My NEW (North End Wet) House

I am slow - I've missed alot in the past 20 years of my own life & drama.  The evolution of social programs has flown under my radar.   Just for issues relating to substance abuse and mental illness,  there is not only a dozen or so organizations active in BC, there is an association bringing them together.   Like flooring outlets, barber shops, dental hygenists or mechanics - there is a common voice and support for the industry.  The "industry" of substance abuse and mental illness - wow, who would have thought it would get this far.  I certainly didnt.  I am slow.

I invite you to check out HereToHelp  -    http://heretohelp.bc.ca/about - "Since 2003, major providers working together to help people better prevent and manage mental health and substance use problems."

Yesterday I met John Horn, Nanaimo's Social Planner.  I had seen John in action at committee meetings and we had spoken on the phone.  Previous first impressions were like some of my old IBM colleagues - professional, business like, purposeful.  Today I found him much more at ease in his own space and willing to share any thought and idea I busily bounced around to.

I wanted to find out about the process of selecting the operator for the North End Wet House - my NEW House.

I learned that the process is basically to invite people (organizations) to express interest and then to invite some (or all) of those that put up their hand, to submit a detailed proposal.  It is a 60 year deal, a 60 year commitment to run the facility.  I understand that we are right now coming to the end of the "hand putting up" period - for the Dufferin & Uplands locations only.  Councillor Holdom's compromise to residents concerned about the Bowen location has it now "parked" until the others are up and running.   That means for that location, the process stops, no operator selecting work is happening for Bowen.

Personally, I like the idea of going first on this - there may well be more options available, more to choose from.  On the other hand, I am sure that there will be lessons learned through this round of the process that will serve to benefit the final round.  There may well be new options available then, who knows- I just figure if its going to happen, bring it on- lets get serious about finding the best option, the best deal available.

I showed John slides of my trip to Victoria & Duncan yesterday and asked if he was familiar with the 2 places I visited, the operators, sites and areas.  He certainly was, no surprises here.  He informed me another half dozen operators that are well respected and being considered in the mix currently.  I realized once again just how slow I am - this is like buying a house, a computer, furniture - anything.  There are many options, many factors to consider.  I am in construction, have been for 25 years, mostly bidding commercial flooring work.  I suddenly realized how silly it would be to have a home builder do an office building or to have an institutional contractor do a basement renovation.  Like so many things, this is probably one where there are "horses for courses" (people that perform consistently well in specific conditions)

I also learned that the final decision on the operator comes down to John & head of the RCMP here.  There are of course many reports and reviews by committees & council but it will be these 2 people that  determine what we want to do for the next 60 years.***  I intend to spend a bit of time to make up my own mind, to share my thoughts on what I would do with my NEW House.

*** (New Information on this point was added Oct 15 in the following post http://jimsworld2012.blogspot.com/2011/10/new-information-on-who-decides.html  basically there is more to it - the province I now understand has the final decision on who gets the contract)