The building at Westmoreland is owned by the City, and many of the improvements should be taken up by you with the City Councillor. For example, pool maintenance is a city issue, not a DBG issue. The DBG did not put in the pool. The city put in the pool.
The DBG charter, or mandate, or mission statement, whatever you want to call it, only applies, strictly speaking, to the Dovercourt area and the original bounds. The Perth neighbourhood project is an outreach project of the main organization.
Perth is an outreach project, and is very successful, we would like to expand it. But to be clear to you, there was never an onus upon the DBG to start it, no onus upon the DBG to continue it and there is no onus upon the DBG to build a second clubhouse to house it. It is, and always was, since its inception, a satellite program of what is happening at Westmoreland. It began with a spirit of good will. It is ironic that it is now a point of contention and division.
If the Junction Triangle community would like to establish its own independent Boys' and Girls' Club, with its own clubhouse, and its own funding, the DBG would totally support that and assist them in their efforts. In the meantime, the DBG is happy to do what it can do to provide as many services for children as it can.
You must not be reading all the posts or you would understand about the money for the renovation at Westmoreland. The money for the second floor at Westmoreland is Federal stimulus money and can only go to a defined project. Direct this particular complaint to Mr. Harper. If we could have split the money, we would have.
yes, it's 3 am when I am posting this, but I slept from 8 to 10:30 and got up again, anybody care to comment?
Risking being identified as sarcastic again, since when are zoning permits so cryptic that they have to be "interpreted"? It seemed like pretty plain language to us.Or would you like us to open a professional dance studio? It's not really in our mandate.
Why do you want this lousy location so much anyway? What's your stake in it? And is it really a criticism of yours that we'r bad because we respond appropriately to new information with new strategies? Oh, shame on us for responding appropriately to new information. We will try to do better in the future...but doesn't this mean that we should endeavour to do worse in the future? What do you want?
What do you want with all this? You say it's accountability, but all the records are public and available to you, for fees payable to the various levels of government involved. Are you just too cheap and lazy to do the paperwork? And all records will show that we are telling the truth, meeting our mandate and being responsible.
If you're a parent, you can communicate with the Club daily, and at the AGM. If you're not a parent, you can write letters to the Board of Directors. You can even run for the Board of Directors. There are many ways to connect positively.
The huge fuss you are making seems to me to be always about that you're upset about the feelings of the owner of Ontario Hardwood Lumber and how he is not going to make money. When I meet Rob Ford, and he tells me that he stopped the "gravy train", I am quite likely to give him a high five and say "So did we!" What's your endgame, the destruction of the Club? Where do you see your tactics ending up? That's an important question and you need to answer it.
We are doing the best we can do, and we are doing a damn good job. Programs are running, there are more kids involved than there were last year, the staff is pumped and you just want to whine and whine about how your poor friend, who is upset about his inability to leave "a legacy".
If your friend had truly wanted to leave a legacy for the neighbourhood, he would have renovated the space himself, he would have put in heating for the winter and a/c for the summer, he would have addressed the contaminated ground issue himself, all of which would probably have taken care of the permit issue, and he wouldn't charge more than a nominal rent. We would have named the building after him. We could probably have got the city to name the end of the street after him.
If your friend wanted to leave a legacy in the neighbourhood, he had the opportunity. But I think he thought he was on the gravy train, and we have kicked him off.
The police have informed some neighbours to call the dispatch number (416-808-2222) at the time that you see activity going on. Give a description of the people going in and out, how many, if they are wearing backpacks (they can be carrying a weapon). A number of neighbours should do this as well. More people calling at more times brings action. The down side, however, is that they may not hold the suspect for very long so the more times the police have to come out the better, especially if the person is violating their probation orders.
I like urban art and street art but frankly, tagging, the mindless leaving of one's name or tag all over the place, as if anybody cares, is an attack on the public space. I wanted to pass on the story but at the same time I hate giving any attention to these fools. They give real graffiti artists a bad rap. And a wag of the finger to Torontoist for implying that tagging and unwanted spray painting is OK as long as you clean up your cans.
