Hello everyone,

Thanks for your emails over the past couple of weeks. I really appreciate hearing from all of you and want to ensure you get a timely response, so I’m writing you back all at once. I may not address the details of your email precisely, but I want you to know I’ve read them.

I’m going to take a bit of a different tack than usual and provide a succinct summary of the issues and facts as I understand them. Interested in Clover Point? Skip to that heading. Interested in the plans provide 24/7 indoor sheltering opportunities as a pathway to permanent housing to everyone living in our parks over the next 31 days? Please skip to that heading. Want to receive a weekly email? You can sign up here (top right hand side). Interested in none of the above and just want a dose of inspiration from Rachel Naomi Remen’s Kitchen Table Wisdom? Skip right to the end.

Before diving into either topic, I just wanted to say that there’s sure a lot of passion and thoughtfulness in my email inbox from all of you these past few weeks. I appreciate the thoughtfulness, passion and the stories that you’ve taken the time to share. And I also really appreciate those of you who have said that you’ve never written to mayor and council before but felt the need to do so. Thank you.

What I find a bit harder to take are the personal attacks (there aren’t too many of those but important not just note the positive!). And also the fact that it’s becoming more difficult generally to have a difference of opinion without becoming enemies or falling into the I’m Right and You’re An Idiot (great book I highly recommend it, or skip the book and hear the talk) way of thinking. Making each other into enemies doesn’t get us anywhere and it makes it more difficult to resolve issues and solve complex problems.

Clover Point

1. People love this place very much and there are strong feelings in the community – both in the city and the region – that it should be kept the way it’s always been.
2. It’s been a parking loop since 1956.
3. Before the sewage treatment construction began, the plan was to return it to a parking loop after construction finished.
4. Before the sewage treatment construction began, the plan was for what is now the highly used multi-use trail that runs from Clover Point to Ogden Point be a bike path only.
5. Near the end of the sewage treatment construction, staff recommended to Council that the path be for everyone – not just for people riding bikes – because we are in a pandemic and everyone needs more outdoor space. Council voted in favour of this recommendation.
6. Staff saw that this new multi-use pathway quickly became much loved with hundreds of people using it on a daily basis. They thought it might be a good idea to create more pedestrian space at Clover Point, on an interim basis, since the new pedestrian space along the waterfront was being so well-used.
7. Staff proposed to close Clover Point to cars and create parking, including accessible parking at the top of the loop as an interim treatment until a proper consultation plan for more permanent changes is undertaken, which is planned for 2023.
8. When the City undertakes parks upgrades, we seek detailed input from the public generally over a two-year period. This leads to really great parks designs where people who have contributed see their ideas come to life. This was the case recently with Topaz Park, Songhees Park, Cecilia Ravine Park and sč̓əmaθən Peter Pollen Waterfront Park.
9. Many of you have made some great suggestions for Clover Point that can be considered as part of the longer term planning process.
10. When staff presented the original pedestrian-only design to Council on February 11th, Council voted to send it back to staff to come up with an option which would reflect the feedback we had all received from the community and to come up with a compromise.
11. On February 25th staff came back to Council with a number of options including one that best represented a compromise among those who wanted the park to only be open to pedestrians and those who wanted nothing to change. This option creates new westward facing parking spots at the top of the loop and keeps half of the loop on the east side open for people in cars. There are accessible parking spots in both locations.
12. As part of the discussion on the 25th, Council eliminated the proposal for painting of the pavement (except lines to separate pedestrians and cyclists) as well as eliminating the Orca play feature.
13. Council voted 8-1 in favour of the compromise option.
14. There are no permanent changes being made to the area. Everything that is being installed can be easily removed, with the exception of the new parking spaces at the top of the loop near Dallas Rd.
15. The option that Council chose does not satisfy everyone and many of you are unhappy with this decision, with myself, and with Council. Some of you feel like we are changing the city too much, that we are “anti-car” and that we should just leave the city as it has always been.
16. Cities around the world, from Paris, to Oakland,to Toronto, to small cities in Quebec and many others, are rethinking the purpose of streets, cities and city life, and are making decisions to get cities ready for the future. This includes accommodating increased density, greater populations, low-carbon transport, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and more places for more people.
17. The interim changes at Clover Point, as well as the City’s bike network and complete streets approach that some of you who have written this week are also unhappy about, are directly in line with what other cities across the country and around the world are doing. Victoria is not leading and we are not any different. The bike network, complete streets and the interim design at Clover Point fit with the City’s Climate Leadership Plan as well as our Sustainable Mobility Strategy.
18. Many of you have said that the myself and Council don’t care about seniors or accessibility issues, yet Victoria is one of the few municipalities in British Columbia that has taken the time to engage seniors and people with accessibility challenges and to have developed both a Senior’s Action Plan and an Accessibility Framework.
19. We are not going to make everyone happy. Many of you who have written this past week about Clover Point are unhappy. I understand that. Change is hard. I don’t mean this in a patronizing way that some of you have heard it in. I mean it sincerely. Change is hard. It’s hard for me. It’s hard for Council. It is definitely easier to leave everything the same, as it has always been. There is less tension that way. Less friction. Less division. Less emails to read! 🙂 But also the job of leaders is to make the changes now that are necessary, if difficult, in order to get our city ready for the future.

