Exclusive: Park Board steamrolling ahead with eviction, say six dissenting associations

Court documents filed by Vancouver’s six dissenting community centre associations say the Park Board is proceeding to “evict” them before the court has decided on their bid for an injunction to stop the OneCard.

Controversial OneCard

The Park Board terminated Joint Operating Agreements on Aug. 29 with volunteer boards at Hastings, Kensington, Kerrisdale, Killarney, Riley Park Hillcrest and Sunset community centres effective year-end. That was in reaction to the Aug. 20 filing of a B.C. Supreme Court petition aimed at blocking the citywide imposition of the OneCard membership system. The six associations, who are fighting the Park Board plan to centralize control of the 22 community centres, say they have a right to sell their own memberships. 

Justice Bruce Cohen reserved judgment after the Sept. 17-18 hearing. 

The six associations now say the Vision Vancouver-controlled Park Board is looking for other not-for-profit groups to replace them and staff transition teams have been formed to prepare for the Jan. 1, 2014 Park Board takeover.

The Oct. 15 court filing by Dean Davison, the lawyer for the six community associations, says the community associations have invested millions of dollars into the community centres and the programs “and as a result have legal ownership of a great deal of property and assets at the community centres." The six associations want the court to declare the community centres are "held on constructive trust by the Park Board for the plaintiffs."

"The Park Board is also currently taking steps to take over the programs on Jan. 1, 2014 when ownership of the copyrighted material (in the brochures which promote the programs) and the decades of goodwill is still a matter that must be dealt with by the court," according to the association's filings.

The plaintiffs applied Oct. 4 for an injunction to stop the Park Board from terminating the Joint Operating Agreements with the community associations and a declaration that the Joint Operating Agreements remain in effect and an interim injunction forcing the Park Board to perform its obligations under the JOAs.

A three-day hearing is scheduled for Oct. 22, but Park Board wants it adjourned to Nov. 18. 

The filing by city lawyer Jason Twa claims: "The Park Board has taken no steps to interfere with the plaintiffs joint operation of community centres during the currency of the JOAs, notwithstanding that it has issued notices of termination. Until the terminations of the JOAs are effective the Park Board continues to jointly operate community centres with the plaintiffs."

Twa claims more time is needed to prepare a defence because park board and civic archives must be searched for documents dating back to the 1930s about "historic financial and other contributions that the plaintiffs have made to the development, construction and renovation of community centres and related facilities dating as far back as the 1930s." 

"It will be a considerable undertaking for the Park Board to search for, locate, review and gather such documents," according to the Park Board filing.

Meanwhile, only two-and-a-half months remain until Jan. 1, 2014. 

Exclusive: EasyPark sues to recover missing $200,000

While it awaits the result of a criminal investigation, city-owned parking lot management company EasyPark is suing a Vancouver couple to recover more than $200,000 that it alleges was stolen by an ex-employee.

EasyPark’s Sept. 17 British Columbia Supreme Court notice of claim says Dan Chiu Keung Wong’s job was to empty ticket machine cash boxes into secure cash boxes, deliver the portable cash boxes to EasyPark’s secure treasury and report and account for all the cash boxes delivered.

But EasyPark claims that Wong stole funds from the cash boxes between 2008 and August 2012 and “altered or otherwise doctored the records of EasyPark to conceal his mishandling of the cash boxes, the portable cash boxes and his theft of the misappropriated funds.” 

“Dan was not authorized to and, as part of his employment with EasyPark, did not have the ability to open any of the cash boxes or the portable cash boxes,” said the lawsuit, filed by lawyer Peter Roberts of Lawson Lundell. 

EasyPark sued Dan Wong and his wife Angela Miu Kam Wong on Sept. 4, 2012 to seek return of the misappropriated funds plus interest. EasyPark received judgment on Sept. 16, 2013 against the couple for $203,037.95 plus $2,189.64 interest. The 1948-founded EasyPark, a non-profit public authority legally known as the Parking Corporation of Vancouver, manages 41 facilities with 10,836 parking spaces.

The claim says the Wongs bought a house on Jan. 4, 1993 on 3568 Tanner Street in Vancouver and jointly owned the property until June 22, 2005 when Dan Wong transferred his half interest to Angela Wong for a nominal $1 “and natural love and affection.” Since June 23, 2005, Angela Wong has been the only owner of the property, which has an assessed value of $787,200. 

