MAYOR’S TASK FORCE ON COMMUNITY HOUSING MEETING

 

MINUTES

 

An Open meeting of the Mayor’s Task Force on Community Housing was held in the Forum Room, Fortius Sport and Health, 3713 Kensington Avenue, Burnaby, B.C. on Wednesday, 2019 April 10 at 4:00 p.m. followed by a Closed meeting from which the public was excluded. 

 

1.

CALL TO ORDER

 

 

PRESENT:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ABSENT:

 

 

CIVIC

ENGAGEMENT:

Councillor Pietro Calendino, Chair

His Worship, Mayor Mike Hurley, Vice Chair

Councillor Sav Dhaliwal, Member

Councillor Joe Keithley, Member

Councillor James Wang, Member

Mr. Thom Armstrong, Member

Mr. Patrick Buchannon, Member

Mr. Paul Holden, Member

Mr. Beau Jarvis, Member

Dr. Paul Kershaw, Member

Mr. Brian McCauley, Member

Ms. Anne McMullin, Member

Mr. Murray Martin, Member

Ms. Kari Michaels, Member

Ms. Claire Preston, Member

Mr. Daniel Tetrault, Member

 

Mr. Mike Bosa, Member

Ms. Lois Budd, Member (due to illness)

 

Ms. Shauna Sylvester, Centre for Dialogue, SFU

Ms. Michelle Bested, Centre for Dialogue, SFU

 

STAFF:

Mr. Lambert Chu, City Manager

Mr. Dipak Dattani, Director Corporate Services

  Mr. Ed Kozak, Deputy Director Planning and Building

  Ms. Lee-Ann Garnett, Asst. Director – Long Range Planning

  Ms. Lily Ford, Planner  – Housing

  Mr. Jim Wolf, Senior Long Range Planner

  Mr. David Clutton, Long Range Planner

Ms. Carla Schuk, Long Range Planning

Ms. Margaret Eberle, Housing Consultant

Ms. Kate O’Connell, City Clerk

Ms. Eva Prior, Administrative Officer

 

The Chair called the Open Task Force meeting to order at 4:03 p.m.

 

The Chair acknowledged the unceded, traditional, and ancestral lands of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ and sḵwx̱wú7mesh speaking people, and extended appreciation for the opportunity to hold a meeting on this shared Coast Salish territory.

 

2.

MINUTES

 

 

a)

Minutes of the Mayor’s Task Force on Community Housing

Open meeting held on 2019 March 27___________________

 

MOVED BY Councillor Joe keithley

Seconded by Mr. Daniel Tetrault

 

THAT the minutes of the Mayor’s Task Force on Community Housing Open meeting held on 2019 March 27 be adopted.

 

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

 

3.

OPENING REMARKS

 

His Worship, Mayor Mike Hurley delivered the following opening remarks:

 

“On Monday evening, Burnaby Council received the “What We Heard” report from Robin Prest and Michelle Bested of the SFU Centre for Dialogue. The What We Heard Report presents a detailed overview of all public input collected during Phase One, focusing particularly on the Community Ideas Workshop, Community Housing Survey and the outreach efforts of Community Ambassadors.

 

You all have a copy in front of you. If you haven’t already done so, please take the time to read it. This report marks the conclusion of Phase One of the Your Voice. Your Home. public engagement process.

 

In total, Phase One of Your Voice. Your Home. engaged with 2380 residents across the City. That engagement was supported by 10 Community Ambassadors who met with more than 400 individuals.

The Community Ambassadors prioritized input from several communities that are particularly at risk of losing their housing. These include new immigrants, seniors, youth, persons with disabilities, and individuals with low household incomes.

 

Now we are ready to begin Phase Two where we focus on trade-offs and solutions and continue the practice of hearing first from the people whose needs we are trying to meet.  At the core of Phase Two is the Community Recommendations Workshop on Saturday, May 25th.

 

I strongly encourage you all to join this workshop at the end of the day to hear the recommendations. I have also urged City Councillors to attend the workshop so they can hear these recommendations first-hand.

 

Before Councillor Calendino gets this meeting underway, I want to thank you again for continuing to serve on this Task Force.  Your work really matters and I appreciate it.”

W

 

4.

CONTEXT SETTING

 

Councillor Calendino, Chair, delivered the following opening remarks:

 

“I also wish to thank all participants as usual for your continued leadership and engagement and our hard working City staff for having again done a tremendous amount of work to prepare us for today's meeting.

 

I will also extend my appreciation to those Task Force members who were able to join our information session earlier this afternoon with Robert Brown. I hope you found that presentation useful.

 

To review, at the last meeting, we completed our orientation and began the transition towards surfacing Quick Starts.

 

This evening we will be diving deeper into the Quick Starts, looking at our working definition and identifying which Quick Starts we want to prioritize moving forward towards the Interim Report.

 

City Staff circulated a detailed list of Quick Starts to you last week along with a worksheet. I hope you found the time to complete this worksheet and to consider each of the Quick Starts.  

