When City Hall Stops Listening

I stopped by Hastings-Sunrise recently to see the road barriers that have become a source of frustration for many residents. Neighbours have organized the East Van Traffic Coalition, started a petition, and begun holding regular meetings to raise concerns about access to their homes, traffic being diverted into back lanes, and the impact these changes are having on their daily lives.

What concerns me is that residents feel they have to go to such lengths just to have their voices heard. These are the people who live on these streets, raise their families here, and deal with the consequences of City Hall’s decisions every day. Their concerns shouldn’t be an afterthought.

This is exactly why I’ve been advocating for a ward system in Vancouver. Right now, we elect ten councillors citywide, but not one of them is elected for representing your neighbourhood specifically. When residents have a problem like this, who at City Hall is directly accountable to them?

Under a ward system, every neighbourhood would have its own elected representative on Council. Someone who knows the community, understands its concerns, and can be held accountable by the people who elected them. Residents shouldn’t have to compete with the entire city for their councillors’ attention.

The people of Hastings-Sunrise deserve to be heard, just like residents in every other Vancouver neighbourhood. City Hall should be working with communities, not leaving them feeling like they have to fight to get its attention.

Interestingly, the road barriers have also been placed immediately beside a fire hydrant, raising questions about whether firefighters have adequate access in an emergency. Even if there may have been traffic safety issues, the response may have gone overboard and created a different safety issue and making the area difficult for its residents.