Do you know what I wish for?
No Mike, tell us what you wish for!
Thanks for asking, Mom.
First, of course, would be global peace.
Second, would be that the Baltimore Orioles retain their spot atop the American League East standings, win the pennant and the World Series.
Third is a bit of an odd request but it would be a big help in cooling the rhetoric that will get amped up as civic election day approaches in November.
Here we go: What I wish for is another homeless count.
Yep, another one.
The most recent count was done March 12. Preliminary numbers released in April showed Vancouver had the highest homeless population in its history. A total of 1,798 people identified as homeless, with 538 living on the street, 1,136 in shelters and 124 of no fixed address residing in hospitals, detox facilities or jail, according to the results of the Metro Vancouver Homeless Count.
Last week, the steering committee behind the count released its final numbers and added five more people to Vancouver’s total, putting the city’s homeless population at 1,803 in March.
That, obviously, is not good news for anybody and it’s a number that will be quoted extensively by politicos as the campaigns roll on.
So who should take the blame?
Well, so far, there appears to be a battle between Robertson and his crew and Coleman and his crew over who is responsible for the growing homeless population.
In recent months, Robertson and city manager Penny Ballem have pointed fingers at the B.C. government for falling behind in its commitment to finish constructing 14 social housing buildings in Vancouver and not providing enough money for shelter beds and rent subsidies.
Back on July 22, Ballem outlined a series of so-called action steps to end street homelessness — that’s people living on the street — that includes getting money from the B.C. government to keep the former Bosman Hotel open for temporary housing and provide 100 new rent subsidies.
A couple of days later, Coleman and B.C. Housing — the housing arm of the provincial government — took to Twitter to defend the government’s investment in housing in Vancouver.
Coleman: “Provincial funding has been the driving force behind decrease in # of @CityofVancouver street homeless in recent years.”
Coleman again: “750 provincially funded shelter beds in #Vancouver alone — not incl HEAT or extreme weather beds.”
And again: “B.C. helps keep #yvr residents housed. In 2013, we provided $112M to 26K #yvr households thru subsidized housing and rent supplements.”
That’s just a taste.
But here’s the important tweet from B.C. Housing: “Within the next nine months, we will open 389 new supportive housing units in @Cityof Vancouver.” When you do the math that’s 389 units by March 2015, which is when the next homeless count will be conducted.
But if I read the city documents correctly, more homeless people could find other accommodations before then. The city expects the former Biltmore hotel (95 units) to be full with tenants by September, Taylor Manor (56 units) to open sometime in the fall and the Bosman hotel (100 rooms) to remain open.
So wouldn’t it be helpful to do a count in, say, late October?
Then we media types and those political types would have a better idea of how many homeless people are actually in Vancouver as voters go to the polls Nov. 15.
I know it would cost money to do this, and I know you would need an army of volunteers to conduct the count, but it could be done. Until then, sharpen up your math skills and enjoy the rhetoric.
Note: Taking a summer break. See you in September. Go, Orioles.
twitter.com/Howellings
