A little story of what folks are facing in their work, shot and edited on an iPhone.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Governance is hard
Before our new Council was elected, two Bowen Island residents, Wolfgang Duntz and Richard Underhill, took the municipality to court over a complaint they had about undue process. They claimed that Council had not given proper notice of documents related to the approval of the Official Community Plan, and they sought an injunction against the implementation of the plan. The injunction was dismissed, because, well, it wasn't substantive. Many islanders in fact argued that it was malicious, while others said that if the municipality is not following their own procedures it serves them right to be taken to court.
Now it turns out that Wolfgang Duntz later ran for and was elected to Council (in fact he sat on Council while the action he was pursuing against Council was unresolved and while the Court was ruling on how the costs would be handled, a decision that has ended up costing the municipality - the one Duntz is a Councillor for - incurring a bill in the tens of thousands of dollars).
But governance is hard and it turns out that in an effort to help deal with the green waste that is generated on Bowen, Councillor's Duntz's Council may have in fact done exactly the same thing again. They made a decision without proper process being followed that runs counter to the concerns of many neighbours. And they made this decision even as Underhill and Duntz's action was still being settled.
I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. Governance is a tricky thing to get right and I don't think as a community we can defend ourselves from court challenges every time a process is not exactly followed to the letter. On the other hand it will be interesting to see what those who brayed for blood before the election have to say now.
I think the proper course of action is for the Council to talk to the local neighbours, and reintroduce their motion using proper process. That way every one gets a good hearing and the decision gets made properly. What do you think they should do?
Now it turns out that Wolfgang Duntz later ran for and was elected to Council (in fact he sat on Council while the action he was pursuing against Council was unresolved and while the Court was ruling on how the costs would be handled, a decision that has ended up costing the municipality - the one Duntz is a Councillor for - incurring a bill in the tens of thousands of dollars).
But governance is hard and it turns out that in an effort to help deal with the green waste that is generated on Bowen, Councillor's Duntz's Council may have in fact done exactly the same thing again. They made a decision without proper process being followed that runs counter to the concerns of many neighbours. And they made this decision even as Underhill and Duntz's action was still being settled.
I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. Governance is a tricky thing to get right and I don't think as a community we can defend ourselves from court challenges every time a process is not exactly followed to the letter. On the other hand it will be interesting to see what those who brayed for blood before the election have to say now.
I think the proper course of action is for the Council to talk to the local neighbours, and reintroduce their motion using proper process. That way every one gets a good hearing and the decision gets made properly. What do you think they should do?
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Birds and mammals and fish and things
The complex rising and falling of the birds and mammals of the Salish Sea:
For other waterbirds, the March herring spawn is a time of plenty, particularly between Nanaimo and Comox. “There is an exodus from this side of the strait,” Bird Studies’ Davidson said.
Species such as gulls and harlequins gorge on the roe. Others such as Pacific loons and western grebes target the actual herring. “The cycle is so dynamic in the Salish Sea, so many different types of bait fish, birds and marine mammals that are all part of this complicated food chain,” he said.
Almost on cue, Davidson spots the slick dark-grey backs of two harbour porpoises farther offshore.
As perplexing as coastal birds, this marine mammal is listed as a species of special concern in our waters with information lacking on their overall numbers and population trends.
A PhD thesis by Anna Hall at the University of B.C. found that harbour porpoises seek out strong tidal areas for foraging during the reproductive season, from April to October, in the Salish Sea.
In April they will gather by the dozens off Point Roberts, another mystery of a coastal ecosystem dominated by strong tides and currents and the brutish muscle of the Fraser River.
“It’s a very complicated puzzle,” Davidson said. “Everything affects each other, probably in different ways.”
Monday, April 16, 2012
Only on Bowen: gutter recycling
From the Bowen Forum today:
Love it. Give Gil a call if you can help. As for me, I'm going to head over to see the lettuce wall.
Does anyone have some gutter pieces lying around? Any colour, any size. I want to build a wall of lettuce planters.
Gil
778.668.3675
Love it. Give Gil a call if you can help. As for me, I'm going to head over to see the lettuce wall.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Prepared to be surprised by visitors
Yesterday at the end of our workshop day one of our participants looked out to the bay and saw a stirring in the water. He asked what it could be and I suggested it was a reef appearing at low tide, or a seal chasing herring or the Goldeneyes who have been engaged in their weird breeding behaviour of running on water and diving below the surface.
He said that it didn't look like any of that, and when I turned around, I saw a small pod of dolphins ripping through Mannion Bay. I have never seen dolphins in the bay before, so we ran down to the beach and watched them move between the boats and back out into the channel. Our whole group was in awe of the scene, moved by what we were seeing, deep in the appreciation of these creatures.
This group has continually talked about how beautiful it is here on Bowen, how friendly people are, how lucky we are to have the forests and the sea and the park right by the village. Some went out to Docs on Friday and were blown away by Rob Bailey and Teun Scheut playing jazz and one of group members even joined in for a version of Nature Boy. They have enjoyed themselves here, and have opened my eyes to the qualities of place that we often take for granted. And we got to witness a surprise that even the most seasoned Islanders were delighted by.