What is the best way to inform police of your suspicions? For months I have noticed alot of traffic to a house in the neighborhood that i have been told by nieghbors that everyone knows is seeling drugs. If everyone knows then why haven't the police done anyting? What sort of informaion should i be armed with?
We keep trying to dissect this B&G club ernest saga, trying to make sense but the truth is and like I mentioned yesterday we had no support or push for a better Club House neither from with in or from the outside. We keep directing our frustration to the Dovercourt Boys and Girls Club, it's not the kids fault out there they needed a place the DB&G Club bas been around a lot longer then any our sites. Which brings me back to the point yesterday, you see Tony Puopolo who was the ED and should of been advocating for us but he wasn't really advocating for the JT club house site like we all thought, it was merely smoke. How do I know , I don't think I mentioned this before but last year or the year before when we were fighting to save the b&g club on Randolph I phoned the Ontarion Chapter and spoke with the Director of the B&G and this really flooored me, when I was speaking to her about the Randolph site and the staff and so on, When I mentioned the good job that Tony Palermo and Nick was doing, she didn't even know who Tony Palermo or Nick was, because all she knew and wanted to know was about Tony Puopolo he was the star for both sites, this man suffered from Napoleon complex and had to be in control.
Now how can you have 60, 80 or 100 kids during the summer been watched by someone/staff and you don't know who they are specially after all the media attention Randolph got, what if something would to happen. Tony Pal was the person in charge or running the daily operation of the Randolph site, yet she didn't know anything about the staff or much about the randolph site or the staff who ran it because all the focus was for the Dovercourt site.
The only way we are going to get a club house is when the B&G National or Ontario people get on board along with with the 3 levels of government, the public sector, community and more importantly you need money if we are ever going to get a club house in the JT.
Democracy doesn't just happen. In the last couple years we have had an interesting set of exercises in informal balloting, controversial discussions, elections, and pushing issues of local interest. Once in a while it can be interesting to look at the process itself.
This behaviour is worthy of our worst politicians. When there is something to cover up they deny, evade, sidestep then hide behind the "legal" BS. You had months to explain before the "legal" case became a convenient excuse. Sorry you're not fooling anyone Vivian or Justin.
I am going to be very blunt here because I can see that you do not know the history that the b/g have faced in the last few years.
For us that are familiar with Tony/Nick/Justin/Matteo know what hard work these guys do to run programs and what needs improving.
FYI- A few years ago, a few of us froze our behinds off canvassing door to door, rallying Leons (still have the pictures) in order to stop the former location from kicking the b/g out when the lease expired.
The lease was never negotiated before it expired because your previous Director, allowed this to happen.
The community screamed out that there was a need for a club here.
The media was involved http://www.citytv.com/toronto/citynews/life/family/article/20686--dovercourt-boys-and-girls-club-battles-for-survival
We made so much noise that the previous Exec Director Tony Puopolo got a temporary solution to shut us up and look like the good guy.
I was privy to the temporary solution and the comment I recall was "that it was not affordable long term."
He walked out and left the place in a shambles and yes...
HERE WE ARE TODAY....
Lemons out of lemonade- Yes it is recognized to those that were involved and have previous knowledge of what took place that, the NEW BOARD and staff was dealt a bad card and left to p/u the pieces!
HOWEVER....if you read carefully instead of spending so much time dodging or defending, we are wanting to know, WHAT IS CURRENTLY being done to secure a location for the kids in "our" community?
Here are some quotes from DBGC about "zoning issues" which are cited as one of the reasons for the closure of the clubhouse. These are not my words. But nobody, and I mean NOBODY including City, has been able to provide one document that shows that a Clubhouse could not open because of zoning issues. Evidence shows that everybody at City worked hard to interpret the zoning in a favourable way for DBGC which it did and the Board was told this in person before they pulled the plug. So in light of these comments below, provide a document or the name of a person at City who said the DBGC could not operate because of zoning.
1. In a letter to the Community on the DBGC site signed by Justin Hanna:
“This was not an easy decision to make; however, based on a re-evaluation of zoning, permit and other issues associated with this project, we realized we needed to rethink this large endeavor, and assess all options for our permanent space in the Junction Triangle community.”
