FIREFIGHTERS' VISIT LEAVES TENANTS STEAMING

On Sept. 14, Darrell Jewell returned to the Pender Hotel and learned
he couldn't enter his room because the building was being inspected
by the fire department's hazardous materials team.

Earlier in the morning, the city's Neighbourhood Integrated Service
Team, which includes city officials, police and firefighters, had
started a routine inspection of the hotel. But by the time Jewel
returned, the hazardous materials team had cordoned off the building
and detained people who had been inside when the team arrived. Team
members were searching for a possible methamphetamine lab at the 31
W. Pender Street property because at least one firefighter had begun
to feel sick during the inspection.

No lab was found and at 6:30 p.m. tenants were allowed to return. In
addition to finding the front door of the building broken, Jewell
discovered the door to his room had been broken down, and $100, his
bus pass, laundry change and other items were missing. His eyeglasses
were bent and missing a lens.

By Nov. 1, neither his door nor the main door to the building had
been repaired. Each time he left his room he worried about his
computer, his software and his school materials because the hotel's
main door was not secure. He said strangers wandered the building day
and night. "I had to worry about it all the time," he said.

As a result of the losses and stresses, Jewell stopped his studies in
electronics. On Nov. 1 he moved to a more secure hotel, which costs
him $25 more a month.

Jewell is one of seven claimants suing the City of Vancouver for
alleged illegal acts committed by police and fire department
officials during the September inspection. Pivot Legal Society lawyer
David Eby filed notices of claim on their behalf through Small Claims Court.

Jewell is claiming $25,000-the maximum claim allowable in Small
Claims Court-for loss of opportunities, loss of future wages and
punitive damages from the City of Vancouver, Eby said. The combined
claim of all seven claimants is $140,600.

Four months after the inspection, the doors of suites rented by two
of Eby's clients are still off their hinges and the main door to the
Pender Hotel is not secure, Eby said.

Eby wrote to the fire department's chief, Ray Holdgate, Sept. 16,
requesting an investigation into the inspection, but when neither the
chief nor the city responded to his and his clients' satisfaction
following numerous phone calls and letters, he filed the suit, he said.

At least 15 tenants were detained next to the building between 11
a.m. and 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 14. Eby said he witnessed a female
resident ask for two hours before she was allowed to leave and use a
washroom. Other tenants supplied Eby with sworn statements that one
or more firefighters used profane language, insulted them, damaged
property beyond the requirements of the investigation and threatened
them with physical harm. Eby doesn't believe city officials would
treat West Side residents in the same manner.

The city's deputy chief licence inspector, Barb Windsor, said she
could not comment because the case is under litigation.

The fire department captain of public education, Rob Jones-Cook, said
he also could not comment. Doug Gow, acting manager of the city's
claims services, would only say that any Vancouver resident whose
door has been broken down by fire or police may contact the city's
risk and emergency management department about compensation for the
cost of repair. Each claim is handled on a case-by-case basis, he said.

The Pender Hotel is controlled by an executor of an estate, and Eby
said there's no money available to fix the damaged doors and frames.

Under the standards of maintenance bylaw, the city can order a
building owner to fix structures that don't meet its standards.

If repairs are not completed in 60 days, city council can carry out
the repairs at the expense of the owner.