DNC Board Meeting Minutes - May 3, 2012

DNC Board Meeting

Thursday, May 3rd

Chair: Herb

Minute Taker: Jada

Present: Herb, Jamie, Ivan, Jada, Harold, Dave D., Wendy, Dave M., Ann, Rawle, Jasek, Roland

1) Opening & Check-in

Herb

• Opening

2) Discussion – LAPP Report

Ivan

• Reads Today’s Article from Allen Garr, Vancouver Courier

Jamie

• Slander

Dave M

• What have you done that is so bad? I don’t understand
• We have to be united supporting Ivan

Ann

• We need legal advice

Wendy

• After I had a meeting with Penny, I said that I’m accountable to a huge group of people
• Logistically, Ivan won’t be around as much because he’ll be busy
• I told her not to be public about this
• 2 days letter, sent a letter to Penny and said that we disagree, and Ivan stays, with considerations that could help her, such as open communication
• Open communication instead of throwing police at us
• She didn’t reply to me
• At the LAPP meeting, she sat next to me, she left early, didn’t get a chance to talk to her
• Ivan didn’t go to the meeting
• Then, this happens
• Penny did one good thing in the meeting, Kelvin did an amazing opening ceremony
• Rob said there aren’t 2 aboriginal groups, he was angry and did an attack at Scott
• I was facilitating and I let him talk, and passed a note to Penny
• Penny addressed it, put Scott in his place, she worked with me on that
• She’s not intrusting me, and going public about something we never finished negotiating on
• I’m pissed off, and I’m going to call her and ask her what exactly she said and why, and share it with you guys
• This is so much damage now
• I’m not going to let go of the LAPP, it’s our last chance for this community
• I want to end the complications that Scott is causing
• We’ve taken Tom out of the picture with negotiations, we’re dealing with ALIVE directly
• We’ve fired Liz
• We’re trying to put things on track, and people who want to be a part of this are starting to come on board
• People are listening and paying attention to what is going on
• But Penny is messing this up
• How can we be co-chairs if she won’t communicating? She’s threatening the LAPP
• I can say that publically
• I can barely hold on to this group of people to stay involved with the LAPP, I want to keep this LAPP together, it is the only hope we have for this neighbourhood
• Jean believes in the LAPP too, she believes in the reps on the LAPP, and we need to support them
• BIA’s are listening
• Penny is being irresponsible
• I was clear, that this not be public, and I sent her a generous letter, doesn’t reply, and goes beyond with extreme language in public media

Ann

• But Alan is never at any meetings, was it accurate?

Wendy

• Fern and Scott are working together
• Scott is probably laughing at us
• We need to stop the target at Scott
• Michael is in the pushing Scott mode

Ann

• Scott has removed himself

Wendy

• Michael is on board with us that Scott has to agree with the TOR or he’s out
• If we do something about it? We lose. If we leave the LAPP, the INC will be happy

Ann

• There was a letter that came out attacking me, I went to a lawyer and wrote a letter it worked
• We should get legal advice, and send such a letter
• Report Alan to standards broadcasting, how can you report on a meeting he wasn’t at?

Dave M.

• I wrote a letter to an editor on his reporting
• “By all accounts”, he missed my account

Ann

• We give all our power away, we need to keep our power, and give each other support

Harold

• 2 things
• I agree with Ann, we should file a complaint about the 2 articles, doesn’t cost us much and certainly will at least harass them back in terms of accuracy
• Not opposed for Ivan getting a lawyer for a letter about slander
• Terms of the LAPP, not sure what to do
• I know what Wendy is trying to say, there is an issue with the City and internal affairs of the DNC, maybe write a letter regarding the City Manager interfering with internal affairs
• We can get clarification from Penny on what she said

Wendy

• Ray said that this isn’t his experience of Ivan, so he’s surprised that Ivan was portrayed that ways
• He’s not jumping to Penny’s conclusions like everyone else is

Dave M.

• So the newspaper knows things before we do?
• He’s officially kicked off the LAPP?