2. In the Toronto Star Justin Hanna is quoted: “Operations manager Justin Hanna blamed the sky-high rent for the board’s decision to reverse course. He also said there were zoning issues.”
3. From an open letter that was circulated and posted on the community website:
“The project at 45 Ernest Ave was one that was rushed into by the previous administration, one that was never properly evaluated for its site use requirements, effectiveness or economic feasibility. Our organization rushed into a massive capital project without ensuring that all proper steps, including proper zoning, were taken to ensure that our Club could properly operate in this facility. As a result of prior poor planning and judgment, we would have been left with a centre that could never serve the basic function of our organization, let alone the long term programming goals that staff are planning to execute over the coming months.”
4. DBGC Chair Vivian Payne also wrote on the community website citing new information that is never explained: “We are just now finalizing our information letter to go out to the community. You are right, we are cancelling the Ernest site, and we are planning a community meeting to explain the situation. It is really complicated, and we do have very good reasons, which will be explained, I promise. At the AGM, there were things that we did not know that affected the viability of the project, hence the optimism about Ernest that you saw at that meeting. That optimism was genuine. We received new information during the summer which, frankly, doomed the project, and put the entire operation of the Dovercourt B & G Club at risk of bankruptcy. “
Just a short notice letting everyone know about a Super Sunday at Boo's. Join us for some HD Super Bowl action with lots of the food you love and Halftime Specials. Drop in early and grab a seat!
See you after 4:00 PM on Sunday!
Go Raiders!!
M&S
Boo
Please take a breather here. This is spinning out of control, and except for a few of the posts, we're not really getting anywhere except for accusations and name-calling.
How about if from now on the ONLY time you post to this thread is when you have NEW INFORMATION, or at least some positive suggestions on how to proceed. Back-and-forth bickering isn't really getting much accomplished.
And a reminder again to please abide by this site's Code of Conduct. Be nice, stay on topic, and stick to the facts.
Remember that to the time of Vivian's posts the community gets to add 6 months of waiting for information about a process it was left out of. People have waited patiently and with courtesy and now understandably they have have lost faith.
This same message will be sent to Ana B Councillor and Vivian:
The fight to get some permanent location for the children of this community has been going on for many years more then 3 or 4 yrs that was mentioned. One of the issue is and has been is the lack of support and interest for children programs from our three levels of government or our elected offical. Many of us also believe that Adam G. was more of a problem then a solution with the Leon's/Randolph issue then we want to believe. We have also seen first hand how much he really cared when he tried to take a park away from the Children of Rankin, nearing homes and daycares and others who use the park to make room for a community garden.
Also all the community needs to be informed and to be heard and allowed for their input, we have not heard or seen this yet. So the first step should be for the residents of Ward18/Junction Triangle to be sent a letter either by the Councillors office of DB&G or both in English and also 3 of the top languages spoken in this community. I have spoken to Vivian and Justin couple of times in the last week or so and have asked what is going on, instaed of hearing from from Allen, Joseph, mother of 2, kevin or the same person. Their are a few individuals or a small group in a larger group in JT who think they are speaking on behalf of the community, they don't speak for me and neither do I for anyone else.
Lastly, I personally don't think DB&G can do it on their own without the hel and support of the 3 levels of government and MONEY and the community. I believe the children are in good hands at the B&G and the children don't need to hear or to get involved with the personal issues of the parents. I believe Justin and the team is doing a good job. I also believe Vivian and the board are trying, not prefect and she can't say more then she can at this point, it's before the courts. We know Tony Puopolo lied and wasn't honest to the community the board and the B&G we never had a permit for a children program it was for a Dance Studio for 18 and over not children. We should of never gone to the next step without checking and guess what your BOY B and Adam's Office should of seen it and caught it, heck Kevin B. took the credit during Municipal election for the new Ernest site.
