Okay, that is a really terrible headline: a mutilation of a lovely piece of poetry and also something that is guaranteed to fail all SEO tests. But whatever, we can have some fun every so often.

So, just to do that horrible thing that middle-class people now do, this topic of tolling is very relevant for me because I drive occasionally in Europe and it is always startling to realize how much I have paid in tolls. (So awwwful, I had to pay so much, I could hardly enjoy my French meal of duck in marsala and hazelnut sauce.)

Okay, ignore the pretentious “I travel in Europe” stuff and focus on the topic at hand. Which is, governments are increasingly in love with tolling. As the professional pay-per-drive people were pleased to tell me at length, when they held their international convention here this week.

What does that mean for you locally? Well, that bridge that the premier talked about — very unlikely it will be tolled. (And, btw, no, tolls don’t pay the full cost, just as transit fares don’t pay the full cost. Both are subsidized.)

Here’s the explanation from the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association people:

It’s too easy to get sentimental about every do-good program in the Downtown Eastside. Some, quite frankly, don’t really do much for the people they’re supposedly helping.

The people who created this chocolate-making business at East Van Roasters aren’t sentimental. As Mark Townsend, from PHS, pointed out to me: People like to kid themselves that social enterprises are these magic solutions that will make money, employ the poor, and generate profits that can be spread around to everyone. Mostly they’re break-even, if that.

So it takes dedication to invest in an operation like this, knowing that it may never do more than break even but that it’s worth it for the work it can provide for people who want to get back to working after many years where they haven’t — and it’s something besides laundry and cleaning, the jobs that are typically generated for the marginalized.

If you haven’t been to East Van Roasters, by the way, you should drop in. It is the most serene place and filled with interesting products: glass jars with honey and the honeycomb inside; other glass jars with cacao nibs, various little packages of chocolate, coffee. A great place for a quiet coffee and cookie, where you can pick up small presents and support a business that represents the upside the DTES is capable of.

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Who knew recycling was such a hot topic? It has been the last week, as cities have publicly raised concerns about the new system that’s about to descend on the province.

That new system, which came about because of the province’s efforts to get producers to pay for the cost of recycling their packaging and products (and thereby think about ways to reduce that), will see a non-profit group formed by businesses take over parts of the recycling mechanism in cities throughout the province.

You can read about their point of view here, outlining what they think the benefits of the system will be: increasing the rate of recycling, having industry take care of its own me

And then you can read this story, which is what cities are worried about.

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Two new office-tower projects, to add to the I’ve-lost-count number already. I still can’t get over how much the commercial broker/office developer cluster is bullish on downtown and transit, after having been so hot on business parks for so many years.

These two are interesting, as well, because they’re taking advantage of space that’s not really empty lots: a parkade in one, the plaza of an existing office tower for another.

I would be remiss if I didn’t bring together these two news releases that landed in my inbox eight days apart. From Sept. 3/Vision Critical:

Vision Critical appoints Ryan Merkley Managing Director and Senior Vice President, Public Affairs

 

Former Mozilla Foundation Chief Strategy Officer to lead VC’s Public Affairs practice worldwid

TORONTO – September 3, 2013 – Vision Critical, the world’s leading provider of insight community technologies, is excited to welcome Ryan Merkley in his new role as managing director and senior vice president of public affairs.

Merkley brings to Vision Critical a proven track record of developing and executing strategy and communications across non-profit and government sectors in North America. This will be instrumental as VC continues its leadership in the online public consultation and civic engagement space.

Merkley most recently served as chief strategy officer of Mozilla Foundation, a global non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring the Internet remains an open platform. Merkley has held senior communications roles at the City of Vancouver, the City of Toronto and for former Toronto Mayor David Miller. He currently serves on a variety of political, environmental and business boards, and is a founding member of TEDxToronto, the city’s premier annual event promoting ideas and innovatio

“I’m thrilled to have an experienced strategist and well-recognized communicator lead our renowned public affairs practice,” said Angus Reid, executive chairman of Vision Critical. “Vision Critical remains on a high growth path and, as such, it is essential for the business to expand the division responsible for producing public opinion and overseeing citizen engagement.”

Through his work supporting Vancouver’s Greenest City 2020 Action Plan, Merkley helped recruit more than 35,000 residents to participate in ongoing public consultations, helping the city earn a Sustainable Communities Award from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, as well as secure global recognition from the World Wildlife Fund. During his tenure at the Mozilla Foundation, the organization launched three new products supporting online learning and engagement and raised more than $1.8 million from 44,000 new donors.

