URGENT: GWAC neighbourhood elections, THIS Weds Oct 11

I was forwarded this by people who put on the Carfree Commercial Drive Fest. I know and trust them, though I don't know much about this GWAC thing. I know of a lot of people on this list. I obviously agree with organising to protect us from motorway expansion. Of course, you should always make up your own mind, and not be blindly partisan. ~rusl

Please forward to all neighbours!

NOTICE of GRANDVIEW-WOODLANDS AREA COUNCIL AGM

Hello to all residents and active participants in Grandview Woodlands.

(fyi, GW Area is bounded by: Broadway to the Burrard Inlet, Nanaimo to Clark -- and this includes people who live and/or work in the area). You are receiving this message because you are passionate about your community and want to see it prosper and thrive – culturally, socially, environmentally, and economically.

THIS Wednesday, October 11, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m., is the election of the Board of Directors for GWAC (Grandview-Woodlands Area Council). Although it has no political autonomy, GWAC is considered by key decision-makers to be the voice of our community. GWAC serves as a "watchdog" on trends and currents within the area, and is recognized as a respected body to lead our ever-shifting community and help direct its evolution.

I have been working with a group of neighbours to try to assemble a GWAC Board which is diverse in representation and perspective, but which is outspokenly pro-pedestrian, pro-Commercial Drive Festival, and pro-greenway. A Board which will be a force in resisting the planned expansion of Highway 1, which could have a tragic effect on our neighbourhood. A Board which is interested in examining the roots of the challenges our community faces, and meeting those challenges with innovative and humane solutions.

We need YOU to come out on Wed. Oct 11, to vote for a progressive and action-oriented board as we face the challenges of social shifts, increased traffic, and reduced green space in our beloved community.

Please come out and bring your like-minded neighbours! Details:

What: GWAC AGM
When: October 11, 2006, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Where: Learning Resources Centre, under the Britannia library
Who: Below is the progressive slate followed by biographies

Important: Please bring proof that you live or work in Grandview-Woodland (I.D, cheque stub or addressed mail), and please come early if you want to get a seat!

Feel free to contact Jill Smith, an incumbent Board member, if you want additional information about GWAC: jill@=@libradigital,com, or email Carmen at carmen@=@emeraldcity,bc,ca

Thank you for your participation, we look forward to seeing you Wednesday!

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The Board of GWAC consists of twelve Directors. Here is the12-member "Progressive Slate" we would like you to consider voting for (note: we will hand you a reminder list at the meeting). Corin Browne Mike Carr Caitlin Dodd Bing Jensen* Charles Montgomery Craig Ollenberger* Kevin Potvin Jill Smith* Dexster Smith* Anne Sproull Petronella Vander Valk* Ben West

*Current progressive board members running for re-election.

Biographies:
Corin Browne is a media educator, video maker, and community artist. Corin has lived and worked in the Grandview –Woodlands neighborhood since 1998. Neighborhood issues of interest to Corin are: sustainable transportation, community participation in planning, and youth work and advocacy. As a GWAC member, I would like to support pedestrian and bike friendly planning, community events like the car-free festival, and neighborhood-based initiatives that make this community so diverse and vibrant.

Dr. Mike Carr teaches sustainable urban planning in SFU's Urban Studies (Masters) Program at Harbour Centre and bioregional mapping at The School of Community & Regional Planning, UBC. He has many years experience working in community civic associations and has lived in Grandview-Woodlands for
five years. Mike is concerned about issues of social justice and equity as well as environmental sustainability in both neighbourhood and region. He is a member of the Livable Region Coalition and believes that we all need to work hard together to defeat the Gateway Project's twinning of the Port Mann Bridge and extension of highway one into Vancouver which threatens the health and livability of Grandview-Woodlands and the region.

Caitlin Dodd is a community video maker and Communications student at SFU and is currently studying alternative media production and media literacy. She has lived and worked in the grandview woodlands area for twenty-one years, and is eager to get involved with issues of maintaining the human dimension in the urban space of East Vancouver.

Bing Jensen has lived in the Commercial Drive area for 16 years. He has served on the GWAC for the 2005/2006 year as a Director. Bing works here as a singer and songwriter. He also does odd jobs for people in the neighbourhood. Community is very important to him. He is for traffic calming, green spaces and the DriveFest and is against through cutting commuter traffic, the twinning of the Port Mann Bridge and the stench of the rendering plant. Bing feels it is important to have a balance between the needs of the residents and the needs of the businesses in the community.

Charles Montgomery is an award-winning writer and journalist. He has lived in the neighbourhood for two years, and recently became co-owner of a house at 1122 Rose Street. As a member of the GWAC board, he would work to ensure the neighbourhood remains a vibrant place to live, work and recreate. He
believes that GWAC can achieve this by promoting pedestrian and bike-friendly events and spaces, and advocating sustainable land use and transportation planning for the neighbourhood and the region.

Craig Ollenberger, a current director of GWAC, has been living in Grandview Woodlands for the last three years and over that time he has become involved in a number of non-profit initiatives in our community. His
interest in being a part of GWAC stems from the important role GWAC can play as a liaison between our neighbourhood and decision making bodies. The City of Vancouver, the Provincial Government and many other organizations come to GWAC to assess neighbourhood opinion on various issues, and he believes he can represent our neighbourhood well in this capacity.

Kevin Potvin is owner of Magpie Magazine Gallery on the Drive, founded 12 years ago, and is the publisher of The Republic of East Vancouver Newspaper, launched in 2000. He has written a column in the east side
edition of the Courier for the last 11 years. He has lived in the neighbourhood for 20 years and has taken an active progressive interest in issues important to the Grandview Woodlands neighbourhood.

Jill Smith, a local pedestrian activist, has been secretary of GWAC for the past year and half. As part of this board, she brought successful motions (1) to properly grant DriveFest profits held by GWAC to the East Van
Celebration Society, (2) in favour of greening Venables, (3) to lobby the city to study the impacts of Highway 1 expansion, among others. Jill worked with four neighbours to create a Venables Greenway proposal that was one of the winners of a Vancouver Planning Commission public realm ideas competition - "21 Places". On a personal note, Jill also organizes her street's block party and has hosted a series of performances in her home as part of the In-the-House festival of the arts.