The president of the Renfrew Community Centre Association says the decision to drop out of negotiations with the park board regarding an interim joint operating agreement (JOA) has nothing to do with politics, despite the fact the municipal election is less than two weeks away.
“It has everything to do with the park board,” said Hazel Hollingdale. “We decided the park board is no longer negotiating in good faith and we had no choice.”
In a letter to park board general manager Malcolm Bromley obtained by the Courier, Hollingdale noted Renfrew delegates have attended more than 50 meetings in the past 21 months regarding the JOA and are disappointed in the lack of progress. The letter added the association’s initial concerns began in 2013, after the park board fired negotiator Terry Harris.
As reported in the Courier at the time, Vision Vancouver park board commissioner Niki Sharma said the project was moving into a phase of discussions around finance and risk management, which requires a special area of knowledge and expertise. Sharma also said at the time a second negotiator would be hired with that expertise, but that never happened.
The Vision Vancouver-dominated park board wants to change the way community centres operate, including centralizing "core programs." The most contentious of the recommendations would see the park board take all revenues from room rentals and programs — money traditionally retained by the associations.
The park board argued the money should be pooled into a general account to be distributed amongst "have-not" centres. In response, 12 community centre associations, including Renfrew, began negotiations around the interim JOA with the park board.
According to Hollingdale, also at issue was an order from the park board to community centre staff to not charge the Renfrew association’s $3 membership fee when registration for fall programs opened Aug. 11. As reported in the Courier at the time, during a trial period that began last September, membership fees were waived and low-income users could register for seasonal programs at half-price, with the remainder subsidized. They previously charged $8 for families, $6 for adults and $3 for children, seniors and youth, and the program subsidies were capped at $50.
Hollingdale said when these subsidies cost the association almost $12,000, they imposed the $3 flat fee. In response, the park board requested the association raise their program fees. Hollingdale noted because low-income members don't pay a fee, raising the cost of programs would have been punitive to them.
“When we told the park board we would no longer be participating in the interim agreement, recreation manager Terry Walton told the community centre staff they weren’t allowed to collect membership fees,” said Hollingdale. “We didn’t want to raise the cost of our programs because we have a lot of low-income residents living in our community.”
Hollingdale added during negotiations the associations and park board agreed any public announcements pertaining to the interim agreement would be a collaboration. She said the park board violated that agreement when it launched a media campaign with no consultation or approval from the associations.
“We did not make this decision lightly,” said Hollingdale. “But we feel the park board is no longer negotiating in good faith and that’s all we want for our community.”
Meanwhile a group of associations, which previously dropped out of talks with the park board, has approached superstar negotiator Vince Ready to help settle their dispute, which includes lawsuits filed in the Supreme Court of B.C. Ready recently helped settle the provincial teachers’ strike.
According to a letter obtained by the Courier, Ready is available Nov. 5 and 6, but must be confirmed by 5 p.m. today. The letter from the Davison Law Group to the city’s legal department noted the cost for each party is $5,000.
On Monday morning, Vision Vancouver park board chair Aaron Jasper said the board will have comments or a statement prepared later today. The Courier will update this story as it proceeds.
On Monday afternoon the park board sent out a prepared statement that reads in part," The Vancouver Park Board welcomes the opportunity to meet with Vince Ready and update him onthe negotiations which have taken place and are still underway with the majority of Community Centre Associations..."
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