At tonights Community Liaison Group meeting, Dana Walker, of the Social Planning department with the City of Vancouver presented briefly and invited members to take part in the Social Coordinating Group and to extend the invitation to other interested community members, residents, etc.

Released at tonights meeting:

Social Coordinating Group

Terms of Reference for the Social Coordinating Group (SCG)
Government and non-government service delivery agencies, City staff, and community, business and property owners will be responsible for coordinating the implementation of the Community Action Agenda (Council Feb 14, 2008). The SCG relies on the expertise of existing community groups who are already working on issues and includes a project coordinator to provide linkages between appropriate City services and liaison with key external agencies (e.g. Coast Health) and senior government where appropriate. This group will focus on localized, social issue problem-solving, partnership building, and project implementation.

SCG Objectives

  • focus on tackling pressing social issues in Mount Pleasant.
  • utilize community expertise and existing initiatives to create tangible solutions
  • help ensure appropriate and diverse groups and agencies are represented
  • help ensure that the broader public and especially those impacted by any action projects/plans are involved
  • provide appropriate consultation back to groups represented on the SCG and to the community at large
  • utilize community experience in taking action on social issues by contributing to long-range community planning and policy-making

SCG Duties

  • help to identify local issues and actions already underway
  • participate in problem solving
  • develop project, action and evaluation plans
  • monitor and manage action projects/plans and activities
  • contribute to long-term social sustainability policy, especially in Step 3 – Setting Community-wide Directions, in the Community Plan process
  • contribute to and participate in a community engagement process, and help to ensure marginalized and hard-to-reach people are included.

Working Groups (includes non-SCG groups)
Area or project based Working Groups may be formed. The area based groups would be made up of sub-area citizens and stakeholders to assist in the detailed planning for the Shopping and Residential Sub-areas (e.g. public realm options, housing location options). These Working Groups will not select preferred options. Project based groups would come under the SCG’s umbrella to implement individual action projects/plans.

Next Steps:

  1. Council report being mailed out to citizens: Feb 7, 08 (108)
  2. Council’s Planning and Environment Committee meeting: February 14, 08
  3. Set the first SCG meeting – one option – first week of March 4, 5, or 6 (7pm to 9pm) – other dates and times? _

At the first SCG Meeting (staff)

  1. Review ToR for the SCG (noted above and Approved by Council in April 2007)
  2. Establish committee governance – communicating internally and externally
  3. Review and understand the top four key issues and related (15) goals
  4. Review and prioritize community identified actions, there are numerous (only 11 listed in Council report) actions and projects to be assessed.
  5. Establish a Working Group or groups
  6. Establish a 4 to 6 month? SCG Working Schedule: March to June/August, 08
  7. Other – think of other committee ideas and bring them to the next meeting

Keeping in touch

Dana Walker, 871-6780, dana.walker(at)shaw.ca
Website: www.vancouver.ca/mountpleasant

Tool Kits Links

  1. Open Drug Trade
  2. Support for the vulnerable
  3. Local community-based action group
  4. Community capacity building models
  5. “Sex Trade”http://www.communityliving.ca
  6. Police