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Releasing Some of My Findings from the 100 Kamloops Conversations Project

As promised, here are some of my findings from the 100 conversations I had this summer with a very diverse group of Kamloopsians. Much of what I heard I am incorporating into my platform and candidacy moving forward.

 

 

City Council Candidate Arjun Singh Releases Findings From His 100 Conversations Project

For Immediate Release



Candidate for Kamloops City Council Arjun Singh is releasing today findings from his 100 Conversations project. Over the summer, Singh set out to meet with a diverse group of 100 Kamloopsians, from all walks of life, and ask these people five questions:

1) What do you value about Kamloops?
2) What could be even better?
3) What is your general perception of city council / city hall?
4) What are your top issues / concerns?
5) What are the attributes of a good city councillor / council?

    By the end of the summer, Singh had spoken to business people, social service professionals, environmental activists, artists, educators, young people, senior citizens, health workers, and sport advocates. Here are the most interesting things he heard.

    Almost half the people Singh spoke to value Kamloops as a community that is neither too big or to small. They felt that Kamloops has great amenities and yet has retained a community spirit with  friendly people. A very similar proportion of people valued Kamloops geography and outdoor recreation opportunities. Additionally, many people valued that the community is well managed.

    As many respondents feel that the community is well managed overall, there was more difficulty identifying ways to improve Kamloops. Top responses were that we need to attract more business and jobs, that we need to be  more green, that we should be more open to new ideas, and that we should consider broadening our community focus from the “Tournament Capital” brand.

    Perceptions on the current council were roughly split 50/50 between positive and negative comments. Many top of mind issues and concerns were raised including the Lorne St parkade and the Ajax mine proposal.”I heard about twice as often about the Ajax Mine than about the Lorne street parkade”, Singh stated, “I believe the concerns raised illustrate how valuable and important community feedback is to development proposals in the city.”

    In response to the questions about the attributes of a good councillor or council, top of mind were looking at the needs of the whole community and not just of a select few, good listening, approachability, decisiveness, and strong involvement in the community beyond council duties.

“I make no claim that the 100 conversations are an authoritative representation of overall community feeling”, says Singh, ” but I worked hard to talk to a very wide range of people and I do feel that some incredibly important themes emerged. I intend to continue asking my fellow citizens these questions and other questions as a candidate and, if elected throughout my council term. I pledge to be a city councillor who listens, links the community, and promotes smart thinking.”

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For more information contact:
Arjun Singh,
Candidate for Kamloops City Council
(250) 377-1797

What I Will Remember Most About Summer 2011...

In completing one of my first campaign commitments, I spent a lot of time this summer talking to my fellow citizens. I talked to 100+ people, spending on average one hour with each person. My favourite part of the summer was watching people looking purposefully into space, the typical "I'm thinking" face. I want to express my heartfelt thank to all those who spent time with me talking about Kamloops. You were indeed thoughtful and friendly.

I'm currently looking through all my notes from the conversations. There were some really interesting common themes that emerged and there were definitely issues that divide the community. More on this soon!

This Week's Public Hearing Hurt My Heart...

   

A long and emotional public hearing on rezoning four pieces of city owned land to allow for affordable housing. In a nutshell, the provincial housing authority, BC Housing, is now asking communities to provide land on which affordable housing could be built. Kamloops city hall staff have been working to identify pieces of land already owned by the community for this purpose - wanting to avoid purchasing any new land.

All the land proposed is now being used as park space, or at the very least unmaintained recreation and wildlife space. One particular piece of land, on Cowan Street, has a lot of neighbourhood use and many people fought to keep the land zoned as is. Council, I feel, made the right choices in a difficult difficult process. Cowan Street keeps the park, and the three other areas get rezoned for affordable housing.

There was nothing pretty about this hearing. At its core, as many stated on the night, it pitted two groups of citizens against each other - those who supported park land and those who supported affordable housing. That's a pretty crude characterization. A lot of people support both, but the question on the night is what people wanted to do with these particular pieces of land. What's worse is that I know and respect and like many people on both sides. And, on the night, there was no real compromise to be had.

I am a huge advocate for affordable housing and I worry about the bad blood generated as we continue to work to end homelessness in Kamloops. Might it have been better if those who stood up on behalf of the plan, all of them who I respect and trust, conceded that the Cowan St plot should stay park? I am not sure, this is very much a question. I worry, though, about a reputation for balance and conciliation.

I've been at enough public hearings to know that homeowners rightly get very emotional when talking about a rezoning proposal they don't like. Some folks at this hearing got very heated and, in some cases, downright nasty. This really troubles me as well - especially the nastiness.