I use a quote from of a few people in the hood that post of the JT website, instead of wasting your energy on something negative, do something positive move forward. JF
Hello Vivian,
It's good that there is discussion going on, and I can understand why you feel defensive given the tone of some of the comments on the site. I personally don't mind what time you make your posts and I also appreciate your point that you chose to stay involved with the board even when things became difficult. Sometimes it's easier to walk away. That said, you may not realize how your comments sound to us -- defensive, sarcastic and dismissive. Perhaps people on both sides (it's too bad there isn't one side here!) should take a deep breath and remind ourselves we are supposed to be working toward the same goal. How can we make the discussion meaningful and close the rift that has developed? You say you can't discuss the problems with the Ernest location because of ongoing legal issues. But surely you can understand how people in the community feel about how things have ended up so far? Perhaps a more conciliatory approach might get us somewhere....
WHY don't you spend your energies providing this community with answers.
-What the next plan of action is for the children in this community. Explain to us what "heavy lifting" you are doing right now instead of spewing a series of empty comments when it is CLEAR that the COMMUNITY is and has been asking for the last 3-4 years this question. "WHAT IS BEING DONE" to implement a permanent location here in the community for the kids????
I afford you no more credibility as a spokesperson. You did not reveal yourself to me for any proper rebuttal or debate, if that is what you told people you were doing. You wrote things about me that I did not know about until now. You have not behaved honourably.
I afford you no more credibility as a spokesperson. You did not reveal yourself to me for any proper rebuttal or debate, if that is what you told people you were doing. You wrote things about me that I did not know about until now. You have not behaved honourably.
Hi Joe W
The building at Westmoreland is owned by the City, and many of the improvements should be taken up by you with the City Councillor. For example, pool maintenance is a city issue, not a DBG issue. The DBG did not put in the pool. The city put in the pool.
The DBG charter, or mandate, or mission statement, whatever you want to call it, only applies, strictly speaking, to the Dovercourt area and the original bounds. The Perth neighbourhood project is an outreach project of the main organization.
Perth is an outreach project, and is very successful, we would like to expand it. But to be clear to you, there was never an onus upon the DBG to start it, no onus upon the DBG to continue it and there is no onus upon the DBG to build a second clubhouse to house it. It is, and always was, since its inception, a satellite program of what is happening at Westmoreland. It began with a spirit of good will. It is ironic that it is now a point of contention and division.
If the Junction Triangle community would like to establish its own independent Boys' and Girls' Club, with its own clubhouse, and its own funding, the DBG would totally support that and assist them in their efforts. In the meantime, the DBG is happy to do what it can do to provide as many services for children as it can.
You must not be reading all the posts or you would understand about the money for the renovation at Westmoreland. The money for the second floor at Westmoreland is Federal stimulus money and can only go to a defined project. Direct this particular complaint to Mr. Harper. If we could have split the money, we would have.
yes, it's 3 am when I am posting this, but I slept from 8 to 10:30 and got up again, anybody care to comment?
Hi Scott Dobson
Risking being identified as sarcastic again, since when are zoning permits so cryptic that they have to be "interpreted"? It seemed like pretty plain language to us.Or would you like us to open a professional dance studio? It's not really in our mandate.
Why do you want this lousy location so much anyway? What's your stake in it? And is it really a criticism of yours that we'r bad because we respond appropriately to new information with new strategies? Oh, shame on us for responding appropriately to new information. We will try to do better in the future...but doesn't this mean that we should endeavour to do worse in the future? What do you want?
What do you want with all this? You say it's accountability, but all the records are public and available to you, for fees payable to the various levels of government involved. Are you just too cheap and lazy to do the paperwork? And all records will show that we are telling the truth, meeting our mandate and being responsible.
If you're a parent, you can communicate with the Club daily, and at the AGM. If you're not a parent, you can write letters to the Board of Directors. You can even run for the Board of Directors. There are many ways to connect positively.
The huge fuss you are making seems to me to be always about that you're upset about the feelings of the owner of Ontario Hardwood Lumber and how he is not going to make money. When I meet Rob Ford, and he tells me that he stopped the "gravy train", I am quite likely to give him a high five and say "So did we!" What's your endgame, the destruction of the Club? Where do you see your tactics ending up? That's an important question and you need to answer it.