 

Today is Task Force meeting number four, we are almost at the halfway mark, knowing that there is a lot more work to be done.  But we are moving in the right direction and look forward to today's discussions.    

     

So, over to you Shauna!”

W

5.

REVIEW OF AGENDA

 

 

 

a)

Logistics

Facilitator: Ms. Shauna Sylvester, Executive Director,

                   Centre for Dialogue, SFU

 

 

Ms. Shauna Sylvester outlined the agenda for the evening.  

 

The speaker requested that Ms. Kate O’Connell, City Clerk provide the Task Force members with a brief overview of the Public Accountability Acknowledgement.

 

Ms. Kate O’Connell, City Clerk thanked the Task Force members for their willingness to give their time and expertise for the benefit of the City’s residents.  The speaker outlined the City’s commitment to maintaining public confidence and ensuring accountability to its residents.  In support of this commitment, the City has implemented a requirement that all members of its committees abide by the same public accountability principles as set out for members of City Council in the Community Charter.

 

Ms. O’Connell requested that each member complete the Public Accountability Acknowledgement form which contains information regarding:

·         conflict of interest;

·         gifts;

·         restrictions on the use of insider information; and

·         confidentiality.

 

Individualized Public Accountability Acknowledgement forms were distributed to members of the Task Force for signature.

 

 

b)

Opening Round

Facilitator: Ms. Shauna Sylvester, Executive Director,

 Centre for Dialogue, SFU

 

 

Ms. Shauna Sylvester requested that the Task Force members provide a statement in response to ‘What is the one thing you want to read or hear in the media regarding the Task Force?’  The following are Task Force member responses:

 

Desired newspaper headlines:

·         Realistic plan to moving forward to improve the level of affordable housing in Burnaby;

·         No more displaced tenants through demovictions and if they are displaced, relocated into housing at the same cost;

·         Affordable housing options in Burnaby;

·         Model to be used in other municipalities;

·         Tenants aren’t under threat of displacement;

·         More than talk, implement an actionable plan;

·         Ideas that are new and innovative;

·         Burnaby sets an example for the rest of metro Vancouver for affordable housing;

·         Actionable, meaningful plan;

·         Burnaby becomes one of top global cities when it comes to housing affordability;

·         Burnaby implementing  recommendations from the Task Force;

·         Moving forward with policy guidelines quickly;

·         Burnaby is doing things differently and putting Task Force recommendations in place;

·         Hope for young families;

·         Actionable solutions;

·         Guided by the principle of homes first, scale up affordable housing and a better balance of housing options; and

·         Making progress and meeting people’s expectation on progress.

 

6.

WHAT WE HEARD REPORT

 

a)

Your Voice. Your Home. Meeting the Housing Needs of Burnaby Residents

Results from Phase One:  Generating Ideas

Presenter:  Michelle Bested, Manager, Engagement and Social Enterprise,

                  Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue, SFU

 

Ms. Michelle Bested, Manager Engagement and Social Enterprise, Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue, SFU provided a summary of the What We Heard Report – Your Voice. Your Home. Meeting the Housing Needs of Burnaby Residents.

 

The speaker invited Task Force members to read the full report which is divided into an executive summary, outcomes of the Community Ideas Workshop, Community Housing Survey, Community Student Ambassadors (CSAs) and Next Steps.

 

The report presents a detailed overview of all public input collected during Phase One. Data and ideas were collected from 1,450 survey respondents, 180 registrations for the Community Ideas Workshop (100 participants in attendance), 10 CSAs who met and spoke with approximately 400 residents, 350 registrations for the Community Recommendations Workshop and extensive online and in-person engagement.

 

Key survey results included:

·         36% of renters (including those under 30 years of age) spend more than 1/3 of their income on housing;

·         over 20% of renters live in fear of demoviction;

·         53% of respondents under 30 years of age anticipate having to move for financial reasons;

·         64% of renters anticipate having to move for financial reasons;

·         57% of respondents under 30 years of age find their current housing costs unaffordable; and

 

·         more than half of respondents under 45 years of age anticipate needing a larger living space in the next 10 years, while respondents over 45 were more likely to downsize.

 

The 10 CSAs were either current students or recent alumni of SFU. 

 

Over a three week period, the CSAs utilized their language competencies and aptitude for facilitating dialogue to engage with 25 community organizations in small informal community discussions.  They also engaged residents at Burnaby libraries, SkyTrain stations, parks, coffee shops and the YMCA. The CSAs targeted specific demographic groups that were underrepresented in the online survey and/or the Community Ideas Workshop, reaching more than 400 families, newcomers, youth and senior residents.

 

The following summarizes the six key profiles and their respective challenges:

 

    STUDENTS AND YOUTH

·         access to affordable rental housing;

·         areas that are convenient and transit accessible are expensive;

·         don’t expect to be able to stay in burnaby; and

·         students prioritizing income over education.

 

  FAMILY HOUSING

·         not sufficient space for children and/or growing families; and

·         landlord restrictions regarding employment, number of people, and pets.

