNally
Victoria
Trustee, School District 61 Board of Education 

By Roszan Holmen, Victoria News, May 7, 2012

In response to a groundswell of activism, Victoria city council unanimously decided to invest funds to reopen a mid-block pathway in Fairfield this year.

The 35-metre Chandler-Gonzales pathway owned by the city connects Pemberton Park with Chandler Street. it has been closed to pedestrians since the mid 1970s.

Chain-link fencing and cedar hedging will be installed to protect neighbours’ privacy. The project will cost approximately $250,000 and use up the majority of the city’s 2012 greenways budget.

A group of neighbours dubbing themselves the Committee to Re-open the Chandler-Gonzales pathway has solicited donations for the project, potentially reducing costs by $50,000. The group is also trying to organize a work party with city employees represented by CUPE Local 50.

“It looks like there’s enough momentum behind the project and enough will at the council table to contain costs … that I’m pretty confident the work project will happen,” Coun. Ben Isitt said.

By Bill Cleverley, >Victoria Times Colonist, May 5, 2012

Returning to a roundabout at Hillside Avenue and Douglas Street might improve traffic flow on the Douglas corridor, says Victoria Coun. Ben Isitt.

The traffic circle at the intersection of Government Street, Douglas, Hillside and Gorge Road was built in the late 1940s and demolished in 1963. Dwayne Kalynchuk, the city’s director of engineering, said there has been no thought given to its return.

“It’s something that council should at least think of [with] an open mind,” Isitt said during consideration of a Douglas Street transit planning report. “Who knows? Traffic circles aren’t a panacea, but maybe it’s something worth pursuing in terms of medium and long-range planning for the city.”

Victoria's "Fountain Circle" round-about, c. 1950s. Photo credit: City of Victoria Archives

He noted the intersection has the dubious distinction of being included as a Trivial Pursuit answer for having the longest stop light in the country.

Read more »

By Ben Isitt, Victoria Times Colonist, May 4, 2012

Victoria Mayor Dean Fortin felt compelled to call a time-out to rein in Coun. Ben Isitt during a debate Thursday on approval of a modified charter for the Johnson Street Bridge replacement project.

Fortin abruptly moved the meeting into an in camera session when Isitt suggested the charter include provision for an independent oversight monitor to report to council on financial and technical aspects of the project.

Asked after the meeting why he moved the meeting in camera to take Isitt to the proverbial woodshed, Fortin said: “The Johnson Street project is the biggest project we have and there’s a high level of risk. It’s appropriate always for us to understand that some of that risk is political interference.

“That can cause the greatest uncertainty,” he continued. “So for us, we want to make sure and have an understanding what those risk levels are. So an opportunity to get that clarity was welcome.”

Isitt said he could not comment on what occurred in the in camera session.

The first-term councillor had already been admonished by Fortin earlier in the meeting and ruled out of order when he tried to include a provision in the charter that one of the new bridge’s three traffic lanes be built to a structural standard capable of supporting rail.

Councillors retired to a private lounge for about 20 minutes. When they returned, Isitt withdrew his motion “in light of information” he received.

The previous council removed rail from the bridge project in order to shave an estimated $12 million off the costs. They did retain a right of way for a rail crossing in the future, should funding for it be found.

But Isitt persisted in trying to make a case for rail on the new bridge, saying now that federal funding has been announced, planned improvements to the E&N rail added to the importance of the rail line being brought into downtown instead of terminating in Vic West.

“We have not discussed the issue of rail connectivity to our core since the E&N railroad got the green light. A quarter of all the ties on the tracks between Victoria West and Courtenay are going to be repaired; 49 bridges are going to be repaired,” Isitt said.

“Rail is feasible. There’s a large group that’s enthusiastic about it, and I don’t want to see downtown Victoria left out of this exciting and sustainable transportation lifeline for the Island.

“I want to see downtown Victoria remain the commercial and employment core of the capital region of this province and I think rail coming is vital.”

A Vic West terminus would be 50 metres from downtown. Fortin said the $15 million in improvements to the E&N track does not cover needed improvements to bridges or rail crossings. Estimates are B.C. Transit would need to subsidize the cost of commuter rail on the E&N at the rate of $40 per passenger per trip, he said.

“So there are some major questions that need to be answered,” Fortin said.

By Liz McArthur and Andrea Boyes, CFAX 1070, May 3, 2012

A decision on naming rights for City of Victoria facilities has been postponed by a committee Thursday afternoon.