We are doing the best we can do, and we are doing a damn good job. Programs are running, there are more kids involved than there were last year, the staff is pumped and you just want to whine and whine about how your poor friend, who is upset about his inability to leave "a legacy".
If your friend had truly wanted to leave a legacy for the neighbourhood, he would have renovated the space himself, he would have put in heating for the winter and a/c for the summer, he would have addressed the contaminated ground issue himself, all of which would probably have taken care of the permit issue, and he wouldn't charge more than a nominal rent. We would have named the building after him. We could probably have got the city to name the end of the street after him.
If your friend wanted to leave a legacy in the neighbourhood, he had the opportunity. But I think he thought he was on the gravy train, and we have kicked him off.
1:55 a.m., any criticisms?
The police have informed some neighbours to call the dispatch number (416-808-2222) at the time that you see activity going on. Give a description of the people going in and out, how many, if they are wearing backpacks (they can be carrying a weapon). A number of neighbours should do this as well. More people calling at more times brings action. The down side, however, is that they may not hold the suspect for very long so the more times the police have to come out the better, especially if the person is violating their probation orders.
Just a reminder to everyone, please stay on topic. Whenever an issue gets too heated, it is easy to lose the sense of what is being discussed.
This forum is about the closure of a satellite, Junction Triangle, Boys and Girls Club location.
Thank you.
More fact checking to follow. Next up, was the rent at Ernest really "sky-high" compared to other rental properties in the area? I don't think so.
Some tagging and littering on Railpath gets a mention in Torontoist:
http://torontoist.com/2011/02/vandalist_litterist.php
I like urban art and street art but frankly, tagging, the mindless leaving of one's name or tag all over the place, as if anybody cares, is an attack on the public space. I wanted to pass on the story but at the same time I hate giving any attention to these fools. They give real graffiti artists a bad rap. And a wag of the finger to Torontoist for implying that tagging and unwanted spray painting is OK as long as you clean up your cans.
What is the best way to inform police of your suspicions? For months I have noticed alot of traffic to a house in the neighborhood that i have been told by nieghbors that everyone knows is seeling drugs. If everyone knows then why haven't the police done anyting? What sort of informaion should i be armed with?
That's very sad. What a pioneer!
After kick starting a global movement, humble beginnings in Toronto…
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/933197--father-of-the-blue-box-died-...
We keep trying to dissect this B&G club ernest saga, trying to make sense but the truth is and like I mentioned yesterday we had no support or push for a better Club House neither from with in or from the outside. We keep directing our frustration to the Dovercourt Boys and Girls Club, it's not the kids fault out there they needed a place the DB&G Club bas been around a lot longer then any our sites. Which brings me back to the point yesterday, you see Tony Puopolo who was the ED and should of been advocating for us but he wasn't really advocating for the JT club house site like we all thought, it was merely smoke. How do I know , I don't think I mentioned this before but last year or the year before when we were fighting to save the b&g club on Randolph I phoned the Ontarion Chapter and spoke with the Director of the B&G and this really flooored me, when I was speaking to her about the Randolph site and the staff and so on, When I mentioned the good job that Tony Palermo and Nick was doing, she didn't even know who Tony Palermo or Nick was, because all she knew and wanted to know was about Tony Puopolo he was the star for both sites, this man suffered from Napoleon complex and had to be in control.
Now how can you have 60, 80 or 100 kids during the summer been watched by someone/staff and you don't know who they are specially after all the media attention Randolph got, what if something would to happen. Tony Pal was the person in charge or running the daily operation of the Randolph site, yet she didn't know anything about the staff or much about the randolph site or the staff who ran it because all the focus was for the Dovercourt site.
The only way we are going to get a club house is when the B&G National or Ontario people get on board along with with the 3 levels of government, the public sector, community and more importantly you need money if we are ever going to get a club house in the JT.
Democracy doesn't just happen. In the last couple years we have had an interesting set of exercises in informal balloting, controversial discussions, elections, and pushing issues of local interest. Once in a while it can be interesting to look at the process itself.
