25965 replies to this topic

[dasmo]

Our royal colonizers either learned from the best or taught them. Hard to tell. https://twitter.com/...QrcObpkhVXe97Jg

[Victoria Watcher]

Ha! Good point because some of them have "important papers" lying around and can't truly help when it actually comes down to it. But showing everyone they are doing something fills their personal boots to signal.

What a joke.

As usual, it’s too many women in management positions, and too many women in public service management think too much with their inherent compassion, instead of with fiscal and moral prudence.

[dasmo]

What a joke.

As usual, it’s too many women in management positions, and too many women in public service management think too much with their inherent compassion, instead of with fiscal and moral prudence.

Too much Yin, not enough Yang. Balance is needed. 

Edited by dasmo, 02 June 2023 - 10:10 AM.

[Beacon]

As usual, it’s too many women in management positions, and too many women in public service management think too much with their inherent compassion, instead of with fiscal and moral prudence.

 

If your comment is trying to say the root cause of this is there are too many woman in management positions then this is a bridge too far.  I don't agree with this at all.

[Victoria Watcher]

My post is saying that women in salaried positions means too many workers, that are female, give in to their very natural inherent compassionate tendencies.

Which is, of course natural. Nobody here or anywhere else will say that females are less compassionate than males, on average.

But they make decisions that are poor, again on average.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 02 June 2023 - 11:57 AM.

[Dr.Doinglittle]

That has to be the stupidest comment I have read here in a long time.

[Victoria Watcher]

That has to be the stupidest comment I have read here in a long time.

 

 

It's a controversial position for sure.  But worth debate, no?

 

Denis Prager had a similar take:

 

https://www.dailysig...ng-our-country/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 02 June 2023 - 08:10 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Portland, Oregon has suffered massive population loss since 2020. According to Census data, the city lost the sixth-most number of people of any city in the US last year, losing 8,308 people from July 1, 2021, to July 1, 2022. 

The decline comes after the city saw 15 straight years of growth before the Covid-19 pandemic and amid a massive crime wave since the city became the epicenter of the 2020 Black Lives Matter (BLM) riots. In the summer of 2020, Portland saw over 100 days of consecutive rioting.

A Portland resident of 15 years told local news station KPTV, "I know it’s been really tough for a lot of people through the pandemic. It’s been hard to see Portland at the forefront of some of those tensions.”

"It’s like Portland died,” another resident Larry May said. "The tourists haven’t come back like they used to be. Especially the Japanese, they love this city.”

"The crime is really bad, shootings," he continued, "It's not the Portland I knew." 

A State of the Economy report by Portland Business Alliance stated, "If trends continue, the economic outlook, especially for the City of Portland, is as concerning as any time since the twin recessions of the 1980s." It continued, "Newly released census data suggests the region can no longer take net in-migration for granted—as it has for most of its history." 

 

 

https://thepostmille..._campaign=64466

[Nparker]

Housing crisis solved.🥳

[Barrrister]

I guess that it is the same solution that City Council is driving Victoria towards. If you make the city undesirable enough then the cost of housing will go down.

[Mike K.]

No mention of housing prices spiralling down, though.

[Victoria Watcher]

In April 2023, the median listing home price in Portland, OR was $550K, flat year-over-year. The median listing home price per square foot was $329. The median home sold price was $533.8K.

[lanforod]

I've been a couple times and had thought I'd go spend a week sometime. That desire has disappeared.

[Victoria Watcher]

Victoria police say officers are working with City of Victoria bylaw staff to bring “sustained enforcement” to Topaz Park to curb day-time sheltering amid community concerns.

 

Police officers and bylaw staff have provided “significant advanced warning” to those sheltering in the park to remove structures in accordance with the city’s overnight sheltering bylaws, VicPD said in a release Monday.

 

“Many of these structures have become semi-permanent fixtures,” said police.

 

In Victoria, overnight sheltering is allowed in several parks, including Topaz, but only between 8 p.m. and 7 a.m. during daylight savings, or 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. in standard time, according to the city’s website. 

 

Shelters can’t be in playgrounds, sports fields or community gardens, among other areas, and must be no bigger than nine square metres and spaced four metres apart.

 

“The enforcement will continue on a daily basis for a sustained period in order to ensure those who shelter in the park overnight are prepared to follow the bylaws by removing their structures by 7 a.m. each day,” said VicPD.

 

 

 

 

https://www.cheknews...tering-1155139/

 

 

 

Topaz Park has seen millions of dollars in improvement in recent years, including brand-new skate and bike parks and a turf sport field as part of the Topaz Park Improvement Plan.

 

“The city, on a daily basis, at least three or four times a week, sends bylaw here — right next to the kids in the skate park — to clean up needles and naloxone kits,” nearby resident Jeff Peters told CHEK News last week.

 

“And then the illegal campers move to the edge of the park, and then five hours later when they’re gone, they move back and the residents go through another night of hell,” he said.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 05 June 2023 - 10:51 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

 

[Victoria Watcher]

“Officers are responding to concerns from area residents, sports teams and other park users that the area has become unsafe.”

The City of Victoria has not yet responded to a request for comment on why the actions are needed now and whether it will be connecting those in the park with housing options or other supports.


https://www.vicnews....-victoria-park/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 06 June 2023 - 07:22 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

The Victoria Cool Aid Society has announced that Elin Bjarnason will replace Kathy Stinson as the organization’s chief executive officer, effective July 2023. Bjarnason, who comes to the role most recently as a Senior Advisor with the British Columbia Patient Safety and Quality Council (BCPSQC), has more than 30 years of experience building and leading complex, barrier-free delivery systems across the healthcare continuum.