He said that it didn't look like any of that, and when I turned around, I saw a small pod of dolphins ripping through Mannion Bay. I have never seen dolphins in the bay before, so we ran down to the beach and watched them move between the boats and back out into the channel. Our whole group was in awe of the scene, moved by what we were seeing, deep in the appreciation of these creatures.
This group has continually talked about how beautiful it is here on Bowen, how friendly people are, how lucky we are to have the forests and the sea and the park right by the village. Some went out to Docs on Friday and were blown away by Rob Bailey and Teun Scheut playing jazz and one of group members even joined in for a version of Nature Boy. They have enjoyed themselves here, and have opened my eyes to the qualities of place that we often take for granted. And we got to witness a surprise that even the most seasoned Islanders were delighted by.
Location:Cardena St,Bowen Island,Canada
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Some online resources
There are a number of very good resources on line to support hosting practice. Here are a few:
- Art of Hosting online home. Also there is a ning site which is an interactive space for the Art of Hosting community. At both of these places you can find a link to joining the Art of Hosting email list as well.
- The online home of the Open Space Technology community
- Online home for The World Cafe community.
These links will connect you to folks all over the world using participatory hosting methods ina variety of settings.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Building a viable community?
Our new Council has begun its process to develop the village. To do so they are lining up a few ducks which they have to solve in order to proceed.
For decades, there has been talk about what should happen with the village. Over the last few years, the talk has become more and more focused on detailed planning, and the latest iteration concluded last fall with the Snug Cove Concepts process which analysed several of the previous plans, broke out several design elements and combined them into four scenarios which have sparked a lot of discussion. On Saturday, our Council will hold a public meeting to introduce a fifth concept, which significantly adds a road right through the Park at the entrance to the island. This has never proved to be a popular option but they have put it on the table anyway.
The new Council has produced a plan for how they will move forward on developing the Cove. Entitled "Building a viable community" it seems to be a critical pathway for implementing a comprehensive development of Snug Cove using a single source - either a private sector builder or a local development corporation composed of local developers, landowners and municipality staff.
I have several thoughts about this, not the least of which is that turning over the massive job of developing a village seems to me to be a "shopping mall" approach to the work. It strikes me that all Council needs to do is to rezone the land, determine the uses and values of the development, and offer it for sale. The developers who buy could contribute to the infrastructure. I am unsure why we need to tender the offer for development. And with Bowen Island's largest developer sitting on Council, I'm unsure of how the process could be rendered fair. What is being offered essentially is a large swath of community lands for a private interest to buy and develop, essentially under contract to the municipality. It is unclear who will actually own the land at the end of the day. One suspects that a development company my buy and lease it to tenants which seems like a terrible idea. Absentee landlords jacking rents are one of the primary reasons why businesses have a ahrd time succeeding in the Cove.
Critically for me, what is missing from this vision of development is tha "viable community" part. It seems that this is a pathway fro "creating a profitable development process" but it says nothing about citizens being involved in the development corporation, it contains no provision for community consultation or co-creation (especially, one imagines in the private sector option) and it doesn't talk about community life at all.
On the other hand, it IS an implementation plan. Something will get done. I just wonder if at the end of the day we won't have a glorified shopping mall for a village rather than a proper village.
If this was the plan that was being used to develop your village, what would you have to say about it?
For decades, there has been talk about what should happen with the village. Over the last few years, the talk has become more and more focused on detailed planning, and the latest iteration concluded last fall with the Snug Cove Concepts process which analysed several of the previous plans, broke out several design elements and combined them into four scenarios which have sparked a lot of discussion. On Saturday, our Council will hold a public meeting to introduce a fifth concept, which significantly adds a road right through the Park at the entrance to the island. This has never proved to be a popular option but they have put it on the table anyway.
The new Council has produced a plan for how they will move forward on developing the Cove. Entitled "Building a viable community" it seems to be a critical pathway for implementing a comprehensive development of Snug Cove using a single source - either a private sector builder or a local development corporation composed of local developers, landowners and municipality staff.
I have several thoughts about this, not the least of which is that turning over the massive job of developing a village seems to me to be a "shopping mall" approach to the work. It strikes me that all Council needs to do is to rezone the land, determine the uses and values of the development, and offer it for sale. The developers who buy could contribute to the infrastructure. I am unsure why we need to tender the offer for development. And with Bowen Island's largest developer sitting on Council, I'm unsure of how the process could be rendered fair. What is being offered essentially is a large swath of community lands for a private interest to buy and develop, essentially under contract to the municipality. It is unclear who will actually own the land at the end of the day. One suspects that a development company my buy and lease it to tenants which seems like a terrible idea. Absentee landlords jacking rents are one of the primary reasons why businesses have a ahrd time succeeding in the Cove.
Critically for me, what is missing from this vision of development is tha "viable community" part. It seems that this is a pathway fro "creating a profitable development process" but it says nothing about citizens being involved in the development corporation, it contains no provision for community consultation or co-creation (especially, one imagines in the private sector option) and it doesn't talk about community life at all.
On the other hand, it IS an implementation plan. Something will get done. I just wonder if at the end of the day we won't have a glorified shopping mall for a village rather than a proper village.
If this was the plan that was being used to develop your village, what would you have to say about it?
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