On this edition…. Upgrading our water reporting….Delaney could be getting a facelift… and the Temporary Village takes a step forward in a close vote at council…. This week, City Manager John Collin breaks it all down….
We also received a couple of texts in the studio during the conversation that were troubling, and also had content we don’t stand for…. More on that in my opinion piece below….
OP-ED: Respectful Dialogue and the Temporary Village: Why It Matters
Last night, City Council was presented with a report on the Temporary Village and the selected location on Miles Street.
This has likely been one of the most polarizing issues in front of Council for some time. The research and data presented have, at times, been overwhelming. There’s a lot to take in—and for over two years, this file has come before Council countless times. There have been changes and amendments, long discussions about cost and strategy, and of course, its location. All of this stems from the approved strategy by your City Council to adopt a human rights approach to addressing encampments and supporting vulnerable members of our community. That was their mandate and their decision—and that’s how we got to where we are today.
But let’s be honest for a moment. A lot of the commentary online and in public has been highly critical. We all have our opinions on the Temporary Village, but many of the conversations have become misguided and are based on incorrect information. On The Round Up today, City Manager John Collin addressed the misconceptions and highlighted the amount of information available.
That said, I understand not everyone tunes in to Council meetings on Monday nights, so some of the information gets missed. And it’s important information. How did we get here? Why are we doing this? And how is the Temporary Village a key piece in managing encampments in our community? Many people miss that part—but it’s part of a much bigger and more complex picture.
The City’s website has everything—literally every part of the plan laid out in an easy-to-understand set of documents explaining how administration arrived at their recommendations. Without rehashing it all here, please take a moment to review the full plan: Enhanced Encampment Response – The 10 Part Plan. The Temporary Village is just one piece of a much larger strategy.
I’ve said it before, both on and off the air: the intent of City Council Round Up is to get people talking about what’s happening in their community. It’s a rundown of the decisions made the night before and what happened at the Council meeting—things that should matter to you. At the same time, it’s been noted more than once that this is an opinion piece. We appreciate the feedback we receive each week and often engage in conversations with listeners—whether they agree or disagree with the Round Up. It matters because the segment’s goal is to spark discussion about issues that matter in our community. Any respectful conversation is a good conversation.
However, this morning, the commentary on our text line took a turn. As mentioned, I understand this is a highly polarizing and sensitive topic for many. A quick scroll through Facebook shows just how strongly people feel. Unfortunately, many of those threads turn nasty quickly—some even veer into racism—and that’s when I scroll away. I enjoy respectful conversations or even debates, as long as they remain respectful. But something I—and our company—will not tolerate is personal or abusive texts to our studio.
Please feel free to join the conversation at any time—respectfully. But when texts become personal, that’s where we draw the line. Just like the Round Up, there are always opinions and different angles to every topic—but it should never become personal toward councillors or administration. That’s not my style, it’s not the company’s style, and it’s simply something we will never accept. The same applies to our studio’s text line. We draw the line at personal attacks and name-calling.
I have my opinions on the Temporary Village, as I’m sure you do too. Mine come from a common theme: helping people. There are no perfect solutions—if there were, someone would have figured it out by now. But to me, it’s about people who need help—people who are better off in a small building than in a tent during the heat of summer or the brutal cold of winter. It’s about giving them a roof, food, water, and hygiene—things they can’t otherwise access.
You can agree or disagree with the approach, and you’re entitled to your opinion about where this should happen. But ask yourself this first: Do you agree that people need our help, or do you just disagree with where we help them? Those are two very different things.
My opinions begin with supporting Council’s decision to take a human rights approach to encampments and to support our community’s most vulnerable. I also agree with the data that clearly shows a small building is better than struggling in a cold, wet tent. You’re welcome to your opinions—as you should be—but on our platforms and our text line, we will always keep it respectful. And we hope you agree to do the same.
