Good turnout last night to hear Ken Melamed, Mayor of Whistler & Mike Harcourt at the Convention Centre. The curious and the committed were busy being seen & sawed, hmmm how about they were seen and got sawed..... it was a big see/saw thing, ok. The evening reminded me of the first time I saw Natalie McMaster at the Port Theatre. Jesse Cook was the 2nd billing and he stole the show. In this case Mayor Melamed came on and talked about planning, the process and the tool. He was cool I thought, good speaker, clear slides, moved around with a headset microphone, a very analytical approach, maybe not for everybody, especially the control freaks looking for blunt solutions to unemployment or the pumped up supporter types looking to cheer one liners and hug neighbours. Ken brought a simple message along with his amazing Whistler success story, find a recipe, stop just throwing ingredients together.
Mr Harcourt I thought looked good, amazing really for a guy that fell off a roof and broke his neck. I have much respect for the journey he has made but last night added none. His talk was loose, slides fuzzy, he hardly moved. It was old stuff. Some cute quips about Harry Rankin were fun. I wondered about some cheap shots at Nanaimo and making light of a question from Councellor Fred Patjje. Fred asked about how to handle opposition on supportive housing. The blunt "just do it anyway" answer drew quick applause but gave Fred nothing, maybe that was what he wanted - nothing.
The highlight of the evening for me was well before the "rally" even started. I went to a meeting of the Nanaimo Community Heritage Commission (NCHC). I was there to learn about "Character Building" (see previous post JimsWorld: Character Building in Nanaimo's Old City Area). The timing was good as the survey results were available on NOCA residents wanting to repeal 3 new features of the new Zoning bylaw. The survey came in 2/3rds in favour of going back to the old rules. The NCHC will be asked to give input to City Council on this bylaw amendment presently before council. I was generously allowed on to the agenda. I asked my question and had a thoughtful discussion. I tried to be positive suggesting developers could contribute to "character preservation" with neighbourhood interpretive programs, features & amenities. I feel that the approach of using the Zoning bylaw is inappropriate and negative. It is a tool for a different purpose - tampering with it will reduce property values and restrict development. It remains unclear to me that it will do anything to preserve "character". I am still hoping to learn more at the NOCA AGM coming up - maybe I am missing something.
The VISION message as so bluntly put to Mr Pattje was "just do it".
What else can I do?
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