The Governance and Priorities Committee moved to wait before tabling a policy on naming rights. Instead, staff will prepare a draft naming rights policy and send it to the public for consultation before it comes back to Committee for consideration.

Councillor Ben Isitt put forward the amendment regarding public consultation.

“I think it is important and I think for councillors who think we potentially should have corporate naming rights, it at least allows you to hear from the public as our staff have said that other jurisdictions have done.”

City staff estimate it will take several months before the issue is back before the Committee.

Meanwhile Councillor Marianne Alto says she had hoped the original policy on naming rights would pass Thursday, but respects the decision made.

“So I was hopeful that it would go through today [Thursday], so I’m a little disappointed but I respect the comments of my colleagues, and I heard what they were saying, so I’m still hopeful that we will go to the public and get some positive feedback, and that we’ll end up back at the table, hopefully soon. I don’t think we need to take a long time to do this.”

Alto says she supports naming rights when they are put in the context of local community, and she says it is also important the city has an absolute right to say no to naming rights, for whatever reason.

 

Listen to the CFAX newscast here:

Link to CFAX newscast, May 3, 2012

Download CFAX Newscast

By Roszan Holmen, Victoria News, May 2, 2012

Bill Sudds has no issue with his neighbour, Glenlyon Norfolk School.

He isn’t bothered by the school’s operations, half a block from his house on Somenos Street in the Gonzales neighbourhood. Nor does he object to its high fees or its independent-school mandate.

He just doesn’t want his property tax dollars subsidizing it.

“Why should I, and people like me, why should we subsidize the wealthy?” he asked.

This year the City of Victoria will review its permissive tax exemption policy, which essentially covers not-for-profit organizations. The review seeks to establish eligibility criteria, and some people – Sudds included – hope Glenlyon gets removed from the list.

As an independent school, Glenlyon charges tuition and in B.C., private schools receive a per-student operating grant. The province also requires municipalities to waive property taxes on school buildings and the land they sit on.

That statutory exemption will see Glenlyon avoid paying approximately $128,390 in property tax for 2012.

Municipalities can also choose to waive property taxes on the rest of the school property. Victoria voluntarily exempts Glenlyon’s fields, a break worth an estimated $55,654 this year.

The exemptions bother Sudds.

“When I look at my property taxes … they’ve been rising quite substantially,” he said.

Glenlyon earns revenue, and like every business and every household, it should pay tax, he said.

Coun. Ben Isitt agrees.

“Glenlyon clearly has the ability to pay the tax bill,” he said.

Attending Glenlyon for Grades 6 through 12 costs between $16,040 and $17,430 per year. The school’s junior campus is located in Oak Bay. In 2011, the school posted a $986,631 surplus.

Simon Bruce-Lockhart, Glenlyon’s head of school, points out that the institution is a registered charity.

“If there’s any bottom line at the end of the year, that has to go back to the school so there’s no profit involved,” he said. “Not-for-profit educational institutions are certainly serving the public good, and the fact that people are paying fees for them doesn’t destroy the fact that we’re serving the public good.”

Isitt, however, questions the public good.

“My view is we need to be concentrating our finite tax dollars on strengthening our public schools,” he said.

He calls on the city to both eliminate Glenlyon’s permissive tax exemption and to lobby the province to remove all subsidies to independent schools.

Read more »

By Bill Cleverly, Victoria Times Colonist, May 2, 2012

Power outages are becoming a problem for the Capital Regional District’s Fisgard Street headquarters building, say senior staff.

“[The power supply] is becoming less reliable, and it’s certainly less reliable than our old site [on Yates Street],” Diana Lokken, general manager of corporate services, told members of the CRD finance committee on Wednesday.

“We have no idea why our power here is less and less reliable,” she said.

But B.C. Hydro records indicate there have been few problem with the power service to the building.

“In the past year, our records indicate that there have been four outages totalling about two minutes [on the circuit serving the CRD building],” said B.C. Hydro spokesman Ted Olynyk.

Those four incidents don’t include a large transmission outage about three weeks ago that affected the whole east coast of the CRD, including downtown Victoria.

“If there are other outages that have affected the CRD office, we’d certainly like to hear about them,” Olynyk said.

The CRD believes there have been more incidents than the four cited by Olynyk.

The large transmission outage three weeks ago created major difficulties, Lokken said.

