Interesting how the final impetus was the pathetic tokenism of a monthly visit by a planner to the DTES for supposed 'consultation' and even that was rejected.
Whether running on the Vision ticket or the COPE ticket or the Wallabies ticket I don't really care.
A good man with heart, courage and imagination putting himself forward is excellent.
It's the imagination he has shown which is the greatest asset.
The DTES does not need more $$$, but simply imaginative ideas involvingly implemented and David Eby I believe gets this.
From the Metro......
Lawyer in running
JEFF HODSON/METRO VANCOUVER
14 July 2008 02:12
Pivot lawyer David Eby, a well-known Downtown Eastside housing advocate, on Commercial Drive yesterday, is seeking a city council nomination with Vision Vancouver.
JEFF HODSON/METRO VANCOUVER
A well-known Downtown Eastside housing advocate has his sights set on Vancouver's City Hall -- hoping to effect more change from within the system than he did as an outsider looking in.
Pivot lawyer David Eby, 31, announced Thursday that he would be seeking a city council nomination with Vision Vancouver in November's civic election.
"That was a real struggle for me, deciding whether I would be more effective on the ground or in council," said Eby, at Grandview Park off Commercial Drive yesterday.
"I realized that as much work as we did (reaching out) to the community, going to council and in the media, we weren't getting as far as we should have."
The event that convinced him to run was a proposal by Vision Coun. Tim Stevenson to locate a city office in the Downtown Eastside.
The proposal, Eby said, was whittled down to having a city planner work one day a month out of the Carnegie Centre. In the end, even the reduced proposal was defeated.
"That was incredibly frustrating," Eby said. "The NPA was not interested in input from the community or reaching out to the community. And that's not just the Downtown Eastside, that's all over Vancouver. I really want to be a part of changing that."
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