The claim says the Wongs intentionally transferred the property to “defeat, delay, hinder and defraud” both Dan Wong’s existing and future creditors.

EasyPark chair Ransford

EasyPark claims Dan Wong “had accrued significant debts to creditors, including the Bank of Montreal and Royal Bank of Canada” and filed for bankruptcy on Jan. 30, 2006. He was discharged on Oct. 3, 2007. 

EasyPark wants the court to treat Dan Wong “as if he were still the legal and beneficial owner of the property” and grant an order for a certificate of pending litigation on the title of the property. 

The Wongs have not responded in court to the latest filing and the allegations have not been proven in court. A telephone message for the Wongs was not immediately returned.

In Dan Wong's Nov. 26, 2012 response to the Sept. 4, 2012 EasyPark lawsuit, he admitted he was employed by the company from January 2006 to Aug. 17, 2012, but denied misappropriating or converting the alleged misappropriated funds for his own use. That filing also said he was separated from Angela Wong.

EasyPark's Aug. 26, 2013 application for judgment against Dan Wong said the company retained KPMG Forensic to audit EasyPark records and determined there were $203,037.95 in "non-routine variances" between Jan. 1, 2010 and Aug. 18, 2012. "These non-routine variances in cash were 'most likely collected by Mr. Wong'," said the application.

The Aug. 26, 2013 EasyPark application said that "during the course of Dan's examination for discovery on June 27, 2013, an objection was raised to several relevant questions asked of him." 

One of the 10 objections raised was to this line of questioning by EasyPark's lawyer: "Mr. Wong gave evidence of a gambling problem. He was asked whether he ever borrowed money from friends, relatives or third parties for the purpose of gambling." 

EasyPark’s board chair told me in an interview that a criminal complaint was filed with the Vancouver Police Department. “Hopefully the police will deal with it to the full extent of the criminal law, but it’s in their hands,” said Bob Ransford.

VPD social media/media relations officer Sandra Glendinning said: "We will not speak to incidents that are currently under investigation, and we will not identify people who have not been formally charged."

Ransford said “procedures have been improved and tightened up” for employee background checks and money-handling at EasyPark. 

“This is an isolated case as far as we can tell,” Ransford said. “You want to know if there was any collusion or potential conspirators or other instances where this happened. There was a fair bit of audit work to rule that out.”

“Technology is moving us further and further away from the use of cash, and I think that’s a good thing, both from an efficiency point of view and controls." 

Note to readers: Do you have proof of significant fraud or theft in public-owned companies or government offices at any level? Only credible tips are welcome. Please contact me here. 

Vision Vancouver: openness promise made, promise broken

George Affleck to the rescue.

The former CBC reporter and producer, who runs a public relations agency called Curve Communications, was elected as an NPA city councillor in the 2011 election. Almost two years on, he has seen from the inside what those of us in the media have experienced on the outside.

Vancouver city hall, under the Vision Vancouver majority and leadership of Mayor Gregor Robertson, has become a closed shop. It has adopted the same corporate communications system for dealing with the media that exists under the proroguing Conservatives in Ottawa and the no-fall-Legislature-sitting BC Liberals in Victoria. This ranges from late replies to calls or emails from reporters seeking basic facts to the now-glacial Freedom of Information process that defaults to secrecy. No longer are we allowed to call a senior bureaucrat for an interview or even basic information. All requests must go through a central channel. Rarely are senior managers made available for interviews anymore. Instead, we get a crafted-by-committee paragraph or less statement that, sometimes, doesn't come close to being relevant.

Former city councillor and mayoral candidate Peter Ladner summed it up in this Business in Vancouver column. So did Stanley Tromp in The Tyee, who took a critical look at the ludicrous theatre that surrounds the open data movement, of which City of Vancouver claims to be a champion. As I like to say, it's nice to know where all the fire hydrants are, but how much did they cost taxpayers, who supplied them and how did they get the contract?

