https://tofinohousingcorp.ca/
Read this report from Braden Smith from 12 years ago ! The waste of tax dollars continues unabated !
District of Tofino Committee of the Whole Meeting held December 4, 2007
Braden Smith, MCIP, Executive Director, Tofino Housing Corporation
Braden Smith advised that it has been a difficult month for the Tofino Housing Corporation Board. He explained the challenges they have encountered with the breakdown in their relationship with the Land Economist that was hired to write the financial pro-forma. It was the Board’s intention to present the draft Local Area Plan in tandem with the financial document. He advised that they are looking elsewhere for support and noted that the work will be put out to tender. It is their hope to have someone who will also act as a Project Manager.
Mr. Smith advised that the general scope of the program has not changed. Almost 30% of the units will be rental units. He responded to Councillor Ayres’s request and advised that he intends to bring forward a synopsis to Council on the work that has been done to date and what remains to be done in the future. He pointed out the hard work and dedication by the Board members over the last 4 to 5 years. Their time and efforts are to be
commended. He thanked Council for their commitment to attainable housing. He expressed his hope that the process will carry on expeditiously. Mr. Smith suggested that Council schedule a Special Meeting at the next Council meeting for him to review the financial information and policy criteria.
Councillor Strudwick thanked Mr. Smith for his presentation.
14 comments:
It didn't work. So another way was tested. It didn't work. So more money was spent on studies, planning and consultants. That didn't work. So another avenue was explored. It didn't work. This went on and on and on, costing hundreds of thousands of tax dollars. Still nothing has worked. So now someone has decided that throwing the taxpayers $350,000 into debt along with another $125,000 will be a good idea! (and that's still only for the "planning" phase). Still not a shovel in the ground! And worse yet, they GOT THE LAND FOR FREE! If this was a project being carried out by a private developer, they'd have been bankrupt years ago and have given up and closed it all down. Was is Einstein who defined "insanity" .... trying the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result?
Even worse yet, the District apparently intends to provide 30% of this madness in rental housing. One can only imagine what that neighborhood is going to look like, an upgraded expensive version of Poolesland. Can't hardly wait.
To 9:48 Like your analysis except for one thing, about which you are dead wrong. If this had been a project where a private developer had been given acres upon acres of prezoned free( worth Millions) land, and more than a million dollars of free up front money. You can be sure there would be a successful housing development sitting there today.
In contrast developers pay big money for land that has development potential, hoping they can give more money to the district for zoning, then spend more money for DCC.s and "administration fees", then spend more for parkland fees, then spend more money on the latest water and sewer systems so the district can charge out for its use, then build roads and sidewalks so the District can increase it's infrastructure tax take, then create a bunch of properties and homes, for people to live in,(throw in some more bldg permit fees) so the district can rake in huge property taxes, so we can have more face painting in the village green. Jeez how can this go wrong. This is a gold mine for the District.
Except no one is allowed to do this anymore. The government does it all and charges the taxpayers to do it. Social Justice Tofino style.
11:06 Am....I should have said " If this project was carried out by a private developer, and managed the way that The Tofino Housing Corp. has managed it, they'd have been bankrupt years ago........." I totally agree with you, I just left out half a sentence...... Thrilled to hear that there's gonna be more face painting on the village green! Where do I register? With the festival co-ordinator? I heard Josie say a few months go that she thinks a street party would be a great idea! Let them eat cake!
another explanation for what happened to the tofino housing Corporation is that there are two factions in this town.
Old ideas and new ideas.
Old ideas come from the dozen or so families owning and controlling the town. up until the late 80s if you didn't work for one of the good old boys you couldn't find a place to rent. You could never find a place to rent anyways but by the time the 80s came around the old Boys owned most all of the rentals or their affiliates did. the business too.
If you didn't work for them you're pretty well had to leave town or Camp out someplace.
however in the 70s the district created lots in the Peterson/leighton way subdivision intended to provide cheap lots for Young families or people who were working here. In those days everyone worked. Not like now when somebody works.
However those properties are far from affordable any longer because no one foresaw what would happen when tofino became A destination tourist resort.
The fact remains that this was the first affordable housing project even back when old ideas ran the town.
Somewhere along the way a rudimentary OCP earmarked that section of town as future residential.
Ultimately those lots didn't sell quickly so council decided not to do that again... There wasn't the demand they thought there was and the money used to develop the lots at cost could be better spent elsewhere.
If you keep doing the same thing over and over and are not getting anywhere isn't it time to stop the bleeding of our tax money on this unaffordable housing?
then new ideas came along in the 90s as well as the new OCP. 2 two years in the making and included all components of the community via committees and public hearings.
a recommendation of The OCP was an affordable housing Committee be drawn up with the intention of creating affordable housing. So subsequent councils implemented the recommendation by enabling the affordable housing Committee.
First thing hire a consultant.... The district hired the consultant - not the Committee.
The consultant didn't last long and ran off with the money.