 

  NEWCOMERS

·         references, employment, or internet access are barriers;

·         prevalence of racism; and

·         lack of familiarity with tenancy regulations.

 

  SENIORS

·         isolation and loneliness; and

·         home care assistance.

 

  RESIDENTS FACING DEMOVICTONS

·         impact on mental health;

·         losing connection with communities; and

·         availability of comparable housing.

 

  PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

·         removal of housing accessibility; and

·         wait times for assisted living programs.

 

KEY SOLUTIONS:

·         make information regarding housing support for persons with disabilities more accessible;

·         more co-op housing units designated for specific groups;

·         create and fund a physical location where tenants can go to seek assistance and information;

·         placement before displacement;

·         provide more accessible housing information regarding tenant rights and landlord responsibilities;

·         provide safe housing, low barrier shelters and emergency housing in burnaby;

·         convert single family homes into multifamily dwellings; and

·         better enforcement regulations regarding landlord obligations and responsibilities.

 

The What We Heard Report is available on the City of Burnaby website.

 

7.

SESSION 1 – ARTICULATING OUR LONG TERM OBJECTIVES

 

Ms. Shauna Sylvester reviewed the Mayor’s Task Force on Community Housing Terms of Reference (TOR) and the long-term objectives of the Task Force.  The Task Force members were encouraged to identify any missing components.

 

The following Long Term Objectives arose from the TOR document as well as other work completed by the Task Force to date:

 

·         protect existing affordable rental homes;

·         identify opportunities to create new affordable housing;

·         identify the right housing mix to support each stage of life;

·         support new and innovative housing types;

·         create new policies and programs to benefit affordability;

·         save time and money by streamlining existing city processes;

·         work with other levels of government and leverage available funding programs;

·         identify new financing tools and funding partnerships;

·         identify and address regulatory barriers to affordability;

·         identify options that strengthen neighbourhoods, bring people together and build a more sustainable community;

·         create policies that help Burnaby workers live in Burnaby; and

·         engage residents/stakeholders in identifying challenges and solutions.

 

Arising from discussion, Task Force members requested that the following refinements be taken into consideration:

 

·         Substitute ‘recommend’ for ‘identify’.

·         Refine objectives to be more specific;

o   restore housing affordability in Burnaby forever; and

o   houses are for homes first, not investments.

·         Are these objectives meant to apply to all housing (100%) or a portion (%) of housing in Burnaby?

 

·         Burnaby to provide a diversity of housing options that met the needs of Burnaby residents and ability to attract future residents.

·         Consider adding measure for success.

·         Objectives don’t speak specifically to creating more homes.

·         More visionary objective, to be very clear.

·         Acknowledge that protecting rental units does not necessarily mean maintaining current units, but protecting the supply of rental units and adding new rental units where they don’t currently exist.

·         Protecting the buildings is not as important as protecting the existing Burnaby rental supply and mitigating the impact on renters by ensuring they are not displaced.

·         Strengthen partnerships with community housing sector to maximize building capacity.

·         Balance attracting newcomers with meeting the needs of the current residents.

 

Staff will provide a refined list of Long Term Objectives at a future meeting.

 

8.

CLOSED

 

MOVED BY Ms. Kari Michaels

SECONDED BY Councillor Joe Keithley

 

THAT the Committee, in accordance with Sections 90 and 92 of the Community Charter, do now resolve itself into a Closed meeting from which the public is excluded to consider matters concerning negotiations and related discussions respecting the proposed provision of a municipal service that are at their preliminary stages and that, in view of the Council, could reasonably be expected to harm the interests of the municipality if they were held in public; and the consideration of information received and held in confidence relating to negotiations between the municipality and a provincial government or federal government or both, or between a provincial government or the federal government or both and a third party.

 

                                                                                    CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

 

The Chair requested members of the public leave the room to allow the Task Force to proceed with the Closed portion of the Task Force meeting.

 

 

MOVED BY Mayor Mike Hurley

SECOUNDED BY Ms. Claire Preston

 

           

            That the Open Task Force meeting do now recess.

                                                                                                                                                            CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

 

            The Open Task Force meeting recessed at 4:58 p.m.

 

 

MOVED BY Councillor James Wang

SECOUNDED BY Councillor Joe Keithley

 

           

            That the Open Task Force meeting do now reconvene.

                                                                                                           

                                                                                                            CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

 

            The Open Task Force meeting reconvened at 8:18 p.m.

 

9.

NEXT STEPS AND CLOSING ROUND

 

Due to time constraints, this item of the agenda was not considered at this time.

 

10.

SUMMARY

 

Due to time constraints, this item of the agenda was not considered at this time.

 

11.

ADJOURNMENT

 

MOVED BY Councillor James Wang

Seconded by Councillor Joe Keithley

 

THAT this Open Committee meeting do now adjourn.

 

                                                                               CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

 

The Open Committee meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m.

 

 

 

 

 

________________________

________________________

Councillor Pietro Calendino

CHAIR

Kate O’Connell

City Clerk

 

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