Mayor Chow:

On July 18, 230 Fightback brought a delegation to your office over KingSett Capital’s intention to build a luxury condo tower at 230 Sherbourne. We include the letter we sent you that served notice of this initiative.

When we received no acknowledgement of our request for a meeting, we proceeded to your office, bringing with us local community members and supporters from various parts of the city. We never got to deal with anyone from your office. From behind locked doors, your staff told a security representative that they were unaware of our letter and all appeals to have someone come out and speak to us were disregarded. We were offered no alternative time to meet or any mechanism to pursue that option.

We fully appreciate that your office is busy and only just establishing its methods of functioning. However, your staff were made aware that a sizable group of people were waiting outside the office with a pressing concern directly related to the housing needs of one of the poorest communities in this city. Surely, we might have expected a rather more courteous and helpful response than to be utterly disregarded. Someone could have taken a few minutes to, at the very least, open up a line of communication and establish a mechanism to pursue the matter further.
In light of this situation, we are again requesting a meeting to discuss an issue that speaks to the needs of a particular community but also to everything that is unjust and unequal in the provision of housing in this city. We are, of course, ready to be flexible with regard to the timing and format of the meeting.

We very much hope that we can establish a productive dialogue on this issue but, at the same time, the priority for us is to resist and defeat this destructive luxury project and ensure housing is provided at the site that meets the needs of the community it is located in. In doing this, we must hold both the developer and City Hall fully accountable. We are, therefore, asking that you reply to us within one week so that we may determine how best to proceed.

Thank you for your attention to this matter and we look forward to your reply.

230 Fightback