Kensington Community Centre Deserves Better

October 29, 2014 Attended the Kensington Community Centre Park Board all-candidate mtg last night except it wasn't all candidates as the governing party Vision chose not to send any of their park board candidates. Not one. Campaigns are the time when politicians need to attend these meetings and answer questions around the decisions they have made or will make in the future.. This is called transparency and accountability. And it is sad that Vision candidates think they are beyond needing to be transparent or accountable to the citizens. A familiar refrain last night was Where's Vision? Kudos to Mary Sutherland the longtime President of KCC and Milan for organizing this meeting where residents voiced concerns about the deplorable conditions at the public parks in the Kensington catchment area of which there are seven (7) parks. Mary and Milan presented us with a video of the neglect by Park Board of the Community Centre's facilities because promised funding in the Capital Plans has yet to materialize. The last few capital plans voted on by the public earmarked Kensington as a top priority to receive funds but these promises have been ignored by Park Board. The last few election cycles have produced nothing for this community and that is offensive. When Communities and Neighborhoods are promised funding in the capital plan this becomes a priority. But it seems Vision has other priorities for their pet projects like putting an asphalt bike freeway through a family picnic area and children's playground and they fund projects to divert traffic in an area creating a closed gated community for the very rich in our City. Of course the Mayor lists his own address as being in this gated community which we know has dramaticlly increased the value of his own family home, you know the one he was kicked out of last spring. And you just know this will be part of a divorce settlement and it oesn't hurt to have your home increase its value by a quarter of a million dollars. And this my friends is Vancouver politics for you. Jamie Lee Hamilton www.ideavancouver.wordpress.com