6 ~ North Shore News -— Friday, April 7, 2000

ST Vancouver is quick to

boast of itself as 1 place of

j excellence. .

Yet with its consistent actions to
control public behaviour within its
municipal boundar.es it risks becom-
ing a place of repression.

A visit to local parks and public
walkways will confirm the regula-
tion-heavy anti-fun stance. West
Vancouver’s public places are not
free and easy. Restrictions are
imposed in the name of orderly con-

, duct, safety and corporate liability.

Monday’s council decision to say

‘mo to a pub application in
' Dundarave represents an: ‘extension
- of this mindset.

. Councillors were bombarded by
_ NIMBY opponents whe painted a
* bleak picture of Dundarave’s specific

nating, vomiting rabble from else-
where as well as drug dealers and
foreigners from North Vancouver.

The politicians chose to fall back
on a 1983 policy stating that a pub
would never open its decors in
Dundarave.

Just to the east of Dundarave, the
Ambleside area is thick with drink-
ing establishments. West at
Horseshoe Bay, the beer flows as
well,

Is there anarchy and discord in
these lovely villages by the sea?
Hardly.

What’s next? A full-on assault of
coffee drinkers? After all, caffeine
brings on all manner of speedy,
erratic behaviour and threats to the
general peace so critical to those
lucky enough to inhabit a place of
excellence.

' excellence ‘falling to hoards of uri-

. mailbox

Re: 2 Reoening of Forest’ Hilis ‘and Canyon Heights in
North Vancouver District. - -

North Vaficouver District i is in the process of amending its

gz bylaws concerning house construction for Forest Hills

ready t approve Munster structures ”
This ¢ avoided casily.

bylaw, B vlaw 6934, ‘can be made perma:.
dopted i in 1997 after the uproar over
newly. cofstricted or. renovated :

houses disproportionately large. in relation to. ‘heir neigh
bylaw is to limit the heighi

couver residents are proud and protective of the
bourhoods, especially their ambience,
pes, tranquility ; and quaintess.

oF Forest Hills responded to council’s sur-

asserting their desire to protect the character of

: appreciate: the necessity for change, beciuse of the :
Sage of many homes, but: residents are confident that homes . ;

placed, without compromising. the

er of the neighbourhood.”
And Bylaw 6439 Was designed to make the new fit in with
he old thereby ‘maintaining othe character of the neighbour-

ted. by council, will

lop’
ncighbourhood ambience: .

variance, regardless of the

iithood

architecture and abies of ‘the cnisting, established neigh: =
A : -the board approved raises to senior staff

“ranging up to about 6%, and that at the |

ihr Shae tes, founded 1969.25 a9

Friaay and Sunday by HCN Publications: ~
Company and cistributed to every door on the

: t of new sin-*-
dwellings or reriovations to the height of the exist- -
less the owne _pbtains a development variance.

w board needs wake- ul

FREE advice, David Stevenson
aud any West Vancouver School

. Board trustees to whom it

applies:
‘Don’t try to fox the
press. Or the public.

You will be found
out.

The sequel to last |
Friday’s column report-
ing the furtive process. .
by which trustees gave -:
themselves 40% raises —:
not on'the agenda; ©
slipped in at the end of
their March 14 meeting:
@ Stevenson denied the
board has to follow: '
Robert’s Rules of Order because his .
understanding is that the rules needn’t
apply to smaller public boards. Those

les require any addition to the pub- -
lished agenda to be announced at the
start of a meeting.

- Fact: The new board affirmed
Robert’s Rules just months ago. Lock
under Meetings, 4(d), David, to refresh

‘our memory.
a At question period, about 8:30 p.m.,.
Kathleen Glynn-Morris asked the board
directly if it had (past tense) raised its

. sup end, No, she was told. A couple of
about

burs later, the board did so. T:

~ 2 narrow, technically true answer! :

BA source denies | trustee Clive Bird’s ©

version, as described i in this space, of how
» the issue of the raise unfolded at the ©.

board’s in-camera meeting before the.
public meeting. .
& I wrote that ar an in-camera meeting:

next in-camera meeting trustee. ‘Erica!

Pend vaeenenscenonesaecceesenccuccanenscneesees

Bell- Lowther objected because the min-
utes of that meeting said nothing about
the raises. She got no support for her
motion to amend the minutes — an out-
rageous failure of board responsibility, I
say, perhaps meriting
legal action to foréie

utes.
T asked Stevenson,
twice, to verify my
understanding of what
happened. He said it
was wrong -—~ but
refused to say what did
happen.
The truth? I erred only
in stating that Bell-
Lowther’s objection was
raised at a second in- camera meeting.

publ ie meeting (when, ‘not incidentally,
No reporter was present). Stevenson’s

; hair-splitting was as absurd — sure to be’

found out — as it was petty.

@ When I asked Stevenson how the
board voted on the raise, he was vague.
Couldn’t recall if new trustee Mary

Fawley had joined: ‘Bell-Lowther in oppo- ‘

sition.. :
Amazing, Fawley had indeed oppose

. the raise. Stevenson, as‘chairman, Rea to =
cast the deciding vote (trustees Bird and
newcomer Rick Francis in favour) to

break the 2-2 deadlock — a fairly rare
occurrence. And he forgot? Forgot some-
thing of that significance — personal as
well as ot ehat fi — only two weeks earlier?’
t that he voted for a 54, 600 raise.

for nself?,”

“All this adds up to a scandalous run-_
around by The Board That™ Couldn't Ge
Its Stories Straight — beca

“ unprecedented retreat

inclusion of those min- _

. January ‘at up-
scale Ocean Pointe resort: Not only were
the trustees invited, but their spouses too
(Last year the retreat was held, inexpen-
sively, at Cedardale, the boards own cer
tre).
. The dissenter’ agai

“taxpayer moncy was, again; E

Lowther. She’s emerged from this sor

' series of affairs as a trustee taking her.

public trust seriously.” .
. This board needs a be
up call: :

Emlejees insists on acting lik

_ between the olde-time vill:
Nope; she had the moxie to raise it at the:

overripe aie and d

CUPE, fattened with:

Watters Mike nib

or two! Disgus

pub at the Dundarave;:

rezonin :
cpa: sidered: Rig