Affleck: motion for openness

What is the reason why those in power feel the need to keep citizens in the dark and feed them excrement? The phenomenon of the permanent campaign. It's all about controlling the message and manufacturing consent. Those in power want to keep power. They use every available communications tool to control the message and prevent the slightest of embarrassment, every single day. And they do it on your dime. Their ultimate goal is to convince just enough of you to vote for them on election day, so that they can continue the cycle and satisfy those interest groups that donated to their cause.

Don't believe me? Denise Rudnicki is Canada's expert on the permanent campaign and how it is ultimately a detriment to democracy. Here's one of her shorter pieces: Inside the Government's Message-Making Machine.

Spending on communications has tripled at Vancouver city hall over the last seven years. The stakes are high. Vision Vancouver genuinely wants to see the Greenest City 2020 strategy that it imposed come to fruition in 2020. That means it wants another two election victories in 2014 and 2017, to go along with the 2008 and 2011 majorities.

Robertson: promised transparency

Vision Vancouver might just succeed. It has created a formidable machine that appeals to those on the left, centre and right. It is where political donations from big unions and big business go. Without an effective opposition (NPA and COPE are still licking their wounds from 2011) the ruling party needs only to stay afloat in the daily news cycle until voting day, Nov. 15, 2014. Lo and behold, folks in neighbourhoods throughout the city are pushing back at Vision's habit of rubber-stamping rezoning and development of condos and bike lanes. A citywide protest march on city hall, called #OurVancouver, is planned for Sept. 24.

When he was sworn-in on Dec. 8, 2008, Mayor Gregor Robertson promised to "ensure transparency, accountability and public debate at city hall."

"I will not let you down on making city hall more open and accountable," Robertson said in his speech, which you can read here.

It is now 2013. Robertson has not delivered openness. He has let Vancouverites down.

Here is Affleck's motion. Watch out for the Vision Vancouver spin.

Media Access to City of Vancouver Staff 

Whereas the City of Vancouver values openness and transparency; 

Whereas media has an important role in communicating the actions of the City of Vancouver, and are crucial to ensuring informed, engaged citizens; 

Whereas the budget allocated to the Communications Department has increased from $1.25 million to $1.94 million, and staffing has increased from 9 to 20 positions over the past four years; 

Whereas local media have raised concerns regarding open access to officials, timely interviews with officials, and the ability to receive information on city policies; 

Whereas city departmental staff are professional, have good judgement and are generally very knowledgeable in their fields of expertise; 

Whereas past policy permitted city hall staff to communicate directly with members of the media at the discretion of their direct managers with no noticeable negative effects; 

Therefore be it resolved that provide a report to Council within three months which will explain:

• 1)   Current policy relating to media access to Department Heads in the context of current global best practices;

• 2)    Clear and concise policy around timely access to information by media; and

• 3)    How the commensurate workload of the Communications Department could be monitored with the view of cutting costs in that department as part of continued efforts of the Shared Services Review. 

Exclusive: PNE day-by-day attendance revealed

The Pacific National Exhibition's 2013 Fair -- its 103rd to date -- was not marred by weather, but instead power outages at Hastings Park on the middle Saturday and the last Thursday. In fact, those were two of the worst days for attendance at the Aug. 17-Sept. 2 Fair, according to statistics that are  published below for the first time.

What you already knew: The grand total over 15 days was 712,049, a decrease from the 763,689 a year earlier (when the fair was 17 days long) and far short of the 800,000 goal set by organizers. (By comparison, the centennial fair in 2010 drew 937,485.) PNE vice-president of finance Roger Gil told me gate revenue has not been reconciled, but will be reported to the board of directors for its next meeting. (PNE board meetings are held behind closed doors, despite it being a public body.)

What you didn't know: A power outage delayed the opening of gates on Aug. 24 so the attendance for the middle Saturday of the Fair -- traditionally one of the biggest days -- was a disappointing 48,874. Another power outage happened in the evening on Aug. 29. The day's weather was mixed -- partly cloudy, sometimes rainy -- but only 26,363 came through the turnstiles. That was the worst-attended day of the entire Fair. Organizers were hoping for more because Aug. 29 was the day Vancity credit union debit and credit cardholders were admitted for $5 each.

The best-attended day was the third day -- Tues. Aug. 20 -- with 76,902 fairgoers. Why was that? Well, Port Metro Vancouver sponsored free admission to all comers from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. There was also a free two-hour promotion on Aug. 27, to make-good for the Aug. 24 power outage. That Tuesday's total  was 64,580.