Ann

• No, Penny officially made remarks but she doesn’t have that much power to make that decision
• I say we ignore it

Roland

• Close to Wendy’s position
• The City is orchestrating this
• We can’t afford to walk into their trap
• Looking for an emotional response from the newspaper
• With the police, forced an emotional and physical response
• LAPP is the best hope right now, worth maintaining it while other actions are coming on
• If the LAPP continues without street action, won’t work
• If street action happens without the LAPP, then we’ll be portrayed as just protestors
• We can’t afford to fight on their rules

Jasek

• We have to show it as soon as possible to stay together, any way that we can
• Do a public LAPP meeting
• Remind them that there are a lot of people behind it

Ann

• We should go with humor

Ivan

• Do we agree that I contact Pivot for help?

Everyone says yes.

Ivan

• I’ll just do this myself

Wendy

• We already sent a letter to Kerry Jang
• We need to follow up on this too

Ivan

• He blames everything that has ever happened on me
• He writes an opinion column and not a news column
• I’ll look it up
• Penny’s exclusion move, there are a few things we could do
• Either ignore order entirely and do what we normally do, or challenge her order with sovereignty of the chairs, or I can leave the committee, or just go to meetings and sit in the back and just take notes

Herb

• I say number one
• We’ve been dealing with nothing but fiascos
• If we go with number 2, it will neutralize us more than its worth

Ivan

• Then we need someone else as an alternate
• 2 ways to ignore the order…chair when needed, or me coming to meetings and taking notes and pass them to Wendy and herb, or I can leave

Roland

• There’s nothing to ignore because there hasn’t been a motion

Ivan

• But Wendy had a conversation with Penny

Roland

• Backchannel communication is bad
• It should be brought forward, make the city write a letter

Wendy

• I told her that she put us in this position
• I told her that the DNC met, and Ivan stays on the committee as an alternate
• I didn’t send a letter on behalf of DNC, it was from me, so we can still send her a letter

Roland

• Do they have a right to pick and choose alternates?

Harold

• We can quote the article from Allen Garr, and say that it’s totally improper communication
• Send a letter
• It should come from the DNC

Herb

• I said we can move on

Ann

• We should have a cool off period, make a decision later
• Ivan should still show up

Herb

• Kill them with kindness

Jasek

• Until they mention this again, then you ask for a letter

Ivan

• Putting it off and not dealing with it means there will be conflict in the LAPP meetings if I go to them
• People will have read it in the newspaper, and say I’m not welcome here
• Then I’ll have to deal with it as an individual
• Needs to be deindividualized and deal with it as an organization
• We need clarification from Penny
• Am I not to be a co-chair? Or committee? Or even attend meetings?
• If they are going to create this bullying figure of me, then it’s going to be difficult
• Should send a simple letter from DNC to Penny for clarification

Wendy

• Letter, reasonable gesture, might want to cc’ the correspondence and send another letter for further clarification
• Tell her we’re disappointed
• I’ll send the letter ahead of time so everyone can review and provide feedback

Jamie

• Ivan is being portrayed as a “thug”
• We need to act right away, this has damaged his reputation
• We can’t let this stand
• If I didn’t know Ivan, then I would think he’s beating people down here
• We need to act right away

Harold

• We should attack Allen Garr, say that we think that this is unbelievable bad process and unacceptable, and ask for clarification

Ivan

• We should do it tonight if we can
• It would be nice if we can have something before the general meeting to report back

Wendy

• Ok, I’ll forward my correspondence with Jean’s letter to the Courier and my letter to Penny
• Say we’re disappointed that we read this in the media, understand they have an issue but not communicating with us, say that Ivan is not a thug, ask for clarification on what they want the DNC to do, and what the specific allegations are, and that they are threatening the LAPP….

Herb

• I don’t want to say participation, because it’s what they want

Ivan

• They want polite communication

Wendy

• They want to stop actions in the street during the LAPP
• They want to make sure we can’t do both at the same time

Roland

• They made an un-meaningful interim rezoning policy, and they knew our response was an action

