Leadership - time to step up

I found 2 things remarkable about last nights Concerned Citizens meeting:

1) the high number in support -  1/4 to 1/3rd of the crowd stood up at the beginning of the meeting to indicated support for the project in response to Moderator Mark MacDonald's request

2) a missing link - I saw nothing of the one person that I came to see & hear

I was asked to respond to 4 questions/issues coming from last night:

1) Council has been "too" behind doors about this whole process

The "whole process" is hard to understand in this case - there is a simple part of it that could have, much like the HST, been introduced much better.   It was known some 3 years ago that 5 supportive homes would end up being built next door to "someone".  A campaign to educate "residents" that would be "next door" to the locations, could have been rolled out.  I know that the locations were not known then - this simply does not matter, I would tell everybody as if they were, going to be next door.  Had it been started years ago we would not have so many stuck in quicksand on this - desperately trying to find straws to grasp that will lead them somewhere comfortable and also to understand "what went wrong" & "why didnt I know more"

2) no public meetings have taken place to allow the residents to talk on these issues and learn what is going on.

Public meetings could have been part of a campaign to involve the community once the decision was made, once the MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the Province was signed.    I took this signing as a clear statement of what the City, the Council & the Mayor wanted.   Going forward: lesson learned, be prepared.   Perhaps round table discussions televised on shaw, neighbourhood meetings with Mayor, public meetings to just talk & listen.   A communications "department" in the Mayors office might also help get information out clearly, accurately & in a timely manner.   The city has a voice for its role in operations, what about one for the role of public policy?

3) There is alot of misunderstanding about what is proposed for the area.

Good point - Understanding starts with the process.  It still needs to be more clearly explained, in terms average people get.  What is the process of building a Supportive House.  Who does what, when & where do we (a city like Nanaimo) fit in the process.  Then I can start to see the options that are possible and which if any I'd prefer.  

For me this part has been particularly interesting because I did come to realize after much independant work, that yes the "experts" were doing a good job, they are skilled and that the "process" was in fact working just fine.  I could start to get back to my life with some confidence that I really was "doing the best I could do" by trusting "the process"

I spoke with Mark last night - a newcomer to Nanaimo, 40ish resident of Nanaimo's North End, just moved from Toronto with a teacher wife and their 7 & 9 yr old children.  He is in IT and like me, used to work for IBM.  He was very concerned about the issue having 7 & 9 year old children and a teacher wife in any drug related environment.  It was hard for him to understand and accept the process as it exists with this issue.  It is different than the type of process he & I found in a corporate IT environment.  I could empathize with him.

In Corporate IT, Construction or Commerce in general for that matter, the Solution goes looking for the Need.  Needs are defined and specified.  This is the other way around - the Need goes looking for the Solution.  An "End to Homelessness" is the goal.  The route to that goal is to support the people working actively with the problem.  The non profits operators drive this process, they step up and propose Housing models that they want, that will work best.  These non profit operators are people who live in our community too, they have kids and elderly people in their lives too, they know the importance of safety & security.  They are way ahead of me on this.  The best I can do is to support them, passionately if need be.  

4) While everyone says they are all interested in helping homelessness the only input I see coming from the community is when they don't want homeless people in their neighbourhood.  (my opinion)

Again - its all about communication and "leadership".

The success in Victoria with Cool AId & Fairway Woods, Olympic Vista and many others was in large part due to the respective Mayors of Victoria, Langford & Saanich becoming "champions" of the homelessness cause.  Especially in Victoria - this came back to me repeatedly from staff and non profit group people.

Mark the IT guy from Toronto, said to me last night the most poignant statement yet in all my weeks of research. 

 "All I am looking for is someone to provide calm and reasoned assurance that this is being done properly"

I thought John was going to be there.  I was there to support him. 

I had no speech, I was dressed in cycling gear.  I spoke as a neighbour, about my search leading to something that I could live with and that I believe it is still an option for us. 

However poorly prepared, I was prepared to take over the role advocating for this project.  I did the best I could.  It is what I want for my neighbourhood and my city.  I want other things too but this is a huge first step in the right direction.

What else can I do?