There is never a dull moment at these meetings. Well once they get started anyway.
Let's begin with the question of arrears. My main question is still - why doesn't TCHC have all tenants on pay direct? It is common knowledge that OW and ODSP will automatically forward the shelter allowance to TCHC effectively bypassing the tenants bank account. This is not fuggin' rocket science, folks. There are so many things that TCHC can't quite get right with regards to arrears. One is having a system that tells the difference between rent arrears and parking arrears. Then this month I learned that there is no distinction in the numbers between those accounts that are in a negotiated repayment phase and those that are completely outstanding. Never mind trying to break down those numbers into age related categories as suggested by Catherine Wilkinson (even though her eligibility for her Board position should be in question ... I'll get back to that in a moment) when she requested the numbers of seniors rental accounts that were currently overdue. Within the documents submitted as reports for the meeting is a quote "The total arrears balanced (rent and parking arrears retroactive and other arrears {Um ... What other arrears???) has been increasing since 2013 ... when implementation began on a revised arrears collection process which prioritized eviction prevention." I'm sorry ... WTF??? EVICTION PREVENTION??? That whole eviction prevention policy has given free reign to the least desirable tenants that everyone currently associates with TCHC. Meanwhile, it doesn't seem to be having any impact on the number of seniors who have defaulted which is undoubtedly one of the main reasons this policy shift occurred in the first place. As far as I'm concerned if you can't get your measly rent in on time in two consecutive months the third month someone should be revoking your subsidy. One strike. Two strikes. Three strikes. YOU"RE OUT! Needless to say, if those rents were paid directly from whatever government source of income the tenant had coming in that would sideline TCHC wasting tax payers money on chasing down default renters. Now I said earlier I would get back to Catherine Wilkinson. Am I the only one that heard her begin one of her statements with "When I was a TCH(C) tenant ..." So if she is no longer a tenant how is it that she is still sitting on the TCHC Board of Directors? Obviously, the portion of her bio on the TCHC website that states she is the elected tenant rep in her community is now false if she is no longer a tenant. She is doing a fine job representing tenants issues. But, would she not be more effective shifting to a community seat and allowing another tenant the experience of advocating for TCHC tenants from within? Unit closures. The City of Toronto voted unanimously in favour of no more unit closures in 2017 and 2018. Apparently, TCHC didn't get the memo because they stated at this meeting that "every unit that is going to be closed comes to the Board." That "closures will be considered as a last resort and not from a sense of convenience." Then they stated that TCHC was gearing up for not closing anything after 2018. You really don't need to worry though. TCHC is prepared to match employee donations to the United Way. How broke can they really be? Yeah, I still want a completely independent audit of TCHC.
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