By Judith Lavoie, Victoria Times Colonist, April 28, 2012

Ben introduced a motion urging the owner of Quadra Villa to reconsider the decision to evict 62 families from their homes. Photo credit: Lyle Stafford, Times Colonist

Victoria city council wants the developer of Quadra Villa to reconsider a decision to evict tenants from the low-rent, 64-unit complex during renovations.

“We acknowledge the limitations of the city’s powers, but this sends an important message that we don’t support the loss of affordable housing,” said Coun. Ben Isitt. The motion, introduced by Isitt, passed five votes to three on Thursday.

The evictions, which mean tenants have to be out by the end of June, have come as a shock to tenants and councillors as original plans allowed tenants to stay during renovations, Isitt said.

“It’s a 180-degree turn,” he said. “If the first plan is not feasible, could one part of the townhouse be redeveloped at a time to limit the number of displaced families?”

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By Ryan Price, Frank Stanford and Andrea Boyes, CFAX 1070 News, April 26, 2012

Tenants in over 60 suites in the ‘Quadra Villa’ complex, near Quadra and Topaz, have been handed eviction notices so the building can be renovated.

In a letter to Victoria’s Mayor and Council, one concerned neighbour worries this is a renoviction — a term made popular in Vancouver that refers to tenants being evicted, the building renovated, and rents hiked substantially.

Councilor Ben Isitt says Victoria can’t afford to lose this kind of affordable housing.

“I have presented a motion to city council that would urge the owner to reconsider their decision to evict these residents and to work with the city to find some kind of solution to allow for housing continuity while this site is redeveloped.”

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By Kim Westad, Victoria Times Colonist, April 20, 2012

Victoria residents face a 3.25 per cent municipal tax increase this year. The city’s governance and priorities committee approved the increase Thursday.

Victoria also intends to shift more of the tax burden onto residential taxpayers from businesses.

In years past, Victoria businesses have paid 3.59 times the property taxes that residents pay, or 49.4 per cent of the taxes.

The committee voted in favour of reducing that to 48 per cent over three years, although it wasn’t unanimous.

“There is an inordinate burden being put on businesses downtown,” said Coun. Geoff Young.

“It is incumbent on us to achieve a fairer system and to recognize the economic plight of the downtown. We have to make sure we do what we can to maintain the downtown core as the heart of the region.”

Coun. Lisa Helps said the change results in a $6 increase for her residential taxes. “I’ll pay $6 for a more vibrant downtown.” Councillors Ben Isitt and Pam Madoff voted against the change, saying residential taxpayers are already paying inordinately high taxes because of Victoria property values.

By Kim Westad, Victoria Times Colonist, April 12, 2012

Ben has suggested that the CRD establish an organics processing facility at Hartland, minimizing changes to existing infrastructure and land use while providing a supply of high quality, affordable compost for farmers, municipalities and residents. Photo credit: Times Colonist

Kitchen scraps will be banned from the Hartland landfill in less than three years, giving regional municipalities time to sort out how – or if – they should pick up organic waste along with garbage.

The scraps, including meat, bones, grains, dairy products, eggs, vegetables, fruits and soiled paper products, won’t be allowed at the landfill as of Jan. 1, 2015.

A phased-in ban that begins with incentives and surcharges was approved unanimously by the Capital Regional District Board Wednesday.

In 2013 and 2014, kitchenscrap loads delivered to a CRD-approved transfer station or composting facility will be eligible for a $20-per-tonne rebate. As well, in 2014, garbage loads taken to the Hartland landfill containing kitchen scraps will be subject to a 20 per cent surcharge.

Several municipalities already provide kitchen waste pickup, including View Royal and parts of Oak Bay. Saanich has a pilot project underway.

The scraps are collected by a private company and processed at private composting facilities. There are no regional or municipal processing facilities in Greater Victoria.

Banning kitchen scraps is seen as a way to buy at least another five years of life for the region’s only landfill. Since the scraps make up 30 per cent of the landfill’s waste, banning them will go a long way toward reaching the CRD’s goal of diverting 70 per cent of all waste by 2015.

The CRD originally planned to ban kitchen scraps by next month, suggesting that organic waste be collected much the same as recyclables in the regional blue box program. But municipalities expressed concerns about costs, methods and who would do the pickup, and some were interested in providing the service themselves.

The program is expected to cost about $3.2 million by 2015 in reduced tipping fees at Hartland landfill.