Solution? Well, that is a tough one. The one piece of land that got rezoned, at the top of 9th avenue at the corner of McMurdo Drive, caused a lot of community anxiety. I sincerely hope these folks will have their concerns adressed and, importantly, will over time feel good about any sacrifices they make. The vast majority concerns I heard at the public hearing, I believe can be addressed. Maybe, the future developers of the property should commit to sit down, one on one, with each person who raised concerns at the hearing. Perhaps, also, each person who expressed concern about any property decided upon should be personally invited to future forums on affordable housing.

The public hearing process in BC has a whole host of really bad problems in situations like this. Not sure what to suggest yet for potential solutions, but would like to put my head to this.

Uncle Peter Invites You on A Wonderful Civic Adventure...

I pray the Mayor (an indeed Uncle Sam) will forgive me for this awful copy and paste image.

Tomorrow is the last day to apply for a chance to go on a great adventure in citizenship. The City of Kamloops offers residents the opportunity to join one of many council committees. Lots of variety here and a great way to easily learn more about how city hall works. Check out the opportunities to serve on the arts commission, the heritage commission, the parks and recreation committee, the social planning council, or the airshed advisory committee.

A Great Web Site for the Cycle Touring In and Around Kamloops...

One of the most avid cyclists I know, who may or may not choose to identify himself in the comments, passed on this wonderful bike touring web site - crazyguyonabike.com. Brimming with information. If you search for Kamloops, there is some pretty interesting stuff.

Peter Milobar and Denis Walsh Tag Team to Increase Citizen Access to City Hall...

 

 

It is lovely to see these two good men work together to make marvelous civic music. Councillor Denis Walsh's motion to have one evening city council meeting every two month was broadly intended to increase citizen access to council.

Mayor Peter Milobar picked up on this broad theme. The Mayor didn't think a whole council meeting in the evening was feasible, but suggested that council could institute an opportunity for citizens to ask questions of council in conjunction with a regular scheduled public hearing. Public hearings are already held in the evening.

Other councillors built upon these suggestions. In the end, it looks like citizens will have the opportunity to both ask questions and make presentations to council in the evening. As many people work in the day and can't make the afternoon council meetings, this increases access to city hall. This, to me, is an incredibly positive thing.

There will be some issues to iron out - how to let people know when would the best evenings would be (on less busy public hearing nights (sometimes hard to predict);  and how to promote these opportunities and truly welcome people in an inviting way (there was some talk today about how people don't typically turn out for the annual budget public consultation and a great reminder from a citizen who came to the podium today that council meetings can seem very intimidating to people.)

What Residential Christmas Lights Say About Citizenship...

Photo Credit: pugetsoundphotowalks

I've been pondering some of the reasons why some people go crazy with Christmas lights on their homes. Almost every year, my wife and I drive around an evening or two and just enjoy all the different displays. These lights seem to be about more than showing off - and even more than simple beautification. Over the past years, I've heard a lot of people talk about the importance they place on having privacy in their homes. I think that is a really important need. Christmas lights, however, seem to send the exact opposite message. This is the one time of the year where many folks actually invite people to slow down and have a look. Putting up Christmas lights, in my humble opinion, is an act of invitation, an act of community and citizenship.  This is indeed a most wonderful thing.

Lack of Blogging Explanation and Kudos...

I'm writing this post from a Starbucks in the Cadboro Bay neighbourhood in Victoria. Been attending my second MA residency at Royal Roads University; today was officially the halfway point of three weeks away. I feel fortunate to be studying professional communications with an amazing group of people - more than 50 strong from across the country. It's been an incredibly busy time, so I am assuming blogging here will be light until early November.

A couple of kudos, though, before I get back to the books.

• Kudos to my friend Nancy Bepple, who has been a great Kamloops councillor in my humble opinion, for every once in a while sending an email with important information. The latest one I received was on the public meetings on the community bike and pedestrian master plans.
• Kudos the Kamloops Daily News, and I think Catherine Litt in particular, for organizing the Kamloops Project - "a multimedia time capsule of life in Kamloops, British Columbia, as experienced through its residents on Oct. 19, 2010." I am crushed I missed submitting something yesterday. Came down with an awful cold from which I am trying now to recover.

A Gratifying Neighbourhood Picnic in Greenstone Park...

I would recommend helping organize a neighbourhood picnic. I helped a bit to put together a potluck picnic in Lower Sahali on the weekend. I was very afraid no one would come. In the end, it was totally marvelous. Young kids playing, people chatting, great weather. Neighbours meeting neighbours.  It made me very happy to see this.

 

 

Why Not Come Down to the Kamloops Energy Fair?

Saturday, June 19th 2010 - Mac Island.

The below video is an amazing promo, starring some of the organizers (who it turns out are not that shy!) :

More information here...