Mayor Scott Gillingham hopes advice from leaders across the world will address vacant and derelict properties plaguing Winnipeg neighbourhoods.
Gillingham joined 39 mayors from 11 countries in New York City last week as part of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative. Call it a professional development course for mayors.
“We’ve already benefited as a community from some of the outcomes of that work and I’m looking forward to tackling vacant and derelict buildings and properties as our issue or key priority to address this year,” Gillingham said.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES
Mayor Scott Gillingham joined mayors from all over the world in New York City last week.
Former mayor Brian Bowman took part in the summit in 2019 and initiated the Alternative Response to Citizens in Crisis program and reformed the triage system for the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service.
The Alternative Response to Citizens in Crisis program is comprised of a team of Winnipeg Police Service officers and crisis response workers who respond to non-criminal or low-risk 911 calls from people experiencing crises or mental health issues.
As part of the advice Bowman received at Harvard, WFPS responses sometimes come from non-emergency service groups like the Downtown Community Safety Partnership to free up resources needed for more emergent calls.
Gillingham hopes he’ll have the same luck with tackling vacant and derelict properties. The city has identified about 700 properties that need to be redeveloped.
“You take a look at the folks that are dealing with this … they’re living surrounded by blighted properties and burned out buildings,” the mayor said. “In a time of a housing shortage like we have, they need to be transformed. They need to be redeveloped. Those need to be places where people are living, so we’re working hard on this problem because this is a priority.”
The vacant building bylaw was enhanced after city council voted to amend it last week. Boarding obligations for owners are more stringent, requiring thicker plywood and stronger and longer screws.
The amendment also increased the first inspection fee to $1,685 from $1,355 and adds $1,000 per subsequent inspection.
For the next year, Gillingham will work with his Bloomberg Harvard colleagues, city staff and council with hopes of getting a better handle on the issue.
“If you take a look at what we’ve done as a council the last two years. there have been significant initiatives to address it … (but) I’m not satisfied. It’s very unfair to the area residents,” Gillingham said.
nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca
Nicole Buffie
Multimedia producer
Nicole Buffie is a multimedia producer who reports for the Free Press city desk. Born and bred in Winnipeg, Nicole graduated from Red River College’s Creative Communications program in 2020 and worked as a reporter throughout Manitoba before joining the Free Press newsroom in 2023. Read more about Nicole.
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