Vancouver community leader, advocate & politician
I am pleased to report that since my last newsletter, there has been much work done to advance my 5 Goals for a Better Vancouver.
We recently passed our annual budget which resulted in a city controlled tax increase of 3.51%. Our budget was also able to increase funding for our parks, community centres, libraries, fire and police services.
In the first Council meeting of 2007, I took the opportunity to give a State of the City address outlining my goals and priorities for 2007 as your Mayor. The State of the City is a tradition that was observed by previous Mayors, but has not been practiced in recent years. I felt it was important to use the coming of the New Year to update the citizens of Vancouver on my activities and to outline how I intend to work with our Council towards a better Vancouver in 2007.
In order to address some of the key challenges Vancouver faces, I have asked Council to join me in working towards Five Goals for a Better Vancouver:
Today I am pleased to give my first State of the City address, reflecting on the past year and looking ahead to the opportunities in 2007.Good afternoon, Citizens. I would like to begin by acknowledging and respecting the traditional territories of the First Nations Coast Salish people.
Before I begin, I would like to make special mention of the tremendous efforts underway to restore the jewel of our city, Stanley Park. Over the holidays, we saw several devastating storms take down thousands of majestic trees and damage pathways and structures in the Park.
As 2006 draws to a close, I want to take this opportunity to wish you and your families the very best for the holiday season.
This has been an eventful year for Vancouver, and I believe we have so much to be proud of as a City. As we celebrate another year of Vancouver being named one of the world’s most livable cities, our Council has also recognized the challenges that exist in our communities and I’m very pleased that we have moved forward on a number of important policy initiatives over the past 12 months to address these issues.
City of Vancouver, Office of the Mayor
November 2006
On September 22, 2006, Mayor Sam Sullivan launched a survey about public disorder in the City of Vancouver, posted on his website www.samsullivan.ca. In just a matter of days, hundreds of Vancouver citizens had logged on to provide their views on issues such as aggressive panhandling, littering, open drug use and noise infractions. The survey closed November 1, 2006, with a total of 2,469 responses received. Based on the results, it is clear that many Vancouverites feel that our City has a serious public disorder problem and that action must be taken.
Of the almost 2,500 people who completed the survey, 1,909 people took the time to provide specific comments or observations based on their own personal experience or their perceptions of the conditions in their neighbourhoods. Below is a summary of survey responses as well as some of the specific themes and ideas that emerged from the public feedback.
The response to the Mayor’s survey has been overwhelming. Thank you for your comments, your ideas, and your input on this topic. Below is a random sampling of your feedback so far.
—
“Please find ways to support communities within the city to deal with the issues. We know our own neighbourhoods best, and I think that communities need to be involved in the solutions, since we live with the problems.”
“Most of these issues are just surface manifestations of much larger issues. The main issue firing the disorder in Vancouver is highly drug-related. It seems to be common sense to see this, but many people tend not to think further or they try to hide behind some morality which once again hides the truth. I would like to personally be involved in working out a long term solution to this ever growing problem. Unless we confront it directly, and stop skirting the issue, it will grow.”
Greetings from City Hall! Council is back in session after a busy summer break, and I am pleased to share with you a number of exciting initiatives and programs we will be developing this Fall.
One of the items at the top of my priority list is an initiative to address public disorder. This is an issue that affects neighbourhoods throughout the City, and I hear regularly from residents and businesses who tell me they want Council to be more proactive in improving safety and order on our streets.
Greetings,
This message is to everyone who provided their feedback on our public order survey at www.samsullivan.ca.
I would like to convey my sincere thanks to you and to the thousands who took the time to respond to our survey. Councillor Kim Capri and I have been encouraged by the huge number of responses and the thoughtfulness of the written comments. A full two-thirds of you added messages which we are reviewing as part of the development of new initiatives to address public disorder.
Clearly, there are many who care deeply about Vancouver, and wish to be involved in the solution to our challenges of homelessness, open drug use, and aggressive panhandling among other issues.
The survey on public disorder is now closed: click here to read the final results.
For those of you who have not done so already, I invite you to sign up for my email newsletters, and to receive notices about any future online surveys. Please visit my website at www.samsullivan.ca to sign up.
Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Email me at mayor@vancouver.ca with any further questions or comments.
Sincerely,
Mayor Sam Sullivan
City of Vancouver