Tag Archives: Hornby Island

The Cortes Island Free Store

What is it? When Will it return? And What would it take to make the Free Store more Resilient for the Future?

Are you thinking and wondering about the Free Store? If you live on Cortes island, the answer is probably yes. Are you drowning in stuff, or down to two bowls in a household of four people? Every week, there are new theories as to what happened to the Free Store: where it went, what will take to get it back, and also exciting possibilities to use the Free Store model to grow Cortes Island: for keeping resources local, making better use of what the island has and reducing the amount of stuff shipped off Island. 

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Finding Home: Options and Challenges

This article is the first in a three part podcast series called Finding Home.

The first podcast features Sandra Wood and Ian Scott discussing the options and challenges for creating affordable housing that they have encountered in pursuing the creation of four affordable rental units for seniors and 20 units for all ages on Cortes. That podcast is almost two hours long and includes a number of questions and answers from local community members. Please listen to the podcast for more in-depth explanation of the Seniors Village expansion and the Rainbow Ridge project. 

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Comparative Analysis Of Cambridge, Hornby & Cortes Models Of Local Governance

A lot of Cortesians were talking about local governance earlier this year. My colleague De Clarke wrote that more than 40 people were at the public meeting held in Mansons Hall. I submitted the attached comparative analysis of Cambridge, Hornby & Cortes local governance models to a subsequent research committee meeting on February 22, 2020. 

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Hornby Island’s Style Of Government

Hornby Island has roughly the same number of inhabitants as Cortes Island. They have similar problems with volunteer burn-out, partisanship on public issues, disruptive personalities, and gossip. Reina LeBaron, Hornby Island Residents and Ratepayers Association’s (HIRRA) Administrator, said this is usual in small communities. Some disgruntled Hornby residents even complained to their Regional Director, but the discontent has not festered on Hornby, like it has on Cortes. To some extent I suspect this may be because of Hornby Island’s style of government. 

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A Vision For Cortes Island’s Political Future

By the time you hear this, everyone on Cortes Island will have received a newsletter from their Regional Director (or read it on the Tideline). I found it left me with more questions than answers. So I asked Noba Anderson to explain her vision for Cortes Island’s political future.

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