Part V of VI

The actions and behaviours of the City of Abbotsford demonstrate a failure to access the knowledge and experience available about the how and wherefore of providing effective Housing First.

However, the most appalling wilful ignorance by the politicians, bureaucrats and members of homeless advisory is the indifference, the lack of character inherent in…….

The $400,989 dispensation from the federal Conservative government is not the most diabolic indignity perpetrated as part of Abbotsford’s mayor, council, bureaucrats and members of the homeless advisory’s intensifying homeless cleansing. Nor is the fact that Abbotsford’s continued assault on the Charter Rights and Freedoms of citizens is being financially supported by MP Ed Fast and the federal Conservative government.

The most diabolical assault involves commission and omission; a matter of the two sides of the coin of funds spent on employment by the City of Abbotsford.

Ignoring the opposition of the homeless and those with lived experience who judged that hiring a bureaucrat to coordinate something or other [the purpose, description, duties and reporting of the position not having been set out] would accomplish nothing outside of creating another well paid bureaucrat in city hall and raise another barrier to effective action on reducing homelessness the city rushed to fill the position. A position created as a result of the only directly actionable recommendation of the Homeless Task Force. A recommendation that did not include details such as why, purpose, duties, any expected positive outcomes or an examination of negative consequences.

The recommendation to hire a bureaucratic homeless guru was consistent with the rest of the report by the Homeless Task Force which clearly demonstrated that either the Task Force lacked the capacity [knowledge, experience, understanding] to effectively address homelessness OR the Task Force had no interest in [the purpose of the Task Force was not] effectively addressing homelessness.

As the homeless, those with lived experience and those with a genuine interest in reducing homelessness predicted Abbotsford ignored those with experience and hired a well experienced bureaucrat with no experience or understanding of homelessness.

A bureaucrat so overwhelmed by bureaucratism that part of the $400,989 will be dissipated on hiring an assistant for the city’s seemingly overwhelmed, underwhelming bureaucratic homeless guru.

My opposition to employing someone for an undefined purpose with no defined duties or what the person was expected to accomplish and without clearly defining the required knowledge, understanding and experience with the homeless, mental illness, substance use and homelessness results in part from twenty-five years of experience managing audits and businesses.

Dealing with issues and problems the goal is to resolve matters, not to complicate or worsen matters.

In decision-making and problem-solving asking the right question is crucial. Moreover, what might be the right question at the beginning may not still be the right question once you’ve acquired more understanding. Thus framing questions is not only a first crucial step — it’s also something you need to revisit, repeatedly.

A fresh set of eyes, eyes with knowledge and experience, to see the situation from a different perspective is why I recommended that Abbotsford hire Mr. Cameron Keller as a consultant.

As a vice-president with the Mental Health Commission of Canada [MHCC] Mr. Keller bore responsibility for creating, managing and completing the research study of Housing First in five cities [Moncton, Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver] for the five years of the research study.

Mr. Keller shared his experience with those attending the Housing First learning opportunity presented by MHCC in Burnaby in January 2015. I, and others, took the opportunity to speak with Mr. Keller and explore the opportunity presented by his decision to provide consulting services to communities seeking to create and implement Housing First.

The fact is that if I were in charge of addressing homelessness in Abbotsford I would hire Mr. Keller.

Experience creating Housing First from scratch in five cities, managing those programs and the results achieved and documented in the research done; creation of the housing First toolbox.

Making use of Mr. Keller’s experience and expertise to create and implement effective Housing First in Abbotsford definitely falls into the category of a ‘no brain required’ decision.

Failing to avail Mr. Keller’s experience and expertise would fall into the category ‘I have no brain’.

I spoke to the mayor and several councillors about the lack of benefit in hiring a bureaucrat as a homeless guru and the benefits of accessing Mr. Keller’s experience and expertise by employing Mr. Keller’s consulting services.

Faced with the choice of hiring a consultant with experience and expertise creating and implementing Housing First OR hiring a bureaucrat without Housing First or homeless experience for a position that lacked clearly defined purpose, goals, or responsibilities ………..

…….of course Abbotsford’s mayor and city council hired the no experience bureaucrat as homeless guru, spurning the golden opportunity to take full advantage of the knowledge and experience gained in the federal governments Housing First research study.

In rejecting the opportunity to access the experience and expertise gained from the federal governments Housing First research study, Abbotsford rejected the opportunity to created and begin implementing an effective program to reduce homelessness in
Abbotsford.

In choosing to remain ignorant of the knowledge and understanding of Housing First available from the research study, Abbotsford has chosen to act in a manner wasteful of scarce resources, that allows homelessness to grow and that blocks/delays any implementation of an effective Housing First program  until the passage of time imposes sufficiently painful consequences on the City of Abbotsford to motivate the city to abandon the ignorance of ‘what they know for sure that ain’t so’ and allow the  creation and implementation of an effective Housing First Action Plan.

 

End Part V of VI

Next: Yes you are Mayor Braun