Hello!
Festive wishes
Cheers to surviving the snow, acts of neighbourliness & kindness, and for lengthening daylight which we can soon celebrate. I wish you a sparkly solstice and friendly festive season.
Public Hearings
In a month as Director I’ve had the pleasure of chairing three Public Hearings. Thank you to all who’ve respectfully shared their thoughts by email and in-person. The Electoral Area Directors have lots of reading to do this holiday season!
Housing
Housing is a critical and complex issue which communities large and small are facing. I had the recent opportunity to attend a Vital Conversation on Housing, produced by the Campbell River Coalition to End Homelessness and the Campbell River Foundation.
This fact-filled day had knowledgeable panellists from community groups who’ve achieved housing projects, planners, architects, and representatives of government funding agencies.
There was lots of listening and learning. A few key take-aways were: community support is necessary; persistence pays; cooperation between all three levels of government is needed; local governments have limited tools, one way to expedite applications which fit an Official Community Plan is to move forward without a Public Hearing; particularly in small communities land is key and creative partnerships with local groups are very beneficial.
It was great that a Housing-passionate islander was able to join me for this event. If you’re interested in joining in on a conversation & building a team to work on Housing, you can reply to this email or call me, let’s chat.
Committees
As Director for Area C I was automatically appointed to the Solid Waste Management Committee and Regional Hospital Board. Both committees are comprised of all Directors of the SRD and Comox Valley Regional District and there are big things happening at both. Residential composting is scheduled for 2023 implementation in Courtenay and Campbell River: a great diversion of methane-producing waste, instead it’s becoming a useful product. Island-related, I’ve learned that Quadra’s upgraded recycling facility is still being planned for early 2023. Fingers crossed, folks.
Alternate Director
As Director I’m tasked with naming an Alternate Director. I asked Jim Abram the traits of an excellent Alternate Director; he told me they should be trustworthy, dependable, of like mind, available, and respected in the community. I’m happy to share with you that Barb Heinonen has these traits and has agreed to be my Alternate Director.
Barb has lived on Quadra for 10 years, working remotely as a Project Director for a software company based in Victoria BC and building an off-grid tiny home. She’s been on ICAN’s Steering Committee and has been involved in their DIY Team, Tool Repair Workshops and the soon-to-be-realized Tool Lending Library. She’s also a Neighbourhood Emergency Preparedness rep; you may know her as one of the longstanding Deans at the HBI’s UofQ.
I have confidence Barb will represent Area C with integrity if called upon. The role of the Alternate Director is to fill in at Committee meetings, Board meetings, or chair a Public Hearing if I’m unable to attend. Thank you, Barb, for saying yes.
Feel free to contact me about these or any other issues!
With warm holiday wishes,
Robyn Mawhinney
rmawhinney@srd.ca
250-203-2468
PS: recently I had my first ride on one of our new ferries… wow, what an upgrade! I’m grateful for the Powell River Queen’s years of service and excited for more frequent crossings, vastly more accessible onboard facilities and fewer epic overloads. I thought you might like this pic I snapped while aboard…