This behaviour is worthy of our worst politicians. When there is something to cover up they deny, evade, sidestep then hide behind the "legal" BS. You had months to explain before the "legal" case became a convenient excuse. Sorry you're not fooling anyone Vivian or Justin.
I am going to be very blunt here because I can see that you do not know the history that the b/g have faced in the last few years.
For us that are familiar with Tony/Nick/Justin/Matteo know what hard work these guys do to run programs and what needs improving.
FYI- A few years ago, a few of us froze our behinds off canvassing door to door, rallying Leons (still have the pictures) in order to stop the former location from kicking the b/g out when the lease expired.
The lease was never negotiated before it expired because your previous Director, allowed this to happen.
The community screamed out that there was a need for a club here.
The media was involved http://www.citytv.com/toronto/citynews/life/family/article/20686--dovercourt-boys-and-girls-club-battles-for-survival
We made so much noise that the previous Exec Director Tony Puopolo got a temporary solution to shut us up and look like the good guy.
I was privy to the temporary solution and the comment I recall was "that it was not affordable long term."
He walked out and left the place in a shambles and yes...
HERE WE ARE TODAY....
Lemons out of lemonade- Yes it is recognized to those that were involved and have previous knowledge of what took place that, the NEW BOARD and staff was dealt a bad card and left to p/u the pieces!
HOWEVER....if you read carefully instead of spending so much time dodging or defending, we are wanting to know, WHAT IS CURRENTLY being done to secure a location for the kids in "our" community?
Here are some quotes from DBGC about "zoning issues" which are cited as one of the reasons for the closure of the clubhouse. These are not my words. But nobody, and I mean NOBODY including City, has been able to provide one document that shows that a Clubhouse could not open because of zoning issues. Evidence shows that everybody at City worked hard to interpret the zoning in a favourable way for DBGC which it did and the Board was told this in person before they pulled the plug. So in light of these comments below, provide a document or the name of a person at City who said the DBGC could not operate because of zoning.
1. In a letter to the Community on the DBGC site signed by Justin Hanna:
“This was not an easy decision to make; however, based on a re-evaluation of zoning, permit and other issues associated with this project, we realized we needed to rethink this large endeavor, and assess all options for our permanent space in the Junction Triangle community.”
http://dovercourtkids.com/junction-index.html
2. In the Toronto Star Justin Hanna is quoted: “Operations manager Justin Hanna blamed the sky-high rent for the board’s decision to reverse course. He also said there were zoning issues.”
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/864497--west-end-youth-club-aban...
3. From an open letter that was circulated and posted on the community website:
“The project at 45 Ernest Ave was one that was rushed into by the previous administration, one that was never properly evaluated for its site use requirements, effectiveness or economic feasibility. Our organization rushed into a massive capital project without ensuring that all proper steps, including proper zoning, were taken to ensure that our Club could properly operate in this facility. As a result of prior poor planning and judgment, we would have been left with a centre that could never serve the basic function of our organization, let alone the long term programming goals that staff are planning to execute over the coming months.”
https://www.junctiontriangle.ca/node/855#comment-2278
4. DBGC Chair Vivian Payne also wrote on the community website citing new information that is never explained: “We are just now finalizing our information letter to go out to the community. You are right, we are cancelling the Ernest site, and we are planning a community meeting to explain the situation. It is really complicated, and we do have very good reasons, which will be explained, I promise. At the AGM, there were things that we did not know that affected the viability of the project, hence the optimism about Ernest that you saw at that meeting. That optimism was genuine. We received new information during the summer which, frankly, doomed the project, and put the entire operation of the Dovercourt B & G Club at risk of bankruptcy. “
Just a short notice letting everyone know about a Super Sunday at Boo's. Join us for some HD Super Bowl action with lots of the food you love and Halftime Specials. Drop in early and grab a seat!
See you after 4:00 PM on Sunday!
Go Raiders!!