Tickets and parking at the 2013 Fair were both cut from $20 to $16 each and kids under 13 were free. The touring Chinggis Khan exhibition, the only brand, new marquee attraction at the Fair, was an extra $3. There was no price break at the gates during the middle weekend of the civic fair, which was in competition with the free admission, civic-sponsored 125th anniversary of Stanley Park. The PNE drew 48,874 on Aug. 24 and 53,048 on Aug. 25. It is not known how much the free festival at Stanley Park impacted the PNE's revenues, but it certainly was not a business-wise move by the Vision Vancouver-dominated city council. The true anniversary of Stanley Park could have been observed on Sept. 27, the date it was opened in 1888.

The PNE fairgrounds were closed on Aug. 19 and 26 to cut costs.

Next year's fair runs Aug. 16-Sept. 1, 2014.

Day	Date	Attendance
Saturday	August 17, 2013	29,976
Sunday	August 18, 2013	31,129
Monday	August 19, 2013	0
Tuesday	August 20, 2013	76,902
Wednesday	August 21, 2013	36,039
Thursday	August 22, 2013	36,594
Friday	August 23, 2013	45,547
Saturday	August 24, 2013	48,874
Sunday	August 25, 2013	53,048
Monday	August 26, 2013	0
Tuesday	August 27, 2013	64,580
Wednesday	August 28, 2013	33,499
Thursday	August 29, 2013	26,363
Friday	August 30, 2013	41,126
Saturday	August 31, 2013	66,222
Sunday	September 1, 2013	67,588
Monday	September 2, 2013	54,562

TOTAL

712,049

What do you love or hate about Vancouver's annual PNE Fair? Did you go to the 2013 Fair? Leave your comments below or email me here.

Exclusive: Ballem bashes media, promotes city trash manager

On Sept. 11, Vancouver city manager Penny Ballem sent a memo to staff to defend acting sanitation manager Mike Zupan from reports in The Province about the hiring of a Hells Angel as a trashman. A day later, Zupan was promoted to manager of sanitation operations. That’s the way Penny rolls. 

This, despite an internal staff report that I published, which shows widespread anger among the sanitation department rank-and-file over bad management. The staff survey even includes allegations of rule-breaking and nepotism!

While Ballem mentions in her memo that civic hiring practices are “aligned with legislation,” one can reasonably wonder if they’re also aligned with the interests of the public. Specifically, are reasonable efforts undertaken by city hall to ensure that those hired by the city can be trusted to do the public’s work, on the public’s dime, regardless of their past? 

Ballem writes that the city has unspecified "safeguards and controls in place" to prevent organized crime from being affiliated with the city and that "we have no evidence of any involvement of organized crime in our organization. We are in close touch with (Vancouver Police Department) and they have not indicated any concern in this regard."

The city's corporate hiring policy states that only so-called “positions of trust” -- involving contact with vulnerable people, security and safety of people and assets, regulation and inspection or handling cash -- require police record checks, credit record checks and enhanced reliability checks. Evidently, that didn't apply to garbage collector Ronaldo Lising.

See Ballem’s full memo below, followed by the memo announcing Zupan’s promotion (and an important note to readers at bottom). 

________________________________________

From: City Managers Broadcast Account

Sent: Wednesday, September 11, 2013 3:02 PM

To: All Staff (COV) - DL

Subject: COV Broadcast: Message from the City Manager

Dear Colleagues across the City of Vancouver,

I am writing to all our staff today in regards to an article in today’s edition of the Province newspaper.  This article is a follow up to one that ran on August 26 regarding the employment of a particular individual in Sanitation who is allegedly affiliated with the Hells Angels. In my response to the media in August, I indicated that we would be carefully reviewing that situation.  We hire hundreds of regular and auxiliary staff every year across the City departments, Boards and Agencies.  As we have indicated previously, we take the integrity of our hiring process very seriously and we continue to work to improve this very important function in our organization. The issue of organized crime being in any way affiliated with any organization is a serious risk and we have many safeguards and controls in place to prevent that from happening and we have no evidence of any involvement of organized crime in our organization. We are in close touch with VPD and they have not indicated any concern in this regard.

