Vote Vancouver on City Hall: 10-day replies, concierge desks, faster services
Vote Vancouver would commit City Hall to replying to inquiries within 10 days, open concierge desks for businesses and seniors, work toward automatic business registration, speed up street cleaning and snow removal, restart Energize Vancouver and keep electric heating rules for new buildings.
PUBLIC SERVICES · PAGE 32
Effectiveness of City Hall: what the Policy Priorities says
Vote Vancouver's page on City Hall is about how residents and businesses deal with the city. The party would commit City Hall to a 10-day response on inquiries. It says this means you hear within 10 days what the city plans to do, even if the problem takes longer to fix. The party would open single-point-of-contact service desks, which it calls concierge desks, where staff guide businesses, event organizers and community groups through city departments. A separate Seniors' Concierge Desk would let seniors reach a real person by phone or in person. It would also work toward automatic business registration at natural transition points, cutting repeated paperwork, and improve response times for street cleaning, snow and ice removal and broken streetlights.
Two items deal with buildings and climate. The party would unpause Energize Vancouver, a city program for reporting building emissions, so the city can see where emissions come from and measure progress. It would keep the current rule that new buildings use electric space and hot-water heating. The page also opens with a promise of fair relationships with the Coast Salish Nations for housing, health care and food services. Council directs city staff, sets service levels through the budget and controls Vancouver's own building bylaw, so it can act alone on most of this page. Work with the Coast Salish Nations depends on agreement with those Nations, and health care is provincial.
THE PARTY'S NUMBERS
Figures in this chapter
Time within which the party says City Hall would reply to an inquiry with its plan
The party's figure, page 328 COMMITMENTS
What the party says it would do
Relationships with the Coast Salish Nations
Vote Vancouver would build equitable relationships with the Coast Salish Nations to deliver more informed and accessible public services, including housing, healthcare and food services.
- Who has the power
- City, with others This work depends on agreement with the Coast Salish Nations, and health care is provincial.
10-day response commitment
The party would set a 10-day response commitment for City Hall inquiries. It says the promise is that you hear within 10 days what the city plans to do about the issue, and the fix itself may take longer.
- Who has the power
- City Council Council can set service standards for city staff.
Concierge desks for businesses, events and community groups
Vote Vancouver would create single-point-of-contact service desks for businesses, events and community organizations, a concierge desk that helps applicants move between departments so they do not have to do it themselves.
- Who has the power
- City Council How City Hall organizes its front-line services is set by Council and city staff.
Automatic business registration
The party would work toward automatic business registration triggered at natural transition points, reducing repeated paperwork while keeping safety and regulatory requirements.
- Who has the power
- City Council Council issues business licences and sets how people apply for them.
Seniors' Concierge Desk
Vote Vancouver would create a Seniors' Concierge Desk at City Hall where seniors can talk to a real person on the phone or at a physical desk for help with city departments.
- Who has the power
- City Council Council decides which services City Hall offers and funds them in the budget.
Faster essential public services
The party would improve response times for essential public services, including street cleaning and sanitation, snow and ice removal, and broken streetlights.
- Who has the power
- City Council Street cleaning, snow removal and streetlights are city services funded through Council's budget.
Unpause Energize Vancouver
Vote Vancouver would unpause the Energize Vancouver emissions-reporting program so the city can understand where building emissions come from and measure progress.
- Who has the power
- City Council The platform describes this as a city program, which Council can restart.
Keep electric heating rules for new buildings
The party would maintain the existing requirement for electric space and hot-water heating in new buildings.
- Who has the power
- City Council Vancouver has its own building bylaw under the Vancouver Charter, so Council sets energy rules for new buildings.
WHO WOULD HAVE TO ACT
Where the power sits for this chapter
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Questions about effectiveness of city hall
What is Vote Vancouver's 10-day promise for City Hall?
Vote Vancouver would commit City Hall to responding to inquiries within 10 days. The party says this means you hear what the city plans to do within 10 days, even if the problem takes longer to fix (Policy Priorities, page 32).
What is the Seniors' Concierge Desk in Vote Vancouver's platform?
It is a desk at City Hall where seniors could talk to a real person, by phone or in person, for help finding their way through city departments (Policy Priorities, page 32).
Would Vote Vancouver allow gas heating in new buildings?
Vote Vancouver would keep the existing requirement for electric space and hot-water heating in new buildings (Policy Priorities, page 32).
What is Energize Vancouver?
Vote Vancouver describes Energize Vancouver as the city's building emissions-reporting program, which it says is paused. The party would unpause it so the city can see where building emissions come from and measure progress (Policy Priorities, page 32).
How would Vote Vancouver make City Hall easier for businesses?
The party would open concierge desks that guide businesses, events and community groups through city departments, and work toward automatic business registration to cut repeated paperwork (Policy Priorities, page 32).
Can Vancouver City Council set its own building heating rules?
Yes. Vancouver has its own building bylaw under the Vancouver Charter, so Council can set energy rules for new buildings that other BC cities cannot. Vote Vancouver would keep the current electric heating rule (Policy Priorities, page 32).
ON THE BALLOT
The Vote Vancouver candidates behind this
Sources
Every commitment on this page comes from the party's own material, marked SAYS SO ITSELF. It proves what the party says it would do. Who holds each power is our own addition, from the sources listed after it.
- Vote Vancouver Policy Priorities SAYS SO ITSELFVote Vancouver · pages 32 · checked