25925 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

^ Right and because those were settled out of court I would assume there is a gag order/agreement.

 

were they settled out of court or dropped by the accusers?  there is a difference.

[Rob Randall]

Downtown Tokyo's homeless fear removal ahead of Olympics

 

https://apnews.com/d...74d393222f8c31f

[Mike K.]

Tokyo has a "downtown?" The whole thing is a downtown!

[Victoria Watcher]

born :  1957

 

"My father never touched me," Talia recalls. "My mother used to beat me up, to the point of drawing blood."

 

That childhood trauma enveloped Talia's life for decades to come, derailing his later efforts to study in the United States and earn a degree.

 

For years, he suppressed the painful memories with alcohol and drugs, all while battling a trio of life-altering mental illnesses: depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

 

After moving to Toronto in 2000, Talia wound up checking into a rehab centre. Then, in 2008, his already-fragile life was upended when he lost both his Bay Street banking job and his downtown apartment.

 

43 years old moves to toronto.

51 years old loses job and apartment.

52 years old finds affordable housing lives on disability pension.

https://www.cbc.ca/n...using-1.5463033

so i don't know was his problems all caused by his childhood abuse?  should we now pay for him for the rest of his life?

it's an odd story.  

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 15 February 2020 - 06:54 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

After a barricade lasting several hours, VicPD arrested a man in the 700-block of Pandora Avenue on Friday evening.

 

On Feb. 21, police were called about a man in breach of condition. When they arrived, officers found the man in an apartment with someone he’d been ordered to have no contact with.

 

Crisis negotiators worked with the man for several hours but he refused to go with police peacefully so a warrant was obtained and the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team was deployed.

 

https://www.vicnews....pandora-avenue/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 22 February 2020 - 09:21 AM.

[VIResident]

In 2017, the City of Victoria paid $250,000 to help fix up the Fairfield Hotel, a 62-bed rooming house just across the street from city hall. Run by Pacifica Housing, a charitable provider of low-income housing on Vancouver Island, the Fairfield Hotel is notorious for its poor conditions, including a lack of cold water, a mice infestation and frequent incidents of violence. Residents say they never noticed any improvement after the payment of the $250,000, and with the Fairfield now slated for closure, the City of Victoria is looking to get its grant back. 

 

https://www.capnews....6ea26-121164041

[rmpeers]

In 2017, the City of Victoria paid $250,000 to help fix up the Fairfield Hotel, a 62-bed rooming house just across the street from city hall. Run by Pacifica Housing, a charitable provider of low-income housing on Vancouver Island, the Fairfield Hotel is notorious for its poor conditions, including a lack of cold water, a mice infestation and frequent incidents of violence. Residents say they never noticed any improvement after the payment of the $250,000, and with the Fairfield now slated for closure, the City of Victoria is looking to get its grant back.

https://www.capnews....6ea26-121164041

It was mentioned in these pages recently that there needs to be more accountability in terms of the many support services offered. Are these organizations actually making life better for people (as one would hope) or are they just making money?

[LJ]

^Just the latter unfortunately.

[Nparker]

The 900 block of Pandora, in particular the grassy median, has pretty much been turned into a campground. I suppose even the pretense of bylaw enforcement has been abandoned now.

[Victoria Watcher]

The 900 block of Pandora, in particular the grassy median, has pretty much been turned into a campground. I suppose even the pretense of bylaw enforcement has been abandoned now.

 

i presume that nobody will be doing that type of work.  city hall is closed.  those bylaw officers are likely just sitting at home reading.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 20 March 2020 - 10:42 AM.

[Nparker]

The 900 block of Pandora will probably resemble Vancouver's Downtown Eastside/Hastings corridor before too long.

Edited by Nparker, 20 March 2020 - 10:49 AM.

[spanky123]

i presume that nobody will be doing that type of work.  city hall is closed.  those bylaw officers are likely just sitting at home reading.

 

And getting paid to do so.

[spanky123]

The 900 block of Pandora will probably resemble Vancouver's Downtown Eastside/Hastings corridor before too long.

 

Not just 900 block Pandora. You can go 2-3 blocks in any direction and tent cities are popping up all over.

[shoeflack]

i presume that nobody will be doing that type of work.  city hall is closed.  those bylaw officers are likely just sitting at home reading.

