How to get started with Bluesky
Deep concerns raised by Surrey board directors about Metro Vancouver paint a troubling portrait of an organization that lacks expertise, fails to consult, and forces the region’s officials to make multibillion-dollar decisions affecting taxpayers without adequate information. The criticism, in the form of a sharply worded letter Nov. 12 to Metro’s finance committee and obtained by Glacier Media, is the most extensive and prominent challenge yet from board directors for change at the regional federation of 21 municipalities, one electoral area and one treaty First Nation. It calls for an overhaul of the 2025 budgeting methods, arguing that inaccurate and insufficient information has been provided to directors, including an exhaustive review of decisions on development cost charges (DCCs), and a repeal of various bylaws. More broadly it calls for changes in how the body is governed. It identifies as specific pain points two Metro Vancouver projects, the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant in North Vancouver and the looming Iona Island Wastewater Treatment Plant in Richmond, and disparages how they are among the seven top projects reporting directly into Chief Administrative Officer Jerry Dobrovolny “with no independent third-party engineering and financial auditor to provide transparency, accountability and evaluate cost-benefit design-based principles/assumptions.” The projects lack detailed and audited information on how costs are calculated, says the letter. In the case of the North Shore plant, the budget has soared seven-fold to $3.86 billion from an original $550-million contract with little public information along the way. Already the budget for the Iona plant in Richmond has risen to $14 billion from the $9.9 billion mark two years ago, and construction remains years away. The letter was submitted moments before the committee’s most recent Nov. 13 meeting by Surrey Coun. Pardeep Kooner on behalf of five other Surrey directors, including Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke. Surrey’s six directors are second-most to Vancouver’s seven on the 41-director board. The letter’s general contents were briefly discussed but the letter itself was not part of the meeting package. It wasn’t formally dealt with at the committee meeting and has been referred to Metro Vancouver staff for a response early in 2025. But its language argues nothing short of significant shifts in its operating culture and quality of competence are necessary. “I believe there must be additional board oversight and decisions made on the costing of these Major Capital projects at a minimum,” Kooner wrote. The letter reflects the frustration many directors have expressed of a staff-dominated operation that leaves them without the necessary decision-making information – but with the accountability as elected officials to taxpayers in their districts. There have been calls for a third-party audit to examine what Kooner and others have complained is a chronic sprawl of budgets and a culture of indifference about them. While a performance audit will be conducted in-house on the North Shore plant costs, it hasn’t satisfied those who feel it is insufficiently independent. The provincial government, which created Metro Vancouver as a corporate entity, has so far declined publicly to involve itself, whether to launch a fuller-fledged inquiry into costs, provide additional funds to defray significant property tax levies for the North Shore plant, or to take back the responsibilities of the operation, which at the moment is overseeing some 300 infrastructural projects. The three-page letter goes on: “The way the current board is operating has many gaps in information, lacks sufficient details to make the decisions we need to and the full financial impacts or options are not being provided. “For instance, the board is often asked to approve or endorse a very broad strategy that has a suite of staff-led sub-action items and staff-driven priorities. There is often little or no discussion on the broad strategy let alone no consultation is provided on the sub-action items. “This results in a lack of crystal-clear strategies and policies which enables staff to make their own interpretations and significant decisions without Board consideration. I have found that staff has been using the strategic plan to pick and choose areas of focus with no clear direct board resolution which is affecting the information we are provided. I believe that the current governance model is not sufficient to ensure the Board is fully prepared and knowledgeable.” The letter outlines the need to defer the 2025 budget planning to deal with six issues, including what Kooner terms “a huge concern” about DCCs, how they are apportioned to communities, and the quality of the population and dwelling forecasts. “I have been told that there are many factors that are considered; however, these other factors have not been provided.” As it is, the budget information and methodology “is not accurate/insufficient and does not portray the true impact on the decisions that have been brought to the Board.” Kirk LaPointe is a Glacier Media columnist with an extensive background in journalism
Kaleb Johnson rushes 35 times for 164 yards in Iowa's 29-13 victory over MarylandAs players engage in intense battles and strategic duels, they will discover the true power of their spirits. By honing their skills, mastering new tactics, and forging alliances with fellow players, they can overcome any obstacle that stands in their way. "Play Your Spirit: The Brave Souls" is more than just a game – it is a test of courage, perseverance, and the unyielding strength of the human spirit.
