Pubdate: Thu, 20 Mar 2014
Source: Metro (Vancouver, CN BC)
Copyright: 2014 Metro Canada
Contact:  http://www.metronews.ca/vancouver
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3775
Author: Matt Kieltyka
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?142 (Supervised Injection Sites)

PHS BOARD STEPS DOWN UNDER PRESSURE

DTES. Spending Concerns Spell the End for the Leaders of the Portland 
Hotel Society

Mark Townsend's day consisted of putting on a brave face and 
answering the same barrage of questions from every media outlet in 
the city, one by one.

"What a way to go out," an exasperated Townsend remarked following a 
television interview at the Downtown Eastside's Drug Resource Centre, 
where some of the clients gathered on the periphery to hear 
first-hand of his downfall.

It wasn't supposed to end this way.

The people who championed supervised injection sites through Insite, 
needle distribution and many other innovative harm-reduction 
practices - while providing shelter and housing in Vancouver's most 
impoverished neighbourhood - unceremoniously closed the book on their 
time with the Portland Hotel Society (PHS).

After weeks of speculation, news broke Wednesday that Townsend, his 
wife Liz Evans and the entire board of the non-profit organization 
had stepped down on the heels of a BC Housing audit into questionable 
spending practices.

Apparently Townsend, coexecutive director of PHS since it formed in 
1993, and his team were given a "stark choice": Resign and clear the 
way for a new board and management to take over, or challenge the 
provincial government in court and risk everything he had built over 
the last 21 years.

"'Burn the village down or do what we say,'" Townsend paraphrased. 
"We can't inflict pain on the people we care about so we agreed to step aside."

The resignations mean PHS will continue to provide its array of 
services and housing, while staff will keep their jobs.

A new board will be elected at the end of the month, and Townsend is 
committed to ensuring a smooth transition.

"All programs, all services will be staying intact," he stressed. "My 
hope is our disappearance will be a blip."

His legacy, however, is much more than just a blip, according to 
Vancouver Coun. Geoff Meggs.

"The leadership we got from PHS and people like Mark Townsend and Liz 
Evans was really important and crucial in this stage of the city's 
life," Meggs told Metro. "It's disappointing it has come to this. 
Hopefully this is the opening of a new chapter for PHS."

BC Housing was investigating irregularities such as paid trips for 
staff on vacation or attending overseas conferences.

Townsend insists those costs were covered by private sources.

"One hundred per cent of our operational funding goes to services," 
he insisted.

Neither BC Housing nor the government was available for comment Wednesday.

Vancouver Coastal Health confirmed Insite will continue to operate.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom