i Continued from page 1 Even then, there are currently 400 appeals outstanding on orders from the fire department to upgrade buildings, Birnie said, ad- mitting that there are ‘‘hundreds”’ of buildings like 434 Glen Dr. in the city. “There is no question in my mind that this could have been avoided,”” an angry Don Berg, chairman of the Kiwassa NIP committee told the Tribune Wednesday, ‘‘People have to die in this city before something hap- pens.” Berg said that his NIP commit- tee had been attempting to have 434 Glen Dr. and two other vacant buildings, also fire traps, brought up to standards for over two years. ‘‘We told them, repair them, close them, tear them down, but we received absolutely no cooperation from the city,’ Berg declared. In spite of the three approaches to city council about 434 Glen Drive by the Kiwassa NIP Com- Cena tirechief Birnie said Wednesday that no report was forwarded to the department from the city. “The real criminals are Volrich and the NPA on city council who refuse to enforce bylaws — and three people have died last night because of it, Downtown Eastside Residents’ Association secretary Dave Lane said Wednes- day. “The city had three options to move to prevent that tragedy,’’ he said, ‘‘They could have used the jurisdiction of the building code, they could have used the fire bylaw, or they could have used the standards of maintenance bylaw like the Kiwassa people asked them to.’’ Under the standards of maintenance bylaw, the city can itself order repairs to a building and charge expenses to the Owners. The bylaw is rarely, if ever, used, Lane said. Lane, who himself lives across the street from the burnt apart- ment, said that the DERA office is deluged with complaints trom. residents living in smaller buildings that still don’t have ‘City warned about fire trap sprinkler systems or meet other basic fire safety standards. ‘‘We get calls all the time from people who are scared that a cigarette in the next room. could put their whole place up in flames during the night,”’ he said, ‘People want and deserve some protection, but the city won’t do anything about it? Lane agrees that the fire pro- blems in the downtown eastside, although improved over five or six yearsago, arestillserious.A DERA study completed in August of 1978 found an average of 79 viola- tions of fire bylaws in each Downtown Eastside rooming house. “It’s obvious what has to hap- pen,’’ Lane said, ‘‘We have to nail city council about this fire to get some action. That means enforc- ing the bylaws and prosecuting of- fenders. Those bylaws have to cover all of the multiple occupan- cy residences — not just the big- gest ones. All of them must be forced to have adequate fire escapes, exits and sprinkler systems, with no exceptions.”’ ) 5 DONT WORRY MY FRIEND. I'M ON THE Mave!!! _ LN ONE WEEK 1 MOVED YOUR EMBASSY FROM TEL AVN T) JERUSALEM AND ALLTHE WAY NPA greets IYC : by chiselling kids By ALD. HARRY RANKIN This is supposed to be the Year of the Child, the year that we study the special needs of children and take steps to make their lives happier and more secure. But apparently our mayor and his NPA council haven’t heard of it, or if they have, they just don’t care. City council’s committee on com- munity services, of which I am the chairman, brought a recommenda- tion to council on June 19th, that council approve a grant -of $1,518.00 to the Champlain Villa Day Care Society. This is a non- profit society doing a good com- munity job taking care of children for working mothers. The money is needed by the society to pay its 1978 property taxes. City council turned” it down. Those opposing and voting against the grant inchided the mayor, alder- man Puil and that great upholder of christain virtues, alderman Bernice Gerard, (two other aldermen—Ford and Boyce, were absent.) My committee also proposed a grant of $2,650.00 to the Children’s Play Resource Centre. This money is needed for operating costs and the (acquisition of resource materials. The centre is located in the Britannia Community Centre in East Vancouver. This Children’s Play Centre has done a fine job of making play equipment available for handicapped children, children in hospitals and so on. City council turned down the re- quest for a grant. Those opposed again included mayor Volrich and aldermen Gerard and Puil. By way of explanation I’ should add that on financial grants the rules are that at least 8 members of Council must support them. These aldermen, and the mayor, who live on the west side of the city, have never been responsive to the needs of the East End. But our NPA council does not discriminate only against childred Our elderly citizens are also includ] ed. q My committee recommended thay | city council contribute $4,500 to tht) Senior Citizen’s Outreach Sociel 1 This society provides home-aidi| handymen and transportation set" | { vices to seniors in a Hasti i ‘| the Hat where most all Vancouver’ s low income peor Victoria. City council turned ci down too, with the same peopl | voting against it. | Next city council considered | recommendation from my commit | tee that we grant $7,500 to the B.