Tipping fees, the amount paid by people who use the landfill, are a major source of revenue.

CRD chairman Geoff Young said dealing with kitchen waste is a lot cheaper than finding a $50-million successor to Hartland, which is expected to reach capacity in 2035.

Victoria Coun. Ben Isitt suggested that a single processing plant for scraps be considered at Hartland, while Central Saanich Mayor Alastair Bryson said the organic compost created from kitchen scraps could be put to good use on local farmland.

CRD staff estimate that 30,000 tonnes of processed kitchen scraps would generate 17,000 tonnes of finished compost – enough to fertilize 416 hectares or 10 per cent of land in the Agricultural Land Reserve on the Saanich Peninsula.

Listen to this interview on CBC Radio “On the Island” with Gregor Craigie, where I discuss ongoing design and cost questions surrounding the new Johnson Street Bridge:

Link to CBC radio interview, April 4, 2012

Download CBC radio Podcast

By Bill Cleverley, Victoria Times Colonist, March 31, 2012

Ben has called for changes to the city bylaw that allows property (or "chattels") to be seized. He has also called for a discussion on a temporary regulated tenting area. Photo by Pete Rockwell

It could be a tale of two cities.

Victoria Coun. Ben Isitt is calling for the possible repeal of the city’s chattels bylaw in the wake of a report that says street people are often unfairly targeted by police.

Douglas Street businessman Scott Harrison, on the other hand, says he has difficulty getting police to respond when he calls about people abandoning shopping carts, vandalizing, urinating and defecating on his property.

“I’ve had three windows kicked out this week alone,” he said Friday. “They’re leaving shopping carts full of clothing and that sort of thing.”

Harrison, who owns Action Transmission at Douglas and Bay streets, said he calls for help, “but they’re not here by the time [the police] get here.”

The problems of local businesses have been exacerbated by the opening of the city’s Queens Manor transitional housing project just down the road at Douglas Street and Queens Avenue, Harrison said.

“I had a knife fight out in front of my shop and there is something that drastic every month, at least once a month,” he said.

Harrison said he has written to both the city and to provincial Minister of Health Mike de Jong to complain.

“It’s a definitely a mental-health issue. We’re trying to put a Band-Aid on an artery wound here,” he said. “Currently, [Mayor Dean] Fortin and his little ‘let’s end homelessness’ experiment is failing because all we’re doing is moving them from one area of the city to the next and now we’re on the main drag.”

Isitt, meanwhile, has given notice he wants councillors to debate options for the repeal and amendment of the Streets and Traffic (Chattels) Bylaw, which allows police and bylaw enforcement officers to seize belongings or levy fines against people for having their belongings on the street.

“It just seems like [the bylaw] targets members of the street community who have substantial belongings,” Isitt said.

“I certainly think, in the long run, we want to provide homes for people so they don’t have to lug their belongings around, but it just seems like an unfair bylaw given the economic situation these people have.”

The resolution comes in the wake of a recent study that found there’s a perception that people living on or near the street are targeted by police based on their appearance. Interviews of 100 street-involved people conducted by the Vancouver Island Public Interest Research Group found that one of the biggest issues is police confiscating private belongings – a charge flatly denied by the police.

Isitt also wants to explore the possibility of establishing a temporary designated tenting area for people living rough and is proposing a workshop with police, bylaw enforcement officers and representatives of the street community be scheduled to discuss the possibility of establishing a temporary, regulated tenting area.

“Right now, we have dozens of unregulated tenting sites – they’re in all of our neighbourhood parks. I don’t think this is an acceptable solution,” Isitt said.

A single temporary site would allow the city to provide portable toilets, and “service providers and police would know that would be part of their patrols and their workload,” Isitt said.

Fortin said that rather than “managing” homelessness through designated tenting areas, he would prefer to focus on ending it by finding people homes.

Isitt’s motions are scheduled to be discussed April 19.

By Bill Cleverley, Victoria Times Colonist, March 30, 2012

With Coun. Marianne Alto leading the charge, Victoria councillors shaved another $260,000 from this year’s budget, reducing the property tax increase to 3.25 per cent from an anticipated 3.5 per cent.

Alto, who failed last week to convince her colleagues the tax increase could be limited to 3.0 per cent, was back with a compromise.