Parks Sheltering and Indoor Sheltering
These points below are as direct as answers as possible to your questions, comments and concerns. I have been writing almost every Sunday since August to keep the community up to date on the parks and indoor sheltering situation. If you don’t find all the information you need here, please feel free to scroll through my blog .

1. The City and the Province along with outreach workers, housing providers, Island Health, and others are working to offer everyone currently living in parks a 24/7 indoor sheltering space by March 31^st as a pathway to permanent housing.
2. The move ins begin on Monday to the Save on Foods Memorial Arena. There are also spaces at the Youth Hostel, additional motel rooms at Capital City Centre that will be opening, the 30 Tiny Homes (subject to a temporary use permit hearing), and 24 new homes at Hockley House in Langford that rent at $375 per month. The Province is still working to secure more spaces by March 31st. Minister Eby has said they are going to “overshoot” so that no one is left behind.
3. Those of you who are living outside who have filled out BC Housing applications will be given “offer cards” to let you know where you have an offer to move in. You will be provided assistance with moves. The Coordinated Assessment and Access table responsible for these offers is working hard to meet the needs that people have identified. People are free to refuse the offers of 24/7 indoor sheltering. Those who choose not to go inside will need to take their tents down every morning, as 24/7 sheltering will come to an end once all the offers have been made. My understanding is that most people who are living outside have filled out housing applications and want to move inside.
4. This Thursday Council will consider changing the bylaws back to 7pm to 7am sheltering, once everyone has been offered indoor space. We will also consider keeping Central Park and Centennial Square as no camping zones. I support all of these proposals.
5. For those who having been living in the parks during a global health pandemic when everyone has been told to stay at home, I know this has been difficult. It is not safe for people to be living in parks, as parks are not homes. There is no sense of security for those of you who live in tents with no privacy, no four walls, no door to lock, nowhere to truly rest. We hear you and that is why we’re working hard with the Province to meet the goal we set to get you inside on the pathway to permanent housing.  
6. For those of you who have been living near parks where people have been sheltering since the outbreak of the pandemic, and for those who love our parks and especially Beacon Hill, I also know this has also been very difficult for you. It’s sometimes scary for some, disturbing for others, heartbreaking for others, and angering and frustrating to some. We hear you, and that’s why we’re working hard as noted above.
7. Some of you have said it was a mistake to allow 24/7 sheltering during the pandemic. As noted, it has been difficult for everyone but I disagree that it’s a mistake. A global pandemic was declared. Shelters closed. Couch-surfing ended. Bubbles got small. And people had nowhere to go. Dr. Henry advised on June 8th 2020 in a memo to all mayors in British Columbia that encampments should not be cleared unless there were safe indoor spaces for people to go. At this time, she has not rescinded her advice or sent any further memos.
8. Some of you are frustrated that bylaws aren’t being followed or enforced. Our bylaw staff are in parks daily working with the people who are living there to achieve compliance. There are 200 people living in nine parks. The City’s bylaw officers are doing their very best balancing the needs of people forced to live outside in the middle of a global health pandemic and keeping parks available for everyone to use. Their work is very difficult.
9. Some of you don’t feel safe in parks and wonder what we are doing about crime in parks. VicPD officers are available to respond to calls as needed just as in other parts of the City. Council has also approved additional funding for police to accompany bylaw.
10. Some of you have said that you feel completely safe using Beacon Hill Park and other parks and don’t want people who are poor and living outside to be seen as dangerous or criminals when they are really just vulnerable.
11. Some of you have said it’s impossible to end homelessness, and there are too many people with too many challenges out there. I’ve felt this way too. There have been decades of neglect and under investment in housing and supports, treatment and recovery and care for those who need it. But with the federal and provincial governments prepared to once again invest heavily in housing and treatment, we will turn a corner on this important issue in the next couple of years.
12. Some of you have addressed the need for a civilian response in parks rather than bylaw and police. The City is working with our Community Wellness Task Force as well as Island Health and VicPD to create such a response team with clear roles and responsibilities for different parties.
13. Some of you have sent creative ideas for indoor sheltering from purchasing cruise ships to sleeping pods. Thanks as always for your suggestions. Right now we are ruthlessly focused on solutions that can be achieved by March 31^st and at the same time c planning, processing and constructing permanent housing. There are hundreds of units on the way.  

A Dose of Inspiration
I find it helpful through these challenging times to maintain a connection to the world-that-is-bigger-than-each-of-us. Rachel Naomi Renen’s Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories That Heal is a reminder of wholeness and connection. She writes, “We are all here for a single purpose: to grow in wisdom and to learn to love better. We can do this through losing as well as by winning, by having and by not having, by succeeding or by failing. All we need to do is to show up openhearted for class.”

Here’s to openheartedness.

With gratitude,

Lisa / Mayor Helps