“What happened when the backup generator came was everybody lost anything they were working on. So that was the issue,” she said.

Both the corporate data centre and wiring closets on all floors are protected by an uninterruptable power supply (UPS) and backup generator and the CRD’s headquarters, 625 Fisgard St., also has two power feeds to minimize the power outages, said a staff report to CRD directors Wednesday.

Lokken said the backup generator only services selected systems within the building — and that there is a seven-second delay before it kicks in.

In order to try to mitigate the problem, all new computers are being equipped with small UPS units to provide emergency power, Lokken said.

“We’re installing large UPS for accounts payable and payroll because a crash in the middle of doing a a run there would have a substantial impact on staff time to try to figure out what happened,” she said.

But before the CRD embarks on any substantial — and potentially expensive — infrastructure improvements, Lokken said, it would like to see a plan from B.C. Hydro to provide increased reliability of service.

CRD board member and Victoria Coun. Ben Isitt suggested continuing to address the larger issue of power supply, but also recommended setting the auto-save function on individual computers at two-minutes intervals as a temporary fix.

Read more »

Listen to this CFUV radio interview with Mehdi Najari from May 1, 2012, where I discuss strengthening procedures for selling City-owned land, including increasing opportunities for public consultation throughout the process:

Link to CFUV radio interview, May 1, 2012

Download CFUV radio Podcast

By Roszan Holmen, Victoria News, May 2, 2012

The City of Victoria will entertain an offer from Ralmax Group of Companies to purchase four marine industrial lots on Harbour Road.

In an in-camera meeting last week, council voted 7-2 in favour of considering an offer.

“No decision has been made, only the decision to at least consider an option,” Mayor Dean Fortin said. “Whatever option is developed will be brought forward for council’s consideration … will be made public, (then) the public can weigh into the value of that through a variety of public processes.”

Ralmax currently leases land from the city between Harbour Road and the waterfront. It operates three companies on the that property: Ralmax Development, Point Hope Maritime and United Engineering.

Back in January 2011, Ralmax Group announced plans to upgrade and expand its operations with a major capital investment.

Coun. Ben Isitt and Coun. Shellie Gudgeon voted against the motion. Isitt argues the city has inadequate information to proceed. 

Council has received no rationale about the cost-benefit analysis of selling rather than leasing, Isitt said.

Gudgeon and Isitt will host a public forum to discuss whether the city should ever sell public land, and if so, how.

The meeting takes place Wednesday, May 9 at 7 p.m. at the Garry Oak Room, 1335 Thurlow Rd. beside Sir James Douglas elementary.

By Bill Cleverly, Victoria Times Colonist, May 1, 2012

Victoria city council has agreed to consider selling four city-owned industrial waterfront properties in Vic West valued at about $17 million.

The Ralmax Group is the potential buyer.

But Coun. Ben Isitt says the move is premature and that the city should ask residents whether they have any interest in selling city owned lands before even entertaining any discussions.

The lands in question are at 203, 211, 327 and 345 Harbour Road.

Ralmax holds long-term leases until 2045 on three of the four properties – 211, 327 and 345 Harbour Road – home to Point Hope Shipyard. The company has been negotiating a lease for 203, the lot immediately to the north of the Johnson Street Bridge.

Ralmax has invested about $17 million in upgrades on its leased lands, including the construction of a marine turntable, new sheet-pile docks and a wastewater treatment system.

No terms of any purchase offer have been received by the city. The councillors simply have said they are open to consider such a fair-market value offer.

Isitt says there are many unanswered questions regarding the four city-owned properties on Harbour Road, including:

- whether they are really surplus to the city’s needs;

- whether the city realizes the greatest economic benefit by selling, rather than leasing the lands;

- whether the city is in a stronger position as owner or regulator of the lands when it comes to sustaining a working harbour and ensuring a manufacturing base;

- If the lands are deemed surplus to the city’s needs, whether a sale through negotiation with the current tenant would produce the best return.

Only Isitt and Coun. Shellie Gudgeon voted against exploring the possibility of the sale.

“I have a lot of concerns. Everything from the environmental – in the future could we potentially see a waterfront park on some of those lands – to the industrial concerns,” Isitt said.

“Does the city have a stronger role to play in terms of ensuring a working harbour and a manufacturing base as owner rather than just the regulator of the land?” he asked.

Ralmax president Ian Maxwell was unavailable for comment.