Herb

• We should put a timeline for a response from Penny

Ivan

• Move send a letter to Penny from DNC on terms, specific allegations and ideas that came out of this meeting.
• Second by Jada
• 1 abstension, motion carries
• I think it’s important that we take the spotlight off of Scott and ALIVE and move on to other things
• I suggest to meet with Scott to talk about something other than the downtown eastside, find some common ground, get support from Debbie
• Scott just emailed me, asking what do you want to meet about?
• I think we can talk about talking about displacement of Aboriginal people from other parts of the province into the downtown eastside
• Not on behalf of the DNC, it can help neutralize him
• INC met yesterday, and the women’s centre and the power of women group are considering leaving the LAPP
• This is something we need to think about
• Very important for a planning process to include organizations on women’s safety, their analysis shouldn’t be excluded from the process

Roland

• Scott bought a coffee for me at the last street market
• He said people need access to jobs, I said I agree
• He said the street market is something we could collaborate on
• I said ok
• It was weird

Ann

• I don’t think we should make the effort to woo people over from ALIVE to our side
• We’re open, they are welcome
• This is grassroots

Wendy

• I agree that we should stop organizing around Scott
• We’re untangling
• Share frustrations, but women’s groups are important and we don’t want to alienate them, they need to be involved
• Sticking together on class, sticking together on race….
• Lets stop talking about Scott
• Keep the door open for the women’s centre as long as we can, stop talking about Scott helps

Harold

• If they pull out it’s probably for other reasons
• Internal to the women’s centre

Herb

• The way to not focus on Scott, is to not focus on Scott
• Ivan’s personal choice to talk to Scott
• Let’s move on

3) DNC Business

a) General Meeting Prep

Herb

• We need to select co-chairs
• Need to be refreshed on what’s going on, it’s amazing what you miss when you’re gone for 4 days

Wendy

• Phone lists taken care of…Roland, Jada, Jasek, other volunteers to do the rest of the calling
• Dave and Teresa doing the cooking, coffee taken care of
• PA dealt with
• I’m not coming
• I can arrange child-minding, and get toys
• Encouraging Ivan not to go, he hasn’t had a chance to have a day off in 2 months
• Can other people take things on without us?
• Logistics? Everything is taken care of

Ann

• I can co-chair
• We need a door watcher, I did it last time and the meeting went better
• It’s an important part for the stipend

Jada

• I’ll be taking notes for the meeting

Wendy

• We’re not advertising stipends

Herb

• Co-Chairs? Ann and Roland?
• We need a male and female

Ann

• Are there motions for the meeting?

b) Treasurer Report

Roland

• We have $600 in the bank, and $25 in petty cash
• Street Market has some money

Jasek

• We need money

c) Street Market Report

Rawle

• I’ve been working at the Street Market
• Some people complain
• Someone stole something from me, my headphones
• I took I back
• Then I was attacked by another guy, and then someone else stole from me while I was dealing with the attack
• I have good merchandise, people are stealing from me
• I’ve been to school, I’ve never done drugs, I don’t drink
• I was charged by the police when I was working
• Roland saw everything
• I rented a table
• They gave me a hard time
• I tried to explain my story to the policeman, but they arrest me
• They listened to other people, and took me to the jail
• And then people were stealing from me while I was taken to jail
• Some people tried to watch my stuff and save it for me
• I’m in process of getting disability, but I have to support my family, trying to support them through being a vendor
• I need you guys to recover merchandise

Jasek

• Your friend put everything in the bags for a few hours

Rawle

• Where is my merchandise?

Ivan

• I don’t understand the arrest?

Rawle

• I was charged with assault because I took my headphones from the crackhead

Dave M.

• We don’t use the word crackhead, they are people from our community

Harold

• He’s lost his stuff, that is terrible, it’s an issue

Jamie

• He’s been redzoned for Pidgeon Park, from the street market
• Conditions until hearing on May 14th

Ivan

• Question is, is the street market responsible for the things that people bring to the street market
• But if someone is arrested at the street market, is that something….? Has that happened before?
• If someone is arrested and then his stuff is vulnerable, maybe our volunteers to look after his stuff
• Even if it’s regrettable, we don’t have the money to replace his stuff
• We should talk to Lorna about this, investigate this
• Come back next Thursday

Jasek

• Get a hold of your friend
• And we’ll get his contact info and we’ll talk to him too, or whoever is doing the investigation

Rawle

• Please help me look for my merchandise
• About 15 minutes after I took my headphones back, the police showed up