“Elin’s exceptional leadership ability, extensive experience and passion for the work elevated her to the top of a very strong list of candidates,” said Janet Donald, Cool Aid board chair. “She is known for building strong, effective, and resilient teams, which will be critical to Cool Aid’s continued success.” Donald also acknowledged Stinson’s decades-long impact on the organization, noting that the work she has done for Cool Aid, and the sector, will reverberate well beyond her retirement.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 06 June 2023 - 09:19 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

A “barrier-free” expert. And another woman.

Not good for stick. Too much carrot.

[Mike K.]

New CEO announced at Cool Aid:

 

 

The Victoria Cool Aid Society has announced that Elin Bjarnason will replace Kathy Stinson as the organization’s chief executive officer, effective July 2023. Bjarnason, who comes to the role most recently as a Senior Advisor with the British Columbia Patient Safety and Quality Council (BCPSQC), has more than 30 years of experience building and leading complex, barrier-free delivery systems across the healthcare continuum.

 

“Elin’s exceptional leadership ability, extensive experience and passion for the work elevated her to the top of a very strong list of candidates,” said Janet Donald, Cool Aid board chair. “She is known for building strong, effective, and resilient teams, which will be critical to Cool Aid’s continued success.” Donald also acknowledged Stinson’s decades-long impact on the organization, noting that the work she has done for Cool Aid, and the sector, will reverberate well beyond her retirement.

 

Prior to moving to the BCPSQC in 2022, Bjarnason spent more than 20 years in senior leadership roles - including in clinical operations, quality, safety and experience, and admitting and patient flow - at Island Health. She said she set her sights on non-profit leadership as a natural next step, given her background and passions.

 

“I’ve known for some time that I wanted to move into the non-profit sector. My first leadership experience was as a young leader in the 1990s with the Victoria Sexual Assault Center Board of Directors and my passion for supporting those most in need has only grown over the years,” Bjarnason said. “Cool Aid, thanks to Kathy and her team, has an incredible reputation in the community, so when this position came along, I jumped at it.”

 

In addition, as part of her operations experience with Island Health, and particularly relevant to her new role with Cool Aid, Bjarnason oversaw the mental health and substance use portfolio on the South Island through the pandemic and has expertise in creating access for people who traditionally face barriers to care, like many of Cool Aid’s clients. Additionally, she is trained as a physiotherapist and a doctor of Chinese Medicine, and she completed an Executive Master of Business Administration (MBA) in 2014.

 

Bjarnason said that she is eager to learn from the leaders and staff at Cool Aid and to help what is already an exceptional team lead into the future. She sees partnerships with other community organizations, local and provincial governments, and peer-led organizations as essential to providing the most accessible and supportive social services systems. She also acknowledged that there are huge opportunities currently in the sector and she hopes to settle in quickly at Cool Aid to capitalize on these, and to help affect the change that is needed in housing and community-based healthcare.

 

“I am truly passionate about leading health and social services and being a part of helping to make the lives of those impacted by poverty, colonization, homelessness, and stigma better,” Bjarnason said. “No one person can be successful in leading an organization, it requires that you harness the collective passion of all those who support it and the people who are served. I am very honored to have been given this opportunity to lead and be part of such an important and compassionate organization.”

 

Cool Aid creates opportunities for people who are homeless or living in poverty and makes a difference through housing and shelter, health and dental care, and support services. Founded in 1968, Cool Aid helps more than 12,000 people every year – including more than 7,000 Community Health Centre patients - at locations across the Island.

[Victoria Watcher]

A large team of Victoria bylaw and police officers moved into Topaz Park Tuesday afternoon, taking down structures and telling people to pack up.

 

They say the stepped up enforcement is needed after a rise in concerns from the public.

 

“We’ve heard concerns that sports teams don’t feel safe using the space, there’s concerns with drug dealing, increase of violence, garbage, fires,” said VicPD spokesperson Const. Terri Healy.

 

Advocates say people have been camping next to the new Topaz skate park because they were pushed out of other areas.

 

“I don’t think anybody thought this spot was a good idea, there is the skateboard park for children right here, and the people who live here themselves expressed they feel uncomfortable being so close,” said Amy Allard, Lived Experience coordinator for Sea Spring Mental Wellness Coalition.

 

But Allard says most of those at Topaz were kicked out of a nearby supportive housing complex and simply had nowhere else to go.

 

“We need to really address what it is that’s causing people to be evicted from the places they’re supposed to have wraparound services and be okay in,” she said.

 

No one packing up wanted to speak to CHEK News on camera but said they have no choice but to simply move to another, more shaded area of Topaz or find another park.

 

“People will pop up somewhere else, then they’ll get shuffled along from there, so until the province steps up and provides real housing for people, not shelters, not transition programs, this is going to continue,” said Nicole Chaland, co-lead for the Housing Justice Project.

 

A mental health nurse with the VicPD Co-Response Team (CRT) was on hand to try to help connect people with services, but those who provide outreach say that without a vastly different way of doing things, the cycle will simply continue.

 

“Right now, they’ll go 100 metres away and be right back because there is nowhere else, and when you have this many belongings and you feel like you can’t leave them anywhere securely, it just paralyzes you,” said Allard.

 

 

https://www.cheknews...z-park-1155302/

 

 

 

But Allard says most of those at Topaz were kicked out of a nearby supportive housing complex and simply had nowhere else to go.

 

 

“People will pop up somewhere else, then they’ll get shuffled along from there, so until the province steps up and provides real housing for people, not shelters, not transition programs, this is going to continue,” said Nicole Chaland, co-lead for the Housing Justice Project.

 

 

 

 

They had individual hotel units - like a bachelor suite - and free food.  Somehow they still managed to screw it up.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 06 June 2023 - 08:36 PM.