 

And getting paid to do so.

 

Just for the record, because I know you two love to be negative whenever possible, I've seen CoV bylaw officers out and about as recently as about an hour ago. Still working. Still earning their paycheque. Whether they have been re-directed to focus on other tasks, I don't know. But they are certainly still working.

[Spy Black]

It's those tent cities that will be Zone #zero for the explosion of the virus in the Capital Region, likely that will infect this region to the full percentage of the anticipated cases noted when the virus expands unregulated.

 

All because the vagrant issue wasn't dealt with by the Councillors Victoria voters tasked with dealing with exactly these kinds of issues when they were still possible to be dealt with.

 

Not to worry, this entire affair over the coming month will make the courthouse tent city look like a kiddies playground once it takes root unchecked, all while the COV councillors responsible for the entire mess are tucked away at home (a number of those homes being well outside the City of Victoria).

Edited by Spy Black, 20 March 2020 - 11:17 AM.

[rmpeers]

It's those tent cities that will be Zone #zero for the explosion of the virus in the Capital Region, likely that will infect this region to the full percentage of the anticipated cases noted when the virus expands unregulated.

All because the vagrant issue wasn't dealt with by the Councillors Victoria voters tasked with dealing with exactly these kinds of issues when they were still possible to be dealt with.

Not to worry, this entire affair over the coming month will make the courthouse tent city look like a kiddies playground once it takes root unchecked, all while the COV councillors responsible for the entire mess are tucked away at home (a number of those homes being well outside the City of Victoria).

Be curious if local police will do the blindingly obvious thing and prevent groups of people from being in close quarters. It's the compassionate thing to do and the only choice to minimize the spread, but I will be shocked if council has the guts to try and save some lives, to really truly do something good. Prove me wrong.

[Nparker]

I think we know painfully well what the CoV's response will be. The majority of this council firmly believe ideology trumps common sense. I see no reason for current circumstances to change their way of thinking.

[spanky123]

Just for the record, because I know you two love to be negative whenever possible, I've seen CoV bylaw officers out and about as recently as about an hour ago. Still working. Still earning their paycheque. Whether they have been re-directed to focus on other tasks, I don't know. But they are certainly still working.

 

Don't take this personally as I don't know you or your situation.

 

I get emails from the Mayor and Horgan each day telling me how we are all in this together. I am simply pointing out that we are not and I am not too happy about the BS they are spewing. I completely understand that lots of people who have careers in the public sector don't know how the private sector works and think that it is normal for people to get paid when their offices are closed and there is no work for them to do. Our leaders know that isn't true however and you can read about lots of examples where large corporations are laying folks off with no severance and terminated benefits. 

 

The $6K to $10K+ monthly salary the public employee is getting paid to do nothing would support the weekly EI payments for 3-5 or more other people. It is all one taxpayer funded pool of money.I am sure that lots of public sector employees are coming up with ways to rationalize that and that is their prerogative, just don't pretend that you give a hoot about anyone else. 

[spanky123]

Be curious if local police will do the blindingly obvious thing and prevent groups of people from being in close quarters. It's the compassionate thing to do and the only choice to minimize the spread, but I will be shocked if council has the guts to try and save some lives, to really truly do something good. Prove me wrong.

 

The police are not going to want to run the risk of being in close quarters with people who will spit on them and who practice no hygiene. I would suspect that we move towards the same model we are now seeing in some US cities where the police stop enforcing all but serious crimes.

[shoeflack]

^Look, I get it spanky, you have issues with government. Fair enough, we all have our demons. But just so you're aware, plenty of municipal workers are being laid off too, particularly those at the bottom rung of the totem pole, the part-time and auxiliary staff.

 

The fact remains, I have yet to see you complain that many private employers are continuing to pay their employees to "do nothing". Why not put them on blast too? Most are in the same boat, able to subsidize salaries for a couple more weeks and then guess what, even those $6,000/month earners are going to be laid off too. BTW, I already know of many full-time municipal/public sector employees starting to get word of the pink slips coming.

 

For you to paint all public servants with one brush is just flat out ridiculous. Someone has to keep the water running and the power on, and it's certainly not private sector employees doing that. But hey, who needs water and power, right?

Edited by shoeflack, 20 March 2020 - 11:42 AM.