4) Committee Reports

a) Feed the Roots Report

Herb

• Nothing to report
• Wait until the end to do the report

b) Police Committee Report

Ann

• I wasn’t act the second meeting
• Jamie put on pressure
• MOU of the Beat and the VPD, I keep repeating that I need to see it
• Serr, he’s in charge of police standards
• Jen went to the second meeting
• He said he wants to meet with Jen alone, and doesn’t want Ann Livingstone to show up
• Jen said Jasek ticket was revoked
• The Beat is still filming
• It’s a for profit film, it’s so unusual
• Atleast 2-3 times a week we get together and go out
• Saturday, I can make a list of demands
• Make legal action that they shouldn’t be filming at all
• People who are doing the most enforcement, we need to have accountable and open meetings with them, and share with us what they are doing
• We want to see data too

c) Shelter Committee Report

Jasek

• Met with City yesterday
• There is no help from the city when it comes to the shelters

Roland

• Staff steals things from residents, with a response that ya that happens all the time

Jasek

• We won’t go to the city anymore

Roland

• Letter is going to Rich Coleman

Ivan

• Called housing to the sunrise for a guy that was kicked out of London
• 5 vacant units, being held vacant by BC Housing for people who are getting kicked out of the shelters when they are closed
• These rooms are available now, today

Herb

• This requires a broader discussion
• Table it for later

Roland

• I think there is a charter of rights issue here
• People are forced into living in a rightless environment

e) Gentrification & Housing, DTES Not for Developers Campaign, Keefer Statement

Ivan

• 3 major actions just happened
• New campaigns decided on Tuesday
• Outlined 6 topics: pantages, gentrified storefronts, other condos, city corruption, demographic of the development permit board, legal side, then outside the dtes and build solidarity with other neighbourhoods facing similar housing situations
• Focus action on pantages, re-brand and not refer to it as Sequal 138, next meeting to focus on the site…tent city? Occupation? Build emergency response team? We’ll decide at the next meeting
• 189 Keefer, 10 stories, development permit meeting on Monday 3pm, support people who want to go
• Create popular campaign material for solutions to housing crises
• Not to meet working people’s housing needs by displacing unemployed residents in the downtown eastside
• Might write a statement on 189 Keefer, I can draft something to go to the General Meeting on Saturday for approval

Wendy

• Nathan told Jean, Marc Williams is willing to go into negotiation with the City to sell the site to the City, someone outside the city will help with negotiate the price
• Nathan said he can help with this
• Asked Ray, he said that Marc uped the price of the lot by getting it through the DP
• He said don’t get involved
• Should talk to Andrea Reimer to get the City to buy it
• Marc is sweating

Harold

• The good thing is that Marc isn’t committed to building the project
• Maybe his finances is shaky

Wendy

• It’s a maybe though, we can’t assume
• He could be trying to sell it to someone else too
• If they did delay it, it could be another fight

5) New Business

a) SRO & Meth Task Force

Ivan

• Not going to do anything
• Had its meeting
• City was mad at us for us not being well behaved, especially VANDU
• It’s a farce
• One more meeting, and then going to Council
• Organize methadone patients in the province, may turn into a token/show organization
• Completely entirely up to volunteers to get people to go to these meetings, and the city is offering borderline nothing to assemble it or help
• Landlord training program, but there was not assessment or follow-up for “success”
• With success of meal discussions at the Balmoral and the Washington, apply that to the Regent, the York and the Wonder Rooms…needs funding, could be a pilot
• Since then, they have done nothing, and we haven’t heard a word from them, it will probably be kaiboshed

Wendy

• Nathan pushed for rent controls with SRO bylaw, but lost the battle in the internal workings of City Hall
• We should ask that to be put back on the table

Ivan

• We should set up 2 working groups
• Policy taskforce of professionals to figure things out, no response

b) Pipelines

Ivan

• We should have a discussions in the neighbourhood

c) DNC Study Group

Ivan

• We jump from one crises to another
• It’s overwhelming and stressful
• It’s tough to keep perspective on broader struggles
• First study group could be the history of DERA

Herb

• And readings about community organizations
• Like a book club

Wendy

• In terms of literacy, you might want to do film too just so other people can participate
• Or a little bit of both

Herb

• We can bring this to the general meeting

Closing