Scheffler, Schauffele, McIlroy up for PGA Player of the YearGoogle Street View | PACE vans help seniors make it to their medical appointments. Access to senior care in the most rural areas of the Central Valley has long been a challenge. Transportation, managing doctor and specialist visits or struggling to find in-home care options, many seniors in the Valley are left with a “what about me?” feeling. For Tulare and Kings counties, help is on the way at the new PACE Center. Opened this past summer, the center fills a much-needed role for senior care in an underserved region. But how did senior health care get so difficult to access in the Valley, and what does PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) hope to bring to the community? It’s well known that the region has trouble recruiting health care professionals. That’s exacerbated by the sheer demand as the population ages. Rural areas have it the worst. Anshuman Srivastava, a Visalia physician, said that nationwide, 57 million Americans reside in rural areas. The Central Valley has historically fallen behind urban regions in senior care access. “Because of this the health disparity has gotten worse compared to the urban areas,” Srivastava said. “If you compare the data...we have around a 21,000-health-professional shortage in rural areas compared to only a 900-shortage in urban areas.” Srivastava said the issue often stems from prioritization of other essential needs over health — not due to lack of concern, but lack of awareness. “I’m not going to blame any people, patients or populations about it,” Srivastava said. “It’s more because health was never a priority for them.” Grady Dodson, the Visalia PACE Program Director at Family Healthcare Network, agreed that a lack of health care professional incentives also have caused the Valley to fall behind. The opening of a new PACE Center, providing senior care to residents in Tulare and Kings counties, hopes to change the narrative for senior care. PACE stands for Programs of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly and aims to provide just that — a continuum of well-rounded, holistic care for seniors, comprising many of the various specialties the community requires under one roof. Founded by Dr. William Gee and social worker Marie-Louise Ansak in San Francisco in 1971, the program keeps senior citizens out of hospitals and nursing homes, focusing on improving the quality of life for communities’ most health-vulnerable populations. “We want to see seniors age in place, remain in their communities,” Dodson said. “We know the quality of life for them is much higher there than it is, per say, going into a skilled nursing home.” The PACE Center in Visalia is funded by Medicare and functions as its members’ primary care provider, along with offering specialist services and partnering with local specialists to fill the gaps not directly provided by PACE itself. The 25,000 square-foot center, located at 500 E. School Ave. in Visalia, also boasts its own facilities including a day center for recreational therapy activities. Programming is meant to combat depression and loneliness — something that is elevated in the senior community. At the PACE center, members receive a hot lunch, engage in games and activities and also have access to a quiet room, as well as bathroom facilities with showers for members in need of hygiene assistance. “It’s really a holistic approach to their care,” he said. “The PACE Program also helps with taking care of their medications.” PACE’s system has patients working closely with an interdisciplinary team (IDT) to determine their individual needs. “Each member of the IDT, they all do their assessments — they spend a great amount of time with the participant,” Dodson said, evaluating their diets, social needs and other health concerns. “Each new participant gets that thoroughness to individualize their care plan.” Dodson added that each patient also has their own voice, granted the ability to advocate for themselves. Families also have the ability to voice their concerns. “It really becomes personal because there’s not a ‘cookie cutter,’ unlike other health care models that are out there,” he said. “PACE is guided by that principle.” Dodson said that through PACE’s work, MediCal has saved $131 million in health care costs through finding correct services for patients, preventing overlap of services and improving general day-to-day life through continuous care. In addition to the personalized services offered at PACE, the center also offers transportation — a key need for many senior residents in more rural communities. “Many of our seniors suffer from health issues simply because of a lack of transportation,” Dodson said. “If you have parents and loved ones, aunts and uncles, grandparents — some of them are not getting there because you’re busy at work and they can’t get to their next appointment.” An employee in the health care field for 17 years, Dodson, a Valley native, said that he has seen many different medical models, but said that PACE’s holistic approach and access to care is second-to-none in the health care industry. The center’s treatment of its members differs from the standard health care industry’s technique of “for service” visits. “Similar to Costco, they’re a member,” Dodson said. “You don’t treat members the same way you treat a customer; a customer’s going to be a one-time shopper...that’s the current model we have in health care now.” WelbeHealth company recently announced plans to build a second Visalia PACE center — 17,000 square feet at 1150 S. Ben Maddox Way in a complex that already includes a Kaweah Health clinic and DaVita Dialysis, reported the Sun-Gazette newspaper. WelbeHealth is a physician-led public benefit company founded in 2015 that provides comprehensive health care services for seniors. There are 99 PACE Centers and Alternative Care Sites in 27 counties serving 22,000 participants annually throughout California. Tulare and Kings county residents interested in PACE must be 55 years or older, live in the region served by a local PACE Center, be certified in the State of California as requiring nursing home-level care and be able to live safely in the community with PACE assistance. The Tulare/Kings County PACE Center can be reached at (877) 326-PACE (7223) or by email at pace@fhcn.org. Visitors are also welcome to stop by for more information at the PACE Center in Visalia, located at 500 E. School Ave. Access to senior care in the most rural areas of In a competitive real estate business that is constantly changing, On Tuesday, Dec. 10, The Business Journal hosted its 11th Access Plus Capital, a nonprofit community development financial institution that