Our hiring practices are aligned with legislation – Human Rights Code, Labour Relations Code, Privacy legislation and related regulations and case law – and we have a very diverse and talented work force of which we are very proud.

However I am very concerned and dismayed about the unsubstantiated and irresponsible allegations and innuendo reported in the media today which is allegedly coming from our staff (and some of our retired staff) regarding Mike Zupan, our Acting Manager of Sanitation. I want to be very clear that Mike Zupan has the full confidence of this organization and there is absolutely no evidence that he had any previous relationship with Ronaldo Lising. His work with the City of Vancouver over the last 20 years has been exemplary.

Sanitation is an area where there is much change ahead, some of which is imposed on us through legislation while other elements are part of our overall goals for zero waste. We have an excellent leadership team which is working with many other parts of the organization to move changes along in a constructive, transparent way, and in a way which meets the needs of our citizens as well as our staff.  I know I can count on all of you to keep focused on our goals and work together productively toward serving our public which is why we all work for the City. Thank you. pb

Penny Ballem, MD, FRCP

City Manager

City of Vancouver

Cell:  604.551.XXXX

Fax:  604.873.7641

penny.ballem@vancouver.ca

From: ENG All Staff Broadcast

Sent: Thursday, September 12, 2013 10:10 AM

To: ENG All Staff (COV) - DL

Subject: Staff Announcement

I am very pleased to announce that Mike Zupan is our successful candidate in the recent competition for the Manager of Sanitation Operations.  Mike brings over 20 years of experience in progressively responsible positions with the City to his new role.  I’ve had the pleasure of working with Mike over the past 1 ½ years since I joined the City and continue to be impressed by his dedication and commitment to moving forward, adapting to change and making things better in the areas in which he is working. For the past 8 months Mike has been doing an excellent job as Acting Manager and has successfully implemented and number of changes in the branch to improve operations, employee engagement and overall morale within the branch.   I look forward to continuing to work with Mike in his new role as we continue to navigate the significant changes underway in Sanitation.  Please join me in congratulating Mike on his new role.

Albert Shamess

Director - Waste Management and Resource Recovery

City of Vancouver

604-873-XXXX | albert.shamess@vancouver.ca

IMPORTANT NOTE TO READERS: Is Vancouver city manager Penny Ballem on the ball or is she out to lunch? Is Vancouver city hall really a gleaming example of the ideal government workplace, free of corruption or has it gone "Montreal-style" and been infiltrated by organized (or disorganized) crime? If you have proof of organized crime, fraud or other corruption at Vancouver city hall, any of its departments or agencies (or, for that matter, any federal, provincial, civic or aboriginal government office), please contact me here. I also gladly accept confidential, brown paper envelopes (addressed to me) at this address and that address. 

Exclusive: mutiny festering as internal survey claims city sanitation management rot

Vancouver trash workers unhappy, survey shows

The year started off seemingly well for City of Vancouver’s 1,600 outside workers when the garbage, recycling, street repair and parks and facilities maintenance workers got a four-year contract with 6.75% in pay raises.

Then came word of dissent among the rank-and-file, when the executive of CUPE Local 1004 wanted to suspend the stewards’ council. There were allegations that president Mike Jackson took unauthorized leave and that under his leadership, there were financial irregularities.

It got even worse on April 18 when a worker from another union, for reasons not entirely clear, attempted self-immolation in the CUPE Local 1004 office, destroying furniture, fixtures, equipment and files. 

In late May, CUPE’s national office intervened and fired the Local 1004 executive, including Jackson. 

The Province newspaper revealed Aug. 26 that Ronaldo Lising had been hired as a part-time trashman by City of Vancouver, despite a criminal record for drugs, guns and assault offences and membership in the Hells Angels when the RCMP busted the East End clubhouse in 2005. 

While the B.C. Civil Liberties Association believes criminals who have served their sentence should not be subject to discrimination, a Sept. 10 Province story further questions City of Vancouver hiring practices: who knew what and when and why won't city manager Penny Ballem or the manager who hired Lising, Mike Zupan, explain? The Province story mentions a staff survey, but it doesn’t show you the internal Sanitation Services Department survey.

You've come to the right place, because you can read the report below. 