Alto’s suggestions included reducing the police budget by $150,000 and the city’s contracted services budget by $30,000. Councillors already had agreed to Alto’s suggestion to eliminate catering services for council and standing committee meetings, saving $12,000. Another $68,000 came as the city’s share of the Greater Victoria Public Library budget was less than anticipated.

Councillors also signalled that 3.25 per cent is the maximum property tax increase they are prepared to accept in each of the next three years.

Alto called the savings significant, especially given that city staff had presented what they considered a status quo budget that called for a tax increase of 4.7 per cent.

“I don’t think it is a huge deal in the sense of volume, but I do think it’s a huge deal in the sense of making sure that taxes go up as little as humanly possible,” Alto said.

Coun. Ben Isitt said it was with great reservations he would support the budget. He thought there could be more cuts to the police budget, “which over time, I think, needs to take the form of cuts to [full-time-equivalent positions] through attrition as crime rates continue to fall.”

City director of engineering Dwayne Kalynchuk said the money also funds banners, lights in the Centennial Square fountain and lanterns in Chinatown.

Listen to this CFAX 1070 radio interview with Dave Dixon from March 24, 2012, where I discuss a motion unanimously supported by Victoria City Council in favour of a regulatory approach to cannabis control:

Link to CFAX 1070 radio interview, March 24, 2012

Download CFAX radio Podcast

By Sheila Gardner, CFAX News, March 22, 2012

Victoria City council has unanimously passed a motion that shows the city supports a regulatory approach to the control of marijuana. 

Councillor Ben Isitt introduced the motion to the Governance and Priorities Committee last week, and says it is a motion showing other jurisdictions that Victoria supports such a stance on the harm of cannabis prohibition.

“This is a statement to the federal government that the war on drugs has failed, that it’s not working in Victoria, or anywhere else in the country, and this position is consistent with the position taken by four former attorneys general of BC, similar to a position taken by Mechosin.  So, because the city and the taxpayers bear a lot of the costs of the war on drugs, whether in terms of policing cost, or in terms of petty crime in our neighbourhoods, I think that’s why it’s important for the city to take this position and that’s why council unanimously supported the motion when it was considered at the Governance and Priorities Committee.”

Isitt believes that many BC municipalities are increasingly affected by the harms of cannabis prohibition.

By Roszan Holmen, Victoria News, March 19, 2012

Ben voted against increasing the budget for the new bridge, as did councillors Helps and Young, suggesting the time had arrived to change the design to contain costs

After city council gave its blessing to the $15.8-million price hike for the new Johnson Street Bridge, staff wasted no time starting the search for a general contractor to get the work done.

On Friday, it posted a callout to companies interested in being shortlisted for the job, including demolition of the remaining bridge and construction of the new one.

The day before, city council grappled with the new $92.8-million project estimate, up from a previous estimate of $77 million.

While some couldn’t accept the higher price, a majority conceded to the escalation, hoping that a competitive procurement model will bring down costs. Council rejected two options for proceeding that promised possible savings, but left architectural features and even amenities such as bike paths at the discretion of the future contractor.

“When I came into the office today, my position was $77 million and not a penny more,” said Coun. Marianne Alto, at the public meeting. “I still have to say there’s a part of my head and my heart that doesn’t believe that we can’t build a bridge that has these (amenities) for $77 million. I think there’s a lot of people in the city who believe the same thing.”

The importance of staying on course to keep on schedule, however, helped to sway her vote.

At the recommendation of the city’s project director, Mike Lai, council approved what’s called a ‘design-assist’ delivery model.

That means the general contractor, to be hired in October, will build the bridge as designed by the project’s overseer, MMM Group. Council insisted, however, on flexibility to allow the contractor to make alterations to the design – as approved by the city – to save money.

Hiring the best engineering company for the job will be a two-step process.

First, the city will select three proponents from those that apply to their Request for Qualifications, posted online last Friday. Second, the selected teams will be invited to submit proposals.

“The proponents will have the opportunity to have confidential discussions with the city, with the view to explore design optimization from their perspective as builders, to provide further benefits to the city,” said John Haythorne, a Vancouver lawyer with expertise in negotiating infrastructure and construction contracts.

“It’s a way in which we can invite them to contribute their expertise as builders to the whole process.”

Finally, the city will enter into a fixed-price contract with the winning proponent.

Sasha Angus of the Greater Victoria Development Agency expressed confidence in the process.

“We’re encouraged that council has moved forward,” he said. “We think competition is the appropriate way to go … We’re encouraged they’re having multiple vendors take a stab at it.”

