Marchi 3rd 2008 Citizen Communications Notes

[Waterbuffalo]

These Notes are paraphrased and NOT exact quotes.. IF you need more exact quotes, please view the video and do your own..



You can find it here: http://www.cityofvancouver.us/cvtv/cvtvindex.asp?catID=19&folderID=1731e

Hour long.. Citizen communications..

Martyn Butler Announces he's running against Marc Bolt. Welcomes to try and work with the City of Vancouver on issues of its citizens.. 2nd promoting a round of thank yous to the troops around Portland and where ever he is going. Says the troops smile when you say thank-you..

Mark Johnston: President of the Vancouver Fire Fighters Union.. Says thank you to the council for making the City of Vancouver a safer place. Bike Helmets people from dying. Make a contribution a 1000 dollars for bike helpers for the City of Vancouver for low income kids.

Council says thank you back. Hopes more community based organizations will help bring more ideas and help on this important subject to help bring more low income bike helmets for kids.

John Wallum: Light Rail of Mass transit. CRC. (Is he a member of Dunn's camp?) Mayor corrected him in last time he spoke that he would decide what to do from all the input from the community says about Light Rail. Costs of Light Rail Municipal bonds to pay for light rail. There is a huge amount of text from this guy.. Please watch the video..

Lightly complains about the the added expense of compounding tax functions of government..

Goes rattling on about giving away D street to the Angelos, Police station? Limits the bridge the redesign and CRC costs.


Michael Schumacher - Two Main Street Businesses Light Rail would be devastating.. (Goes on a rant..) Comments on Don Benton's comments in the local paper to escalate taxes. (Chief posted most of this all ready..) Final comment asks that LRT not be put down Main street.

(Personal note: This has been stated repeatedly in News and other sources over the past week that the Mayor and the City of Vancouver will not allow the Light Rail to go down Main street in this area of Uptown Village. WB)

Columbia River Crossing has said he has made some comments about the CRC staff is saying stuff "oh well" to closing his business if Light Rail is being put along Main street. The Mayor told him this wasn't acceptable and that he or some one else would deal with the subject if he could pass along the name of the person saying this to Thayer or to him. He's not going to hurt the businesses along Main Street but to help them if he can.

(Personal Note #2: I have seen what the Mayor will do to bring Jobs and business to this community. No, I don't personally agree with the mayor on taxes and many other subjects. But one thing I've seen him do is go out, listen and try to help businesses out if he can. WB)

Pat Jollota: Not going to do Main or the Main Couplet. Both Mayor and her are saying that people are spreading misinformation about this situation.


Christy Weaver positive message in downtown promote downtown. Lee Coulter is the president of one of the Downtown Vancouver Business Associations??.. First Friday Art Walks are open. A lot of people are coming to these Art Walks. 275 people came to the last art walk in February in the pouring down rain.

Asking for the mayor and city councilors to be ambassador during an event at the Vancouver Hilton. 400 people.. Offer tours downtown.. Bring more people downtown.. VDA to work on the other side with Art Walk to be open during Arts Walk to promote them downtown. Have people to bring more people downtown.

Every first Friday; April 4th tour guides hosted..

[Waterbuffalo]

Part #2

Robert Nickles Bridge subject... Light Rail interests and Tolls. Fiasco to city.. Required Arch Campbell. (Sorry might have got this wrong but I think I heard right..) Has problems with Light Rail.. Comments on Third bridge option (pushed by Sharon Nesset.) Tolling issue 2.50 to 7.50.. Wants to know.. Tolls will kill Portland people to come to bridge.

Joe Stevens: Bike Helmet.. fast forwarded through it.

Sharon Nesset: (!YAY!) third bridge lady.. CRC bridge.. Nepa process.. about specific job but process. New corridors.. New transportation things.. Have a policy follow. How to handle a situation.. Sponsor a special counsel. Take citizen comments and put them into the record. Sponsor council was disbanded in 2005. People are not following the Nepa process.

Several government, environmental and miscellaneous groups sent them letters saying that the NEPA process is not being followed.

Reason why she goes from the City Council, Port of Vancouver and County is there is no one person who deals with all of this or the issues related to it. (Wants to know if there is a Metro in Vancouver?) Sharon had more to say but it went by so fast I decided to just paraphrase.) If your interested in what she had to say, please listen to her section of the video near 20 minutes in.

Susan Courtenay: Further help extend the invitation to help with the arts walk and downtown functionalities on April 4th. Bring Mounted Police down again during this art walk possibly.


David Lassen: Prince Athletic Club Owner/lead representative (Letter was distributed to the City Council.)

Comments on Esther Short Commons Lease.. Has a problem with the new Athletic Club being rented out of the old Farmers Market. Feels its unfair competition.. Wonders is this is going to be playing by the same hoops that he has to deal with.
Letter is to urge that the lease not be approved at this time.

Does not like the use of public funds to push business away from his. That there is no recovery of all costs in the lease or sublease of all tenant improvements, Wonders if the problems in this area of local business area. Will have more questions on the lease during the question and answer phase of subject being brought up later.


Lee Cullen: Thank people for the support help as public safety person for Esther Short Park NA. ESNA still leads the pack problems of Downtown.


Ray Caball: Handed out color pamphlets by a member of that organization (referring to CRC?) showed that the Light Rail/Bus Rapid Transit will be a Couplet going up Main street in it. It should be said that it should not be in there or saying it is. (Earlier, the Mayor and Pat Jollota made statements that the city is saying its NOT going to happen up Main street in that area. WB)

Wants to see some thing that is HONEST and STRAIGHT for the voters so they know what is going to happen. And for those who might be riding it in the future.

Comments that there will be a nickle increase on C-tran bus rides. (Because I attend C-tran board meetings and very RARELY see non c-tran or CRC people there or some other transportation people there, I'd say there is going to be more increases than just this one alone. I believe there will be at least two more increases with in the next two years. WB)

Wants to see some type of increase on the Bond for old Farmers Market place from 5,000 to 30K or what is reasonably necessary to recoup any costs for tenant improvements for the space from this tenant IF they bail out early on the sublease. Add 5K or some thing above to recoup the costs for putting this together.

Has problems with Operation dept. in City of Vancouver about a street light out. Problem with customer service.

Uniform placement of ADA and different placement of sidewalks or ramps and other things. Block all grants until this is fixed.


Debbie Peterson is running for some thing? (Didn't fill in a card.) Talks about Light Rail and replacement bridge. 80 percent conservatively were AGAINST light rail at the Water Resources Center meeting.

Spent several Saturdays talking to downtown business owners and says there is a disenfranchisement of business owners and people. That people are not being heard.

(Subnote: this one sounds familiar.. )

Goes on that the council has a fiduciary responsibility crosses between different people. Due Diligence is not being done. Not a cost effective project. Not any people are looking forward to it.

She does on to repeat a lot more stuff. If you interested in her testimony, it starts near 42-3 minute mark and goes on for six minutes..

Two more people spoke.. But was very tired to copy notes down. Please watch the video if your interested in listening. They only speak for 2 or 3 more minutes.

[Chief]

Well done! I for one appreciate the transcript as I usually don't have time to sit through these long videos...

[Waterbuffalo]

that 50+ minute video took about 8 hours to transcribe over two days. I don't do them very often now because they're very tiring for me to do.

Plus I have a perfectionist-procrastination complex that's the worst thing any one can have.

Hoping that I can talk that City Council person who takes notes if they have electronic copies?? Don't think I can do this repeatedly..