& Summer Sports Program. Th) money is needed to provide tht) salaries of 6 or 7 young people who) tivities for children aged 15-16 it track, soccer, hockey, football) ty of other sports. al Just to show that they are consi” tent in their discrimination, tl mayor and his NPA council, if cluding alderman Little, also voted : this down. ; Why are the mayor and the NPA so cheap and heartless that the) would refuse these modest grants) , amounting to just a little ovel $16,000? - Why at the same time did thi} 4 council vote to give thé) businessmen’s trade and: convention) centre a $600,000 tax exemption, ® a ( well as tax exemptions of ovel : $250,000 to two private corpor# u tions at the PNE? The answer is obvious. If there i} money to be made for some prival®| | promoter, the NPA will give granls : and subsidies to anything. But if it) a case of services for people, all especially for working people, the vig i te B told: keep schools for Burnaby community organiza- tions, teachers and parents turned out in numbers Tuesday to press Burnaby School Board to take precedent setting decisions on the crucial educational issues of the use of extra school space and on job security for teachers and the special needs of children. Representatives of some 15 organizations and more than 200 teachers and parents filled Bur: naby’s Douglas Rhodes school gymnasium tor the special’ Board meeting to hear public representa- uuons on the development of a policy for the use of extra school space and to hear an appeal trom the Burnaby Teachers Association to reconsider the Board’s February decision to fire 50 teachers effective September. The anticipation that hung over the meeting remained at its conclu- sion, however, as the divided Board opted to table decisions on both issues until its July meeting. The issue of the use of extra school space created by declining enrolment was brought abruptly to public attention last month with the decision of the Vancouver School Board to rent the Rentrew School Annext to the Glad Tidings Temple Christian Value School, in spite. of demands ior the space from the public Sunrise East School which wanted the facility for its program for dropout students. The BSB was being watched closely as it was the first school board to call for public Participa- tion in working out a policy to guide the allocation of extra space, when and if it became available. The message that the BSB heard from the 15 intervenors was ‘almost unanimous: extra school space should be réserved for educational purposes and for public use. The most succinct statement came from Burnaby Teachers’ Association president Craig Bassett who read to the board the policy adopted by the BTA last Tuesday. The policy listed four priorities for use of surplus-space: first, for direct BSB educational programs, second, other BSB educational uses, third, community programs, and last, commercial enterprises, on a rental basis only. ‘One point should be clarified,’” Bassett stressed. “Independent schools are not a community ser- vice. They are a private enter- prise—and at the bottom of the list."’ Bassett also said that the BTA “would not tolerate’’ the sale of any schools. The Vancouver and District Labor Council had June 19 also op- posed the sale of school properties, in a resolution urging vacant school space be reserved for public use, in particular for day care centres and community centres. A similar theme was heard trom Ginger Bell of the Burnaby Citizens’ Association and Beth Chobotuck of the Burnaby Parent Teacher Council, both of whom PACIFIC TRIBUNE JUNE 29, 1979— Page 2 warned of the pitfalls of renting, leasing or selling school space for private commercial uses. Labor economist Dave Fairey, a parent in Burnaby, told the BSB that there are three options for use of excess space. Schools can be sold, rented on a commercial basis, or used for community use. The sale of schools would be politically and economically foolish, he said, because of the ‘‘uniqueness’’ of ex- isting schools which make them “‘ir- ' replaceable’ at their present book values. The rental or lease of schools could only be justified if the rental covered all normal operating costs and an average market return on in- vestment, Fairey stated. If the ren- tal fell short of that, it would in- volve a subsidy by the BSB to private interests. To cover costs and achieve a market return on invest- ment, an annual rent in the order of $250,000 for a school would be re- quired, he estimated, a figure which only very large commercial enter- prises could afford. The only possible use for extra school space, beyond BSB uses, is ‘non-profit community use, he said. The same central issue of whether education standards would be maintained in a period of declining enrolment, or be subjected to cut- backs in staff and services, formed the basis of the appeal from the Burnaby Teachers’ Assocition not to proceed with the planned reduc- tion in staff. It was the third time this year the ‘the municipal R NPA isn’t interested. _ ¢ ql e put ic USE; & Ep * . Med : Ee ¢ a BTA asked the BSB to reconsider the staff cutback, but Bassett claim- ed there were compelling reasons for it. He cited increased needs for libraries, learning assistance, English as a second language, enrichment and basic literary pro- grams. In addition, Bassett pointed out, the removal of college costs from tax roll and higher homeowner grants have im- proved the tax picture in Burnaby considerably. Burnaby’s mill rate is down 1.2 percent this year. The BTA asked the Board to maintain its*present staff and hire extra staff immediately to meet special needs—over and above the established pupil teacher ratio- —with any increased costs to be met through deficit financing. Labor economist Dave Fairey before the Burnaby school board. —Fred Wilson ph? The debate had hardly best” when it was clear that the BTA’s!® quest wouldn’t get approval {fr the Burnaby Voters AssociatiO? majority on the BSB, but BC trustees Barry Jones, Elsie De# fi and June Williams pressed t0 é least spend the allotted budg® figure for staff which could save UP 4 to 12 teaching positions ™ | September. 00 The BSB budgeted for about 3 students more than they now eX in September, leaving a cushio® about 12 staff positions in ! a budget. The BCA’s Jones moved !® fulfill the budget and to use the & tra staff above the pupil teach ratio for special needs. if Momentarily, it appeared 45. z the motion would carry, befor ‘i confused BVA trustee Don Brow tabled it to the next meeting.