It's called "Employee Engagement Notes: Day Shift and Afternoon Shift" and was compiled from table discussions in January 2013 sessions. The report is dated Feb. 19, 2013 and provided to me by a source concerned that city hall's ruling Vision Vancouver party does not care for the men and women who handle the city's waste and work in the least-glorious division of the city. 

Mayor Gregor Robertson and Vision Vancouver are intent on making Vancouver the world's greenest city by 2020, but there are serious questions about how Robertson and co. are managing the city's operations and finances in 2013. 

According to one of the comments, it is a “toxic work environment" in the city's sanitation department. But there is more. Much more. 

The top 10 selection of comments: 

• "Maps are 40 years out of date”
• “Mgmt. needs to follow and enforce the rules consistently”
• “Tell us the truth; tell us what you know and what you don't” 
• “Be consistent; stop changing story every week”
• “Rules are being broken conveniently and it’s ‘encouraged’ to get the work done”
• “Stop favouritism/nepotism”
• “Lying, no transparency, no communication, no accountability, no integrity”
• "They build resentment they don't build people"
• “When leaders pass the buck, you end up passing the buck”
• “Dysfunctional environment is the norm, rumours are constant”

Read the entire report below: 

Employee Engagement Notes: Day Shift and Afternoon Shift

Trash talk to envelop B.C.

Get ready for a steady stream of trash talk in British Columbia.

While Metro Vancouver wants to build a $500 million "waste-to-energy" garbage incinerator by 2018, BC Liberal insiders like John Les and Dimitri Pantazopoulos have been hired as lobbyists by industry players to oppose it.

Metro Vancouver’s plan to force haulers to use its mixed waste facilities was defeated when the Zero Waste Committee voted 6-5 against a new bylaw on Sept. 5. The plan could be revised if the board strikes a task force. 

Now Multi-Material B.C., a society backed by manufacturers and retailers, is pushing municipalities to get on-board as it readies for a May 19, 2014 launch of a province-wide packaging and printed paper collection and recycling program. 

In 2011, the provincial government opted to give industry the responsibility for the $60 million to $100 million a year product packaging stewardship program. MMBC set a Sept. 16 deadline for local governments to opt-in to its private hauling program or accept a set fee from MMBC to carry on the status quo. 

According to an August report by the labour-backed Columbia Institute think-tank, 

"Port Moody calculated a 20% difference between the MMBC financial offer and the cost of delivering services. While not all municipalities have identified the same size gap, shortfalls between MMBC incentives and program costs will leave local governments to either pick up the balance of costs, reduce residential recycling programs, or turn recycling directly over to MMBC, a choice which offers no guarantees that services will be maintained
 at established levels."Some municipalities have concerns that the funding gap in MMBC offers could be compounded by what many see as unrealistic standards and punitive penalties for recycling ‘contamination.'"

CUPE B.C. secretary treasurer Paul Faoro told Metro Vancouver on Sept. 5, the “MMBC plan is designed from our perspective for industry, not for local government and not for public interest.”

City of Vancouver sanitation workers, represented by CUPE Local 1004, are buzzing. Some are even worried about the prospects of privatization. A staff report is expected Sept. 9 and an emergency public meeting is to be announced for Sept. 12 to decide the response of the Vision Vancouver dominated city council. 

It will ultimately cost consumers, but how much? Will B.C. be struggling with a new and complicated recycling tax? 

Stay tuned.

UPDATE (Sept. 11): After city hall closed for the day today, the agenda was finally published. Unless the plan changes, it will be a closed-door meeting.

NOTICE OF MEETING 

SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA 

Thursday, September 12, 2013 3:00 pm  

Council Chamber Third Floor, City Hall  

ROLL CALL  

“IN CAMERA” MEETING
THAT Council will go into a meeting later this day, which is closed to the public, pursuant to Section 165.2(1) of the Vancouver Charter, to discuss matters related to paragraph:
(k) negotiations and related discussions respecting the proposed provision of an activity, work or facility that are at their preliminary stages and that, in the view of the Council, could reasonably be expected to harm the interests of the city if they were held in public.

However, an internal CUPE email from last Friday indicates that the issue to be discussed will be MMBC and recycling. 

