North Shore Reunification Committee Report to Council

Link to the report:

http://www.dnv.org/upload/documents/Council_Committees/NS%20Reunification%20Cttee%20-%20Final%20Report/Final%20Report%20-%20North_Shore_Reunification_Committee.PDF

All in favour raise your hands

Everyone was in favour with a show of hands on the issue of Amalgamating the two North Vancouver's. They also seemed to agree that something had to be done about traffic congestion.  No surprises there. The first District ACM was pretty stodgy other than an attack by one of the new candidates on two incumbents regarding receiving campaign donations from developers. It was held this past Friday evening at the Lynn Valley Recreation Centre, hosted by the LVCA, and was the communities first live look at hopefuls who want to fill at least two seats in the District on Nov. 15th. Stay tuned for many more all candidate meetings in the City and District over the next three weeks. Check www.dnv.org and www.cnv.org for times, dates, and locations.

Density Does Not Equal Affordability

As we head into the municipal election, it's assumed that density will be one of the topics of discussion, as well as the overall lack of "affordable housing."

Although a suburban region like North Vancouver tends to think in terms of single family home ownership, there's a large part of the population who need rental housing.

New today at PolicyNote.ca is a very interesting analysis of why the housing market hasn't been creating rental housing, and why endless condo development doesn't lead to truly affordable housing.

Multi-unit housing construction has increasingly favoured condominiums over purpose-built rental buildings over the past decade. Although a significant share of condominiums in major cities is rented out, they typically have higher rents and represent a less stable housing supply for tenants.

Private developers have favoured condominium development over purpose-built rental buildings because of the higher returns and lower risk involved. Condominium units can be presold, whereas purpose-built rental buildings must be fully constructed before being rented out. … [as well as] preferential tax treatment of owner-occupied housing, which is not subject to tax on imputed rents or capital gains upon sale, whereas investors in rental property are taxed on rental income and 50% of capital gains at their marginal income tax rate. Increasing expectations of capital gains may have made these tax biases more important over time.

Cap U to have advance voting polls

Fantastic! Kudos to CNV council for backing the idea. It's about time. As reported by the North Shore News Cap U will have advance voting polls on Thursday, Nov. 6 from 9 AM to 2 PM for both the District and the City. Voting will take place at the Capilano Students' Union library lounge. The CSU is also organizing round table talks for students to discuss municipal issues that affect them. The CSU is also hosting two all-candidate meetings on campus on Tuesday, Nov. 4 from 11:30 to 1 PM. District candidates will meet in the First nations gathering space and the City candidates will meet in the adjacent library lounge.

Invitation to All CNV and DNV Candidates

It's been tradition in one form or another on the blog over the past three municipal elections to offer all candidates the opportunity to have their voice heard. If you are interested email  discussion@northvancouverpolitics.com,  you will receive a reply inviting you to join the discussion,  which will enable you to post a main topic to which you can respond to comments, and answer questions from other bloggers.

Good luck to everyone in your campaigns for election!

DNV school trustee candidate launches campaign

Jessica Stanley is running for a school trustee seat in the District and is officially launching her campaign tonight at 211 Rondoval 8 PM to 10 PM

ALL IN!

List of CNV Candidates                               
Mayor
Darrell Mussatto
Kerry Morris
George Pringle
Councillor
Holly Back
John Harvey
Dorothy Anne Bell
Bill Bell
Pam Bookham
Linda Buchanan
Matt Clark
Rod Clark
Via Fearnley
Craig Keating
Amanda Nichol
Joe Heilman
Ron Sostad
Tony Valente
Kathy McGrenara
Iani Makris
Dave Janis
Don Bell
School Trustee
Megan Higgins
Tanya Lahulek
Bill Vasillis Papandreou
Christie Sacre
Erica Warkentin
Antje Wilson
Mary Tasi
Susan Skinner

List of DNV Candidates
Mayor
Richard Walton                                                              
Councillor
Jim Hanson
Mathew Bond
Robin Hicks
Wayne Hunter
Amelia Hill
Glenn MacKenzie
Doug MacKay-Dunn
Lisa Muri
Roger Bassam
Hazen Colbert
Linda Findlay
Kevin Macauley
Connie Deboer
Bobbi-Lynn Nestor
Heather Skuse

School Trustee
Susan Lockhart
Dave Jackson
Edward Desaulniers
Cyndi Gerlach
Franci Stratton
Shane Nelson
Jessica Stanley
Yael Drinkle
Barry Forward
Kelly Muirhead