DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE -  Vancouver City Councillor Kerry Jang met with the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users today to discuss heavy ticketing in the neighbourhood.

Jang pledged to fix the problem of so many residents getting tickets for jaywalking, vending without a licence and public urination by looking into calls for more washrooms, crosswalks and market spaces.  The audience called for a timeline for making the changes before the November civic election.

Several VANDU members are facing court dates and possible jail time for tickets. A Vancouver Police representative claimed that just as many people in Shaughnessy and other areas of the city are ticketed on the same charges. 

VANDU used the hour-long meeting to press Jang and City staff with four demands:

(1) Stop ticketing and prosecuting of bylaws on vending, jaywalking and
public urination until the city implements constructive solutions to the
social conditions that generate this behaviour;

(2) Provide a space and resources for seven day /week vendor market;

(3) Increase access by extending hours of existing public toilets and
increase public toilets in DTES;

(4) Implement pedestrian safety recommendations including mid-block cross
signals, 30 km/hour speed limit.

Check the in-depth story by Joseph Jones