From: "Justin Schmid" <jschmid@cupe.ca>

To: "Dave Stephens" <walnuthill@shaw.ca>, "Michael McGahey" <mimcgahey@gmail.com>

Cc: "Meena Brisard" <mbrisard@cupe.ca>, "Steve Varty" <svarty@cupe1004.org>

Sent: Friday, September 6, 2013 5:17:48 PM

Subject: Recycling Update

Hi Dave & Mike, 

Just wanted to give you a quick update on the MMBC & Recycling issue. 

Peter Judd and I will be coming to do a crew talk on Monday morning to give an update to everyone. 

Just to let you know, we have met with some key politicians on this issue and working to get things moving on this issue as much as we can. 

A report to council will be coming out on Monday and a special council meeting will be held on Thursday next week at which we will be presenting. 

In related news, there was an op-ed piece in the Sun today on the issue and in a couple other papers. I’ll bring some copies on Monday. 

http://www.vancouversun.com/touch/story.html?id=8875598 

http://www.chilliwacktimes.com/news/recycling-changes-could-ding-taxpayers-1.612869 

http://thenelsondaily.com/news/nelson-and-rdck-battle-new-province-wide-recycling-rules-26284#.Uingp2NrZgU 

See you on Monday, 

Justin 

_______________________ 

Justin Schmid 

CUPE National Representative 

CUPE was a very big funder of Vision Vancouver in 2011. The ruling party took-in $155,300 from CUPE BC, $42,000 from CUPE Local 1004, $36,700 from CUPE Local 15, $10,500 from CUPE Local 391, and $250 from CUPE Local 407. Add it all up and that's $244,750. 

No wonder CUPE can get a private audience with the politicians. 

UPDATE (Sept. 13):  Sneaky, sneaky. Vision Vancouver received this 13-page staff report dated Sept. 11 and held a closed-door meeting on Sept. 12. 

The report and the decision (but not minutes) were quietly released on the city website on Sept. 13. City council decided to continue to provide recycling services and is going to write a letter of complaint to the provincial government. Vision Vancouver is the same party that promised transparency and to engage citizens. And it has "Vision" in its name. But it did not make this decision in public or with public input.

IN CAMERA COUNCIL MEETING

September 12, 2013

DECISIONS AND REPORTS RELEASED

Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging and Printed Paper

A.       THAT Council authorise the City Engineer to advise Multi Material BC (MMBC) that the City is interested in continuing to provide recycling services to the residents of the City of Vancouver consisting of:

i.       single-family (SF) curbside recycling;
ii.      multi-unit residential building (MURB) recycling; and
iii.     depot recycling at the Vancouver South Transfer Station (VSTS) and Vancouver Landfill (VL);

          under contract to MMBC subject to negotiation of a mutually agreeable contractual and financial arrangement.
B.       THAT the Mayor write the Minister of Environment requesting the Minister's urgent involvement in resolving the deficiencies in the Multi Material BC (MMBC) Collection Offer. Specific areas of concern include:

-        a lack of adequate input from municipalities and the need for an extension of the September 16, 2013 deadline MMBC has imposed;
-        deterioration in the level of service to the public during both the transitional phase and the ongoing implementation of the program;
-        a projected decrease in the level of recycling rates in the short-term and no firm requirement or timeline for increased recycling rates;
-        significant operational and financial risks to taxpayers as a result of both the market clearing price and proposed penalties in the current contract;
-        a lack of access to data about recycling rates.

C.       THAT the Council decision and relevant Administrative Report be released to the public as soon as possible.

Park Ranger keeps mind nimble amid OneCard kerfuffle

Below are photographs of a Vancouver Park Ranger passing time with a skill-testing newspaper crossword puzzle.

Vancouver Park Rangers are normally busy in summertime helping visitors enjoy the city's parks. Ambassadors of the flora and fauna.

Synonym for controversy...

That is not the photograph of a lazy Park Ranger. The proper word is bored. For this new assignment -- to be the eyes and ears of the Vision Vancouver dominated Board of Parks and Recreation at a half-dozen rebel community centres -- at least one Park Ranger became a modern equivalent of the Maytag Man.

This Park Ranger has been assigned to a community centre to intervene in a dispute and perform a job that he may actually not be licensed to perform. This is what the Park Rangers are qualified to do. Notice the lack of the word "security."

