New manager ready to sort out licensing
Former NYC staffer will deal with housing and car services
The City of Vancouver has hired a former New York official to lead a new municipal department with a portfolio about as high-profile as they get.
Kaye Matheny Krishna is set to take the helm Aug. 1 as the city’s first general manager of development services, buildings and licensing.
The lacklustre title hardly does justice to the post. Among Matheny Krishna’s likely files are pot shops, liquor licensing, housing permits, on-demand car services like Uber and short-term rentals like Airbnb. All are tricky, some are divisive and none have easy solutions.
In a recent interview with The Vancouver Sun, Matheny Krishna — a former chief of staff at the New York City housing department, among other positions — gave her thoughts on a few contentious issues, including marijuana dispensaries, a topic she approached with a healthy dose of caution.
“It’s complicated,” she said. “I think at minimum it’s important to abide by the law and the regulatory framework, and that is one of government’s jobs.”
When asked her thoughts about the city’s unusual position as the de facto regulator of an illegal trade, she likened the situation to NYC’s approval of a “micro-unit” housing pilot that she helped get off the ground. There was a clear problem — not enough housing for single residents — but regulations and building and zoning codes got in the way of a solution. So the team figured out a way to override them. “The lawyers weren’t thrilled, but the mayor wanted to do it and it was something we really cared about.”
Matheny Krishna said she needed to better understand the City of Vancouver’s leadership views on pot regulation and find a line services that makes sense to them, her and the community.
She sees Uber and Airbnb as similar, “in the sense that these are shared economy services that all cities are grappling with.”
“No one has figured it out quite yet,” she said. “Have I used Uber? Yes. Have I used Airbnb? Yes. I think the shared economy is important to enable, but not at the risk of safety …”
Matheny Krishna was born in the Midwestern U.S. swing state of Ohio to Republican parents. She didn’t take up their politics, though, and said she opposes Donald Trump. She began her working career in the private sector, but soon decided to return to school to pursue a career in government.
“I was like an old lady in grad school coming in with a suit from my corporate job at Pfizer, with all these kids that are … in flip-flops and sweatpants. It was a big change for me, but I really wanted to do something that I cared about,” she said. “It isn’t about power and it’s not about politics, but it’s really about helping to transform how people live in a place and connect.”
Matheny Krishna regularly prefaced her answers on policy issues by saying she wanted to hear more from residents and stakeholders. “New York is no stranger to citizen engagement,” she noted.
When asked what attracted her to Vancouver, she pointed to family (her husband is Canadian), geography and surroundings (“I’m waking up to seagulls, not ambulances now”). What attracted her to the local government was its forwardthinking reputation. “I just feel like this city’s always sort of on the vanguard of planning.”
The creation of Matheny Krishna’s new department represents a significant change for the city structure. In the past, one general manager oversaw both planning and development services, explained Sadhu Johnston, Vancouver’s city manager.
“We kind of realized that with such a big portfolio, it’s been kind of difficult to do either one of them very well,” he said.
Johnston said Matheny Krishna’s time as a real estate and planning consultant would “bear fruit” for the city, as it works to become more customer-service oriented.
The city has a preferred candidate for the planning job, Johnston said, but no announcement has been made.
I think the shared economy is important to enable, but not at the risk of safety …