However, some of the area’s most active community groups have expressed reservations about getting involved in the MWEAC, saying they are skeptical that the project will actually result in concrete policy that reflects the wishes of the community.
Brent Granby, president of the West End Residents Association (WERA), said he “reluctantly” supports the committee, despite the fact he wrote a letter to council endorsing the initiative. “We have some reservations in terms of, is it really going to have an impact on the developments that are coming in the West End?” he said in an interview with WE.
WERA members have participated in City-led advisory committees before, Granby noted, recalling the group’s involvement with the West End Integrated Neighbourhood Network (WEINN) under former mayor Larry Campbell. That process aimed to facilitate discussion on safety and street-level issues in the West End, but it took time and resources away from WERA’s agenda, which focuses on addressing environmental sustainability, affordability, and livability in the area. In the end, Granby said, there was little to show for the group’s involvement in WEINN, and he is wary of dedicating WERA’s limited resources to the City’s newest consultation initiative. “I’d rather for us just to be pushing our agenda,” Granby said. “How are we going to create a future where we’re less dependent on cars? How are we going to be more affordable? How are we going to create a future that has more importance about food security?”
However, Granby acknowledged there may be room within the scope of the MWEAC to address some of those issues, saying he would give Robertson “the benefit of the doubt” and apply to be a part of the committee — with a caveat. “If we’re in that committee and it turns out to be a dog-and-pony show, then we’re not going to participate anymore,” he said.
Randy Helten, WEN’s spokesperson, is less willing to place faith in the mayor. Helten said he feels council approved the MWEAC prematurely, and that there is insufficient information about how it will be governed. Of particular concern for WEN is that council-appointed members would meet directly with developers to discuss spot rezoning and development applications in the West End. WEN has long opposed the City’s rezoning process under the controversial Short Term Incentives for Rental Housing (STIR) program, which has allowed for the approval of high-rises in the area.
Helten met last week with Vision Vancouver councillors Andrea Reimer and Tim Stevenson, who will oversee the MWEAC and appoint its members, to discuss his concerns. He said the meeting did little to assuage his fear that the process would not be transparent. “The meetings [with developers] may be held in private, the members of the committee may be bound by code of conduct to keep the content of the meetings secret from the public, and they’re going to be discussing site-specific rezoning applications and making recommendations to the mayor,” he said. “I don’t think people can be assured that it’s really open, that the public can influence the decision.”
Helten, who owns property in the West End, also stated previously in an open letter to the mayor that the MWEAC’s 12 representatives would be “based on stereotypes.” That characterization was rejected by Reimer and the mayor, with Reimer noting the committee’s representation categories are based on 2006 census data reflecting demographics in the West End. “I’m a very evidence- and data-driven person, so I can’t imagine where one would view an accurate statistical representation of one’s neighbourhood as stereotypes,” she told WE. Census data from 2006 shows that roughly 80 per cent of West End residents are renters, while the population of people under 40 — a difficult group to engage in public consultation — has jumped significantly in the last decade.
Reimer said it was too early to say what forms of consultation MWEAC members would choose to undertake or how that information would be used, but added she was unaware of any advisory committee in the City’s history having enforced a code of silence among its members. “I have no experience of that ever being the case; it would be surprising to me,” she said.
The intent of the MWEAC, Reimer continued, is to gather a variety of “lived experiences” in the West End — including WEN members, if they are willing — and allow committee members to facilitate discussion in their own circles.
The Mayor’s West End Advisory Committee is accepting applications until Sept. 10. For more information, visit Vancouver.ca/commsvcs/planning/westend/advisory.htm.
reporter@westender.com
