A problem we can solve as a community

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.

Vancouver is the most livable city on the planet — a city we can all be proud of. But we are facing significant challenges with public disorder and we must act now.

The time has come for City Council to demonstrate to the citizens of Vancouver that we are a council that cares about public order issues. We are concerned about Vancouver’s world-wide reputation. We want local residents, business owners and visitors to feel confident in the safety and cleanliness of our streets.

I am working with Councillor Kim Capri to introduce a made-in-Vancouver approach to public disorder that speaks to the issues our City government has direct control over. This initiative is intended to address activities such as graffiti, littering, by-law infractions and aggressive panhandling, among others. We plan to bring forward recommendations to City Council later this Fall, and we want you to be involved.

Please visit my website, www.samsullivan.ca, to complete an online survey and provide your opinions on public disorder. Participation from the entire community will be essential to this initiative’s success, so I hope you will take a few moments to share your thoughts. Please also forward this email to your friends, family and colleagues.

It is important to note that this public order initiative is not intended in any way to lessen Council’s resolve to address other issues such as violent crime and the open drug market. Rather, the initiative is intended to complement the work being done on that front by a number of key stakeholders, including our front-line police officers.

We also recognize the importance of continuing to advocate for solutions that address some of the root causes of crime and public disorder, such as poverty, homelessness, drug addiction and mental illness. These issues will remain a focus of my discussions with the Provincial and Federal governments.

Again, thank you for taking part by completing the survey, and stay tuned for more details about this new initiative over the coming weeks.

In addition to public order, Council will be debating many other important issues this Fall, including the development of a 311 system for Vancouver. This initiative promises to make City Hall services even more efficient for residents and businesses, while providing enormous benefits for the City to track and manage service delivery across every department.

Imagine being able to access any city service and find information, in multiple languages, through one simple number: 3-1-1. City Council will be discussing the project in our meeting on September 26.

I welcome your feedback on these and other civic issues. You can reach me by email at mayor@vancouver.ca, or by calling my office at 604-873-7621.

Sincerely,

Mayor Sam Sullivan

Recent News

Mayor Sullivan urges Canadian cities to adopt EcoDensity; takes national leadership role on housing affordability

Earlier this week, the Mayor was in Toronto to attend the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Big City Mayors Caucus (BCMC), and outlined the City of Vancouver’s EcoDensity Initiative (www.ecodensity.org). He urged other Mayors to consider adopting similar policies in their cities, noting that “Canadian cities need to be leaders in addressing global climate change.”

He was also appointed Co-Chair of the Big City Mayors Working Group on Housing, an advocacy committee that will look at issues of housing affordability and access. The Mayor of London, Ontario, will join Mayor Sullivan as co-chair in advocating for increased federal government support for housing programs in cities.

Rain fails to dampen spirits at the 2006 Terry Fox Run

Mayor Sullivan was on hand to fire the starting gun for the 2006 Terry Fox Run on Sunday, September 17th. The event, which commemorates Terry’s inspiring Marathon of Hope in 1980-81, brought out hundreds of Vancouverites including Gordon Easton (pictured above with the Mayor). Gordon has participated in every Terry Fox Run over the past 26 years, and raised a total of $250,000 for cancer research. Hats off to Gordon and all of the organizers and participants in this year’s event!

Seattle visit offers chance to promote 2010 cooperation and cross-border tourism

Mayor Sullivan spent two days in Seattle in August, meeting with Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, as well as Seattle’s 2010 Committee, local transit authorities, waste management experts and environmental researchers. The visit was an opportunity for the Mayor to strengthen ties between the two cities, and see first-hand several innovative civic programs and initiatives in Seattle.

Mayor pleased with Federal decision to extend permit of supervised injection site

The announcement by the Federal Government that they would extend the permit for research purposes to Vancouver’s supervised injection site (Insite) until December 31, 2007, was welcome news.

“We strongly believe that this research program plays an important role in not only reducing harm to those who are drug addicted, but also reducing harm and costs to our communities,” the Mayor said. “We will have a bit longer to prove that point.”

This fall, the Mayor plans to meet with Health Minister Tony Clement to discuss Insite, as well as other ideas to help address the problems created by drug abuse. “Part of my job will be to work with other levels of government to look at how we might adapt solutions to Vancouver and Canada that have worked in other jurisdictions,” he said.

Vancouver’s idling bylaw education and enforcement campaign begins

An education campaign focused on showing how reducing idling makes good environmental and financial sense will be accompanied this fall with enforcement of Vancouver’s idling bylaw.

The educational campaign focuses on dispelling common myths around idling, such as:

Myth: Allowing your engine to cool down will cause more emissions and use more gas than just letting it run.

FACT: Recent AirCare tests confirmed that idling your engine uses more fuel and causes more emissions than turning it off and restarting it.

Myth: Frequent engine restarts will harm your engine starter.

FACT: Component wear caused by restarting the engine, estimated at $10 per year, will be recovered many times over in fuel savings from reduced idling.

Vancouver City Council enacted the idle free bylaw on July 18, 2006. For more information about the initiative, visit www.idlefree.ca.

In the News

Vancouver Mayor eager to learn Punjabi and Sikhism

Photo and story by Gian Singh Kotli

Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan won many hearts when he delivered a brief speech in a flawless Punjabi accent on September 4 at Gurdwara Khalsa Darbar Society, Vancouver. He was speaking on the occasion of the first Parkash Diwas (illumination day) celebration of Sri Guru Granth Sahib in 1604 by Guru Arjan Dev Ji at Amritsar.

Explaining his interest in learning Punjabi and Sikhism, Sullivan said: “I hope to explain to all our Punjabi citizens that we greatly respect them. I love what I am learning about the Sikh religion…”

Gurdwara Khalsa Darbar Society President Sarjit Singh Gill honored Sullivan for rendering valuable services to the city of Vancouver and the community on behalf of the whole congregation by presenting him with a Plaque of Honor. Much to the delight of all, the president also honored Sullivan by adding “Singh” (lion) to his name. He said: “I fail to understand whether I should call him Sam Sullivan only or Sam Singh Sullivan.”

From The Indo-Canadian Voice, September 9, 2006. For the full text of the story, go to:

http://www.voiceonline.com/voice/060909/headline3.php

Hotel to be Social Housing

From CKNW 980AM

It’s an unusual use for a heritage building but Vancouver City Council has approved an initiative to turn a 100-year old hotel into low income housing.

The Pennsylvania Hotel on Carrall and Hastings St. has been vacant since 2000, but Mark Townsend with the Portland Housing Society says with the city’s help, 44 units of social housing can be open in the fall, “To us it was illogical if you had a derelict hotel, not to renovate it. So, that’s the struggle that we face. We’ve been very well supported by the city council.”
The city will contribute over 5 million dollars in tax breaks and grants to fund the project.