Farkas to pitch solution for Midfield residents on Monday
A city councillor who campaigned on fixing a secrecy problem at city hall held a press conference Friday to announce his solution for evicted Midfield residents — but the plans are a secret for now.
Ward 11 Coun. Jeromy Farkas said he will force his colleagues to discuss an urgent item of legal and land business at Monday’s council meeting concerning the cityowned mobile home park on 16th Avenue N.E. that a judge ruled last week the city was lawfully entitled to close.
Farkas said due to the legal nature of the conversation, his multipart proposal is confidential and has to be discussed behind closed doors, though he plans to force as much of the debate as he can to take place in public.
“I can’t tell you what I’m proposing. What I can tell you is what I campaigned on,” said Farkas, whose campaign promises included fair compensation for Midfield tenants.
Three years ago, about 400 residents occupying Midfield’s 183 trailer pads were shocked when they received letters informing them the city was closing the park — located on highly desirable inner-city land close to schools, parks and amenities — at the end of September 2017 because of aging water and sewer pipes.
When residents received the eviction letters in May 2014, they were also told a previously discussed plan for the city to build a new mobile home park for them on Calgary’s outskirts wouldn’t be going ahead.
Tenants were offered a lumpsum payment of $10,000 to leave, counselling services and a maximum of $10,000 toward the cost of moving their mobile home — compensation many residents blasted as not nearly enough.
When pressed by reporters during a 16-minute back-and-forth on Friday, Farkas said he believes “making the situation right” for Midfield tenants means better compensation for evicted residents, noting if this matter was handled in B.C., “we would have been buying out the homes entirely.”
Farkas also confirmed some parts of his plan are considered a reconsideration of previous council decisions and will need a super majority of 10 votes to pass.
“I have advice from our city law department on this issue and what I can and can’t say,” Farkas told reporters Friday.
“Trust me, there’s a lot of people who don’t want me to be up here sharing what I am.”
On Dec. 8, Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Colleen Kenny ruled the City of Calgary was lawfully entitled to close Midfield and evict all its residents, in response to a lawsuit claiming the closure violated the Mobile Home Sites Tenancies Act and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Fewer than 10 trailers at the park remain occupied and those residents have until Feb. 19 to leave.