City Staff Blew It On YMCA: THE VOTER
Staff knew that the YMCA building was for sale. Why didn’t they just buy it instead of going through this entire futile process?
It’s already built, has the type of room configurations needed and would be available fairly quickly. Plus it’s a known quantity since the city has been housing various types of homeless people there for many years. The Y might even have been interested in contracting with the City to provide the on-site housing services they’ve been running in that building for decades.
Too simple? Too logical? Too fiscally sound?
The Voter is a respected community activist and long-time Bulldog commenter who prefers to keep her identity private.
For You:
City Staff Got Sprung Structures Right, Wrong: BENN
SPRUNG STRUCTURES: Bullies With No Clue
City Staff Works For You Not Itself
Sprung Structures: Trust, Money Lost Again: THE VOTER
City Was Right On Sprung Structure End: PATTON
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– The Bulldog – News Feed Enter 
Sometimes one can only wonder … Is the process too complicated for those whose responsibility it is to secure temporary or even permanent housing .. to be in-the-know .. to be aware .. to be diligent .. to be able to do their jobs?
One of Sisco’s rules of life is “Keep Everything Simple!” Maybe city staffers feel they can earn bonus points or secure their jobs if they complify things. No, they just leave themselves open to ridicule.
I believe there were maintenance issues requiring minor attention, not big, but consistent with Lansdowne, an new build is preferred – rather than be troubled with maintaining anything.
Why blame staff always? The Councilors must represent us and ensure that their only employee is meeting expected outcomes.
Staff and OCH want to do better on housing. They know how. But they are hamstrung by leadership, provincial regulations and three decades of funding cuts to social services and public housing. City leadership says. “it is a provincial responsibility” when it comes to supporting those who are at risk, Yet nothing is done by the City to advocate for either more control of the social funding we receive or to change what the City can already change to reduce evictions as other cities in Ontario have done. The staff know what can be done to save money and to have more effective service. So lay of the staff for a while and get to know the bigger policy and interference picture.