My source told me the photograph was shot the morning of Sept. 3 at Kensington Community Centre.

Kensington is one of the six community centres run by volunteer associations that are refusing to submit to Vancouver city hall's centralization of power and imposition of the OneCard universal access card. The other 16 community associations are toeing the line.

The rebel six pack of community centre associations filed this B.C. Supreme Court lawsuit against City of Vancouver on Aug. 20. City of Vancouver replied with this news release on Aug. 22. The six associations were notified a week later by the Park Board that their joint operating agreements will be cancelled on Dec. 31, 2013. Park Rangers were then deployed to keep an eye on things.

On Sept. 4, I sent a list of questions to Park Board Chair Sarah Blyth and general manager Malcolm Bromley, to find out more about the deployment of Park Rangers. Neither Blyth nor Bromley responded with answers, but I am hoping that this will spur them into action. Because you deserve to know.

I want to find out how many Park Rangers are being deployed to these community centres and at what cost to Vancouverites. I am also curious about the qualifications of the Park Rangers: Is it true that the Board of Parks and Recreation does not require Park Rangers to hold a provincial security licence under the Security Services Act, even though the services they provide include security? This job ad says Park Ranger candidates require a driver's licence and first aid certificate. A Grade 12 education is desired. Pay begins at $23 an hour. Not too shabby. Under B.C. law, workers have the right to refuse unsafe work.

The Park Rangers are members of CUPE local 15, but president Leanne Toderian and city sector representative Dierdre Bradshaw did not respond either. 

This is an open invitation to Blyth, Bromley and CUPE local 15 to have their responses published here. 

Also, if you're a Vancouver Park Ranger, please contact me confidentially. 

UPDATE (Sept. 9): Blyth did not respond, but vice-chair Aaron Jasper did. He said Park Ranger deployment to the six dissident community centres was mandated by general manager Malcolm Bromley after incidents on Aug. 20 and 23 at a community centre that Jasper refused to name. Jasper also refused to tell me how much this is costing Vancouverites.

"In one of the instances the general manager had to intervene and the person was actually escorted off the property by a Vancouver Police officer. and subsequently to that incident a WorkSafeBC investigation was initiated because of a staff complaint of potential harassment and threats to their ability to perform their work," Jasper said. "We have an obligation to provide a safe and supportive working environment. The politics and the disagreement between the associations and the park board is not an excuse for members of the public or association executive members to harass our staff, we make no apologies, I support the general manager's decision to have a park ranger on site."

VPD spokesman Const. Brian Montague confirmed there was an incident on Aug. 23 at Hillcrest Community Centre. "There was no allegation of an assault and no evidence indicating that one had occurred. The matter was resolved without charges." 

Riley Park/Hillcrest Community Association president Jesse Johl said he witnessed Hillcrest recreation supervisor Peter Fox wave his finger in association treasurer Todd Constant's face. Johl said Constant has been "on top" of the community centre's finances "to the point where we account for everything and as a lot of questions and staff don't like it." 

Bromley attended and told Constant he would be banned from the community centre. Constant reminded the general manager that there was a joint operating agreement between the parties and that he had no authority to ban community centre association executives from the community centre. Johl said the police officer who attended, Const. Savage, did not escort anyone away. 

"There was only one witness to the entire event, that was me," Johl said. "Todd was not being abusive, Todd was not being aggressive."

But back to the question about the Park Rangers' qualifications. 

Jasper admitted they're not required to be security-certified, but they are deployed "to help assure, there is a safe, secure work environment for our staff." 

"You're sort of fixating on that aspect, in my mind the issue here is why did the park board general manager feel compelled to take this action," Jasper said. 

"Our park rangers do go through conflict resolution training, they're out there in the public dealing with potentially very volatile situations…. they know what their limits are, so if it's a situation they deem requires a backup they get on the phone, they contact the police.   

"I'm confident they have adequate training. If our park rangers are qualified enough to be out there in the summer months in all sorts of instances across our park system, surely they're OK to be sitting in the lobby of a community centre just monitoring, making sure everyone is conducting themselves respectfully."

The last word goes to the Security Services Act, which states, in Section 2: 

"An individual must not engage in any kind of security work, or hold himself or herself out to be so employed or employable, unless the individual holds a valid security worker licence for that kind of security work."