Councillors Geoff Young, Lisa Helps and Ben Isitt voted against adjusting the bridge project charter to reflect the new cost estimate.

“I can’t support enlarging the budget,” Isitt said. “I think the time to make the design change is now.”

Coun. Shellie Gudgeon was absent.

By Bill Cleverley, Victoria Times Colonist, March 16, 2012

Ben supported a motion placing the City on record as opposing the Northern Gateway Pipeline project

Proposed oil pipelines proved more contentious than pot for Victoria councillors this week as they went on record opposing the former and supporting the latter.

A motion put forth by Coun. Ben Isitt supporting the taxation and regulation of cannabis passed without debate.

The resolution noted that laws against pot have fuelled “an increasingly violent illegal market with expanding organized crime involvement” and that B.C. municipalities are being forced to bear an increasing financial burden dealing with grow-ops and enforcement.

Victoria will write to other municipalities across the country and to federal and provincial justice ministers informing them of council’s position.

Victoria councillors also went on record opposing any expansion of oil tanker traffic on the West Coast, but that didn’t pass quite as easily as the one on pot.

In the resolution, which was put forward by Coun. Lisa Helps, council:

- recognized the Coastal First Nations and Save the Fraser declarations which prohibit oil tanker expansions through B.C.’s coast;

- expressed unequivocal opposition to projects by Kinder Morgan, Enbridge or any other entity that would lead to the expansion of oil tanker traffic through B.C.’s coastal waters; and

- urged the province to use whatever means available to stop expansion of oil tanker traffic on B.C.’s coast.

Only Coun. Geoff Young argued against the motion, saying he has recently seen motions cross both the city’s and the Capital Regional District’s board tables against pipelines, offshore drilling and tanker traffic.

But, he said, the reality is that all methods of producing and moving petroleum products involve risk, and until the people are willing to stop driving vehicles locally, identifying individual projects as more dangerous than others is not appropriate.

But Isitt disagreed, saying it’s important for local governments to show support for their counterparts in northern B.C. that are already on record in opposing the Enbridge Inc.’s proposed Northern Gateway pipeline.

Existing pipelines can accommodate domestic consumption, Isitt said.

“This pipeline is about exporting one of the dirtiest sources of fuel in the world — tar sands crude — to international markets via the fragile north and central coast of this province,” Isitt said.

By Bill Cleverley, Victoria Times Colonist, March 15, 2012

Ben urged City Council to opt for a "simpler, more cost-effective bridge"

Victoria councillors reluctantly decided to stay the course and approved a $15.8-million increase to the Johnson Street Bridge project — bringing the total cost of replacement to $92.8 million.

But council indicated it is not willing to entertain future cost increases and passed a motion saying it expects pre-qualified builders bidding on the project to suggest any design improvements necessary to keep the project on budget and on schedule.

“Once bitten, twice shy,” said Mayor Dean Fortin.

Councillors will also be updated in June on any material changes to project scope, design or budget.

But not everyone was in favour. Coun. Ben Isitt urged his colleagues to vote against the increase and consider instead something “more off the shelf.”

“It’s questionable whether this city can even afford a $77-million bridge given other infrastructure priorities and social and environmental priorities. So I would think it’s time for the city to opt for a simpler, more cost-effective bridge,” Isitt said.

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By Frank Stanford, CFAX News, March 14, 2012

Ben favours a simpler, more functional design for the new Johnson Street Bridge to limit current and future cost overruns

At least one member of Victoria Council says he will urge his colleagues to kill the architectural design of the Johnson Street Bridge replacement.

Ben Isitt says the 15.8 million dollars in additional cost estimates announced yesterday is proof the city has planned too ambitious a project.

“But what I hope a majority of Councillors will now favour is kind of opting for function over form, and I guess stepping back from that idea that … this bridge has to be a work of art.”

Isitt says there are examples of lift bridges that work all over the world, and Victoria should adopt an “off the shelf” design.

Mayor Dean Fortin disagrees. He says simplifying the design at this point would not save money.

“The only way you could save money is to build less of a bridge, but the difficulty with that is if you build a bridge with one less traffic lane, or you build a bridge without a pedestrian walkway or without the bike lanes or multi-use trail then you lose this 37.5 million dollars you just got from the federal government.”

Fortin was speaking on the Murray Langdon show on C-FAX this morning.