M&S
Boo
Everyone,
Please take a breather here. This is spinning out of control, and except for a few of the posts, we're not really getting anywhere except for accusations and name-calling.
How about if from now on the ONLY time you post to this thread is when you have NEW INFORMATION, or at least some positive suggestions on how to proceed. Back-and-forth bickering isn't really getting much accomplished.
And a reminder again to please abide by this site's Code of Conduct. Be nice, stay on topic, and stick to the facts.
No it is not.
Remember that to the time of Vivian's posts the community gets to add 6 months of waiting for information about a process it was left out of. People have waited patiently and with courtesy and now understandably they have have lost faith.
I don't see much heavy lifting going on. I see heavy avoiding. Heavy lifting is something the community could get behind.
This same message will be sent to Ana B Councillor and Vivian:
The fight to get some permanent location for the children of this community has been going on for many years more then 3 or 4 yrs that was mentioned. One of the issue is and has been is the lack of support and interest for children programs from our three levels of government or our elected offical. Many of us also believe that Adam G. was more of a problem then a solution with the Leon's/Randolph issue then we want to believe. We have also seen first hand how much he really cared when he tried to take a park away from the Children of Rankin, nearing homes and daycares and others who use the park to make room for a community garden.
Also all the community needs to be informed and to be heard and allowed for their input, we have not heard or seen this yet. So the first step should be for the residents of Ward18/Junction Triangle to be sent a letter either by the Councillors office of DB&G or both in English and also 3 of the top languages spoken in this community. I have spoken to Vivian and Justin couple of times in the last week or so and have asked what is going on, instaed of hearing from from Allen, Joseph, mother of 2, kevin or the same person. Their are a few individuals or a small group in a larger group in JT who think they are speaking on behalf of the community, they don't speak for me and neither do I for anyone else.
Lastly, I personally don't think DB&G can do it on their own without the hel and support of the 3 levels of government and MONEY and the community. I believe the children are in good hands at the B&G and the children don't need to hear or to get involved with the personal issues of the parents. I believe Justin and the team is doing a good job. I also believe Vivian and the board are trying, not prefect and she can't say more then she can at this point, it's before the courts. We know Tony Puopolo lied and wasn't honest to the community the board and the B&G we never had a permit for a children program it was for a Dance Studio for 18 and over not children. We should of never gone to the next step without checking and guess what your BOY B and Adam's Office should of seen it and caught it, heck Kevin B. took the credit during Municipal election for the new Ernest site.
I use a quote from of a few people in the hood that post of the JT website, instead of wasting your energy on something negative, do something positive move forward. JF
Who is the new Executive Director then?
Hello Vivian,
It's good that there is discussion going on, and I can understand why you feel defensive given the tone of some of the comments on the site. I personally don't mind what time you make your posts and I also appreciate your point that you chose to stay involved with the board even when things became difficult. Sometimes it's easier to walk away. That said, you may not realize how your comments sound to us -- defensive, sarcastic and dismissive. Perhaps people on both sides (it's too bad there isn't one side here!) should take a deep breath and remind ourselves we are supposed to be working toward the same goal. How can we make the discussion meaningful and close the rift that has developed? You say you can't discuss the problems with the Ernest location because of ongoing legal issues. But surely you can understand how people in the community feel about how things have ended up so far? Perhaps a more conciliatory approach might get us somewhere....
WHY don't you spend your energies providing this community with answers.
-What the next plan of action is for the children in this community.
Explain to us what "heavy lifting" you are doing right now instead of spewing a series of empty comments when it is CLEAR that the COMMUNITY is and has been asking for the last 3-4 years this question.
"WHAT IS BEING DONE" to implement a permanent location here in the community for the kids????
Why don't you answer this one or is it a secret?
I afford you no more credibility as a spokesperson. You did not reveal yourself to me for any proper rebuttal or debate, if that is what you told people you were doing. You wrote things about me that I did not know about until now. You have not behaved honourably.
I afford you no more credibility as a spokesperson. You did not reveal yourself to me for any proper rebuttal or debate, if that is what you told people you were doing. You wrote things about me that I did not know about until now. You have not behaved honourably.