“Vision Critical is an innovative and leading Canadian-based global technology company that is changing the way that people connect with brands, governments, organizations and each other. I’m truly excited to be joining such a strong team,” said Merkley. “Public-facing organizations are looking for new tools to reach their communities, and I look forward to working with the executive team and Angus Reid to grow the business through public affairs.”

And from yesterday, at city hall:

City of Vancouver News Release

September 11, 2013

  

City launches innovative online engagement program ‘Talk Vancouver’

 The City of Vancouver is launching a new, innovative way for people to provide feedback and share their opinions and ideas with City Hall at TalkVancouver.com.

Talk Vancouver is an online community, open to anyone over the age of 15 who lives, works or attends school in Vancouver. Participants will be asked to provide opinions and feedback on important city issues by participating in online surveys and discussions via their smart phones, computers, and tablets.

 “The launch of Talk Vancouver is one more way we are following through on recommendations from our Engaged City Task Force, and it will be a great new tool for people to have their say on the issues that matter to them,” said Mayor Gregor Robertson. “In a city like Vancouver, not everyone can make it out to a public hearing or come speak to council. People are busy with their kids, their jobs and their family lives. By partnering with Vision Critical on Talk Vancouver, we’re embracing new technology to support civic engagement, and providing people with a way to become part of an online community that’s plugged in to what’s taking place at City Hall and around Vancouver.”

 Talk Vancouver is operated in partnership with Vision Critical, a Vancouver-based company that is providing the technology and software platform on which Talk Vancouver operates.  Vision Critical now has 300 employees in Vancouver, with offices in 14 other cities around the world.

“We’re thrilled to be working on this groundbreaking initiative with the City of Vancouver,” says Andrew Reid, Vision Critical president and chief product officer. “We developed this software here in Vancouver and it’s great to see it being leveraged in our own backyard.”

 The Mayor also announced that Angus Reid, the Executive Chairman of Vision Critical and founder and CEO of the Angus Reid Group, will be his Special Advisor on Technology and Citizen Engagement. “With over four decades of experience in research and public opinion, Angus has a unique skillset that will ensure we stay at the forefront of using technology to engage people across Vancouver,” said the Mayor. “I’m very pleased he’ll be advising me on ways the City can stay on the cutting edge of using technology to better serve our citizens.”

 People who are interested in taking part in the Talk Vancouver online community are encouraged to register at talkvancouver.com

 

I can tell that the park board/community-centre association fight is hitting home when I go for my early-morning swim at New Brighton and women in the line-up are talking about the whole mess.

Sunday morning, one was telling the other that all the contract staff currently hired by the centres are going to be fired when the park board “takes over.” That’s the kind of discussion that’s going around.

Tuesday morning, a judge will decide who is going to prevail at least temporarily, with the associations asking for an injunction to prevent the OnePass card from being accepted at their centres and the board fighting it. (I’d love to know how many programs could be put on for the cost of all the lawyers involved in this.)

Once that’s decided, it appears the next legal fight will be over whether the board can terminate its operating agreement with the six associations, as it announced Thursday it will do by Dec. 31.

Anyway, hard to keep on top of all the back and forths between the two parties, but here’s the latest compressed version of events.

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Vancouver actually has a plan to try to create new cultural spaces in Mount Pleasant out of the money it will extract from developers for new projects.

And, from the look of things, it will have a fair amount to play with, as projects start rolling up the street from the Olympic Village construction-crane festival.

But that’s small comfort to arts venues like VIVO, which are being evicted now in advance of re-development, as their executive director told me last week.

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There’s an ambitious publication in London that periodically produces a feature called “Who Owns London?” to try to understand what’s going on with commercial buildings in the City of London proper.

That kind of property tracking is exceptionally hard to do. Even if you spend the thousands of hours needed to find out the official, legal owner of every property in a given swathe of territory, then it takes even more research to try to figure out who the people are, who the numbered companies are, who the corporations are.

I took a small stab at this for Vancouver magazine, by going through the property records of two prominent condo buildings downtown — an area that many people think is dominated by foreign investors bulk-buying our city.

I don’t claim to have found definitive answers — two buildings are far from the whole story. But even this small bit of research gives a more nuanced picture of who is making investment buys in our forest of condos.

After a year of trying to sell off these 119 apartments (which were built to be rentals as part of the NPA’s effort to create some nod to affordability after killing the previous COPE council’s plan for the village), the receiver finally found a buyer for these units at the Olympic Village.

What this reduces the city’s overall debt to, I’m not sure. But at least this is off city hands now. My story here.

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I still have a few days of low gear left, so here’s your chance to start a conversation on whatever you like — except bikes, because I think we’ve beaten that to death for the month.