Consultant or not the all volunteer committee, with the exception of the Community futures Lady, started putting together the rudiments of what would be an affordable housing strategy.. with the blessing and budget of the new ideas council.
Mr. Smith was engaged to gather all the relevant information and handle the paperwork.
The tofino housing Corporation was formed as a legal entity as per recommendations from other resorts to keep operation of a housing entity separate from the District municipality.
There were good reasons for this.
Councils changed and modified, staff changed.
The tofino housing Corp. Made slow but steady progress until old ideas influenced members of council and the administrator threw sticks in the spokes of the housing Corp. bicycle.
Some of the requirements demanded of the housing Corp. By various members of council were legitimate concerns and we're dealt with.
For example an LAP requirement could have been waived but in the interests of transparency it proceeded.
One of the final requirements was the determination of What constitutes affordable?
a consultant professor of economics at Simon Fraser University was engaged to determine this.
And yes he came to tofino with a number of staff, spent a few days, and ultimately determined he couldn't do the job even though hed been paid.
Ultimately Robert Brown was hired who did a fine job.
Mr. Smith conducted a number of open houses and information sessions pertaining to the DL 114 location as the most likely place to put affordable housing which by now is called attainable housing.
By now the old ideas are second and third generation and they have woken up to the fact that new businesses and New people would usurp their control of who runs the town. Behind the scenes they lobby the mayor and councilors to not let this happen forgetting that the original old ideas affordable housing strategy was at DL 114.
So the first thing a new mayor and council did was destroy the housing Corporation. Too late new businesses and new people are pouring into the community
At that point the housing Corporation was poised to offer 10 presale small lots At a continuation of Peterson Drive.
The only cost of that venture would be about $1500 for a preliminary survey.
So despite the current lip service to affordable housing the old ideas prevail.
But lip Service hires more consultants, more studies, more surveys, and more plans with no intention of getting anything done ever besides spending more money.
This is all water under the bridge now because temporary use permits and a new campground are providing all the affordable housing this town Will ever need.
So let's scrap any affordable housing budget items.
You're all too late!! On Monday, District mayor and council will vote into law over $400,000 for even more "work" on affordable housing! If you can call it work. It's actually just more spending. Once that money is gone, nothing more will have been done to supply even one building that someone might live in, except to have produced more plans, paperwork, schemes, ideas, bureaucratic mumbo jumbo, doubletalk, excuses and delays. Oh, and waste. Don't leave out waste. Lots of waste. Good thing we're getting a sewage plant too.
11:42.Sounds to me like you have a few grudges you haven't let go of. This constant back and forth between old timers and new ideas is wearing a little thin. It do not remember the dynamic in the town as anything like what you describe.
The Housing Corp had sticks thrust into it's spokes because it wasted $400,000.00 and council felt it was a little out of control of council itself, who, after all were responsible for the money. I will let you tell us if that is an old or new idea, taking care of the taxpayers money. For as long as I can remember council was made up of the people who got voted in...usually councils were composed of folk who were born here and folk who came along from somewhere else. It's always been that way. As for the idea that people were taking over the town....that happens every time there is an election. We used to call it democracy. Often they stay on Council till they tire of the whole business or occasionally the voters rear up and throw the bums out. You have some valid things to say but there is an element of revisionist history to your recollections. The waste of the taxpayers money has always been the main objection to the various iterations of "affordable housing". The waste is confirmed by the amount of money spent and the lack of any end product. I have no philosophical objection to the District trying to initiate some housing options, but they haven't, and the game continues and more money is now required. As a previous poster has indicated any business operating in the way Tofino Housing bodies have operated would quickly be out of business. With the advantages they have in hand, They should have produced a return for the taxpayer by now, but have failed miserably. Just a little more grease and it will all turn around. That was sarcasm. But I do agree with your conclusions
Let's scrap any affordable housing budget items. Along with a number of other items in the proposed budget.
If Ralph says $400,000 was wasted by the housing Corp. It has to be true. no argument.
sure, and pigs can fly
If Ralph says $400,000 was wasted by the housing Corp. It has to be true. no argument.
sure, and pigs can fly
I got that number years ago from the District of Tofino. By now the number is double or triple that.
It doesn't really matter as the money has gone to consultants and it is not coming back. I do believe that all spending by the district on affordable housing was a complete waste.
Ralph, I think that the rest of the town, aside from those on Council are also thinking the spending on affordable housing was a waste.
Ralph is 100% correct on the wasted $400,000.00. Since that time the figure has grown to over a million. The whole project has been steered by ideologues and bureaucrats who know nothing about development or building. I've never seen pigs fly, but they sure know how to chow down when presented with a public trough. Easy pickins.
With that amount of money we could have done a couple of things to achieve affordable housing. One, we could have easily purchased a couple of houses or more as real estate was cheaper then. Two we could have paid landlords to create through a rental subsidy,
affordable housing.
Either way we'd have more housing than we do now.
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