Letter: Council Ignores Citizens, Has Itself to Blame for Affordable Housing Issues

Re: “Transforming Unused School Land Into Affordable Housing is… Logical”

Totally agree with Councillor Rice — why does the City of Edmonton and council choose to not listen to citizens? It is crazy, COE spends huge dollars on “tell us your opinion” signage, then many man hours evaluating the responses, preparing reports… then totally ignores citizens’ opposition. Our neighbourhood has also had this experience. It is as if council believes it has some higher moral right than citizens — it does not.

Oh the greater good? Affordable housing. Understand that COE and council cause much of the affordable housing problem. Density, most council members believe, will solve all of COE’s problems. The message to developers is — bring us your plan and it will be approved!

The developers buy affordable housing, evict the low income tenants, tear down the buildings and then build unaffordable housing.

The question then is, where do the evicted citizens go?

For sure some, likely a small percentage become homeless. If the low-income earners have vehicles, they are likely OK to move and still get to the low-paying job. If they do not have a vehicle, good chance they have to move far way from their work. Cost of bus, new travel times, maybe a child, all become frustration for the citizen, causing severe hardship.

COE and council need to change the message they are sending to developers. COE should be trying to ensure the current low-cost housing remains. COE has the tools to do this, and it is way more helpful to low-income workers currently living in affordable housing. COE and council need to get in front of developments rather than always saying we need more affordable housing – which COE alone cannot afford to build — and the approval process takes years.

Does this happen? Of course, all the time.

Developers do not have the same objectives as citizens, council or low-income citizens. Council needs to change the message, change the approach.

To be sure, this council is complicit in causing the affordable-housing problem.

The other argument COE and council uses is COE needs more revenue to lower the annual tax increase. Council views increased density as its only solution.

First council has a massive spending problem. Administration promotes projects that are unnecessary or not affordable, council approves plans, projects… and then discovers there is a budget problem. Driving around COE it is easy to see projects that are totally unnecessary – that do not improve the quality of life.

Then the urban sprawl argument is introduced. Here’s an idea, if urban sprawl is a problem, stop annexing land.

Then there are frequent articles about lost revenue to COE due to urban sprawl. Never have I seen an article reveal a financial analysis supporting the urban sprawl argument. Homeowners in suburbia pay thousands in annual taxes for minimal services. The city core communities are also highly taxed beyond a reasonable amount for services received. I’d think Glenora would be a gold mine for COE tax revenues.

Yet the current council want to fight with its citizens over a few buildings that might increase density by what? A minimal number in the big picture for sure.

John Holmes,
Edmonton