“The city has indicated it would at least be interested in seeing what sort of offer would be put forward and weigh that against holding long-term lease agreements,” Mayor Dean Fortin said.

“We obviously want to find out what’s best for the citizens of Victoria and understand what may be offered on the table.”

The Harbour Road properties were granted to the city by the province in 1989 for $1.

The lands are designated under the official community plan and harbour plan as marine industrial sites, and are zoned for marine industrial uses.

Under city policy, the proceeds of any sale of city lands must go to property acquisition reserves and cannot be used for operations. Under the policy, 10 per cent of the proceeds of any city land sale must go to the Parks and Greenways Acquisition Reserve Fund, with the balance going to the Tax Sale Land Reserve Fund.

Isitt and Coun. Shellie Gudgeon will hold a forum May 9 at the Fairfield Community Centre to discuss issues surrounding the sale of city-owned properties.

By Roszan Holmen, Victoria News, April 29, 2012

Residents of an affordable family housing complex were surprised by a building-wide eviction notice April 24, despite assurances from the owner that renovations wouldn’t uproot them.

“I’m in a little bit of a panic,” said Hope Yayaheekoot, who lives in one of 64 units at Quadra Villa, 2835 Fifth St., with her daughter and her cat. She pays $682 per month for her two-bedroom townhouse unit and is on a disability pension.

“I know that I can’t afford rent anywhere else,” she said.

Back in October the property owner, Residences at Quadra Villa Limited Partnership, told tenants that renovations would be phased allowing people to continue living in place.

“There was a miscommunication,” said David Fullbrook, with LEAGUE Assets Corps, one of the developers involved.

The building has severely deteriorated and LEAGUE determined construction can’t be undertaken with tenants on site.

The eviction notice spells out a timeframe of two months for families to move out – the minimum required under the Residential Tenancy Act.

“To be honest, I spent a lot of time thinking about that,” Fullbrook said. “The decision was made that the longer this process goes on, the more painful it is. To tell people that in six months they are going to lose their home is, in my view, six months of stress that people don’t need to go through.”

A day after hearing the news, resident Sarah Wilson sat on her second-story balcony watching a group of kids playing ball in the courtyard.

“I feel there’s a sense of community here,” she said. “For the families this is going to be particularly affecting, because right now, it’s one of those communities where … you can still put your kids out to play with other kids. Everyone watches everyone else’s kids.”

Some people have rented in the complex for more than 20 years, said Wilson, who leases a three-bedroom suite for $1,000.

The building is run-down, she admitted, but she wishes she’d had more time to prepare.

Yayaheekoot, meanwhile, is hoping to appeal to the Residential Tenancy Branch.

“I’ve been on the B.C. Housing list (for subsidized housing) for about three years now, and they’re still telling me that there are no places available,” she said.

Rob Hunter, president of Devon Properties, has been hired to help the tenants find new apartments. As of Friday, he had found housing for two families.

Eighteen of the units are also vacant or rented to students with leases expiring May 1.

“We’re comfortable that we’ll help quite a few people,” Hunter said.

April is the best time to find an apartment because all the students are moving out, he explained, adding there are 200 units vacant within Devon’s apartment holdings alone.

Relocating some tenants with the lowest income will be a challenge, but Devon Properties is working with B.C. Housing, he said.

City council determined the effort didn’t go far enough.

Thursday night, council passed a motion to urge the owner to reconsider the eviction.

“I just think there’s a more humane and ethical way to deal with it,” said Coun. Ben Isitt, who put forward the motion as liaison for the Hillside-Quadra neighbourhood.

Read more »

By Kyle Reynolds, CFAX 1070 News, April 28, 2012

More then 140 workers were killed on the job last year, and today community members will gather to remember them on the National Day of Mourning.

Locally, over 600 delegates from CUPE BC’s annual convention will join the Victoria Labour Council and city councillor Ben Isitt for a 9 AM event at Centennial Square.

Among the speakers scheduled to address the crowd is Victoria Labour Council President Michael Eso.

“I’ll be speaking on behalf of the Labour Council. Barry O’Neill, who’s the president of CUPE BC, will be speaking. Paul Moist, who’s the President of CUPE National, will be speaking. And I think there are a couple of other speakers representing the interests of injured workers as well.”

CUPE BC President Barry O’Neill says employers must be held accountable, and that it’s their responsibility to ensure that workers make it home safe every night.