Vancouver Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle deservedly sounds upbeat in her annual State of the City address, posted online last week at CVTV.org and on the city’s social media channels.
Vision, leadership and key support from the city’s taxpayers give Vancouver’s 190,000-plus residents reason for optimism in a world fraught with crisis.
Barely two years removed from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Vancouver continues to thrive. The waterfront is bursting with new construction; downtown is becoming one of the Portland area’s most liveable neighborhoods, and major investments are set to add well-paying jobs and improve transportation on the city’s east side.
Collaboration has been the key, the mayor said. “Our successful collaboration has given us even more reason to focus on the inspiration, the hope and the positive potential 2022 holds for us.”
Among the partnerships was a joint effort with Clark County Public Health to provide 40,000 COVID-19 vaccinations last year. In Washington, public health is not a core responsibility of city government. But the city acted anyway for the benefit of its residents.
Police and fire services are major city responsibilities, and here the mayor pointed to significant progress.
In 2020, an outside consultant, the Police Executive Research Forum, provided 84 recommendations to the city and the police department. To date, 74 have been implemented, McEnerny-Ogle reported. The city is in the process of selecting vendors and equipment for possibly the most important recommendation — body-worn cameras. In that, it is ahead of many other law enforcement agencies, most notably the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.
“The camera program — which will improve transparency, facilitate investigations and hold both police and criminals accountable — is also part of our city’s larger response to resounding calls for police reform,” McEnerny-Ogle said.
Fire safety has also received city attention. A new fire station, Vancouver’s 11th, is under construction at 9606 N.E. 130th Ave. When it opens later this year, it will provide much faster emergency service to residents of Sifton and Orchards. Last fall, voters did their part by passing Proposition 2, which will fund more firefighter positions, buy more apparatus and equipment, and retrofit older fire stations so that emergency response capabilities are not destroyed in a major earthquake.
The city is also a leader in combating climate change. Although some might argue this is a global problem, not a local problem, the city council and city staff intend Vancouver to be a leader by achieving carbon neutrality by 2040. It’s a difficult goal, but by reaching for it, the city will be a beacon to agencies, companies and individuals who are growing more and more concerned about our warming planet.
Although Clark County is technically in charge of homelessness response efforts, Vancouver has built two Stay Safe Communities, where homeless people can live in dignity and be connected to services to help ease them back into permanent homes and better lives. The first opened three months ago in Orchards. So far, it’s already helped more than a dozen residents acquire IDs, four get jobs, and three enter a medical-assisted treatment program. A second shelter along Fourth Plain Boulevard opens next week.
It’s a good time to live in Vancouver, not coincidentally due to the leadership of the mayor, the city council and the city government.
