MEDIA KIT 		 - PASTEBIN FORMAT FOR COPY/PASTE

Sunday, February 4, 2018

Toronto Community Housing plans to remove the decades-old music studio created by black single father music producer Mr. Bryant Didier.

The small studio is in a basement storage area in the building that Mr. Didier himself campaigned to convert to community housing over twenty years ago.

Mr. Didier pays rent for his studio and his subsidized housing on time and supports his two sons with income from the studio that he uses to record music for local artists.


IMAGES:

imgur.com/a/eywsi

Free-to-use no-copyright no-credit photographs at this imgur gallery. 
More images available upon request, contact info below.

Key people to interview:

Neighbour, Frank Perna
Contact the artist in Toronto at 416. 588.3668
or email:  perna_frank@yahoo.ca

TCHC Communications Staff, Anne Rappe
https://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-rappe-37b5b34/
https://twitter.com/arappekinark
416-395-1506
arappe@torontoccas.org

TCHC Senior Legal Counsel, Marilyn Lee
Marilyn.Lee@torontohousing.ca (416) 981-4228

Hashtag: #LetHimStay

Sources:
https://goo.gl/EnJyhX Philip Lee-Shanok’s great article from October 2017 and an in-person interview with Bryant Didier conducted Saturday, February 3




Summary

 - 25 years ago, Bryant Didier converted a small basement storage area into a music studio.

- Bryant led an initiative to maintain the building as community housing, which TCHC acknowledges in their legal factum (see image of 1997 fact sheet in image gallery)
 - He’s made a living there since then, helping struggling artists, paying rent on time, and co-parenting his sons

 - TCHC has invested many hours of legal work over the last three years attempting to evict 	Bryant from a 400-square foot storage area with no plumbing and no kitchen

 - TCHC formerly argued that there were issues around noise and parking and zoning, but now only claims that the studio is “inappropriate”

 - This music studio is unique and a boon to the building.

 - Bryant is the only person of colour present in the building.

 - Monday, Februrary 5, 2018, TCH might show up with movers, or might show up in court to get a writ of possession, TCH might take Bryant’s mixer and double bass and put them on Letgo. They claim the legal right to take anything in the studio and charge Bryant for the cost of movers

 - January 31, 2018, TCH senior legal counsel Marilyn Lee, as part of TCH’s legal notice, informs Bryant that TCH can take all his equipment and instruments, charge him with trespassing, force him to pay court costs for his failed appeal from last year, and will apply any rent he attempts to pay toward their costs for removing his equipment.

 - Bryant and friends from the music community plan a peaceful sit-in to protect Bryant’s business. Any interaction with movers, police, or TCH representatives will be neighbourly and respectful and will be filmed and sent to the same recipients as this media kit

Neighbourhood

 - Bryant Didier’s cramped basement music studio at 331 Bartlett gives local artists an affordable place to record music.

 - 331 Bartlett is low-rise community housing next to the up-and-coming Geary commercial block. Bryant Didier is friends with the owners of Blood Brothers Brewing and he shops at the Portuguese grocer.

History

 - In the late 1990s, Bryant co-ordinated the plan to have TCH buy the building and keep its character as a live/work space for low-income people.

 - Bryant was the tenant rep for many years. For the last several years, communication with TCH has faltered.

 - Anne Rappe, communications for TCH, said in October 2017 that “Our next steps are to review the ruling and then discuss the situation with Mr. Didier” but they haven’t discussed the situation with him.

 - Bryant has reached out to TCHC numerous times and they only communicate through lawyer’s letters.

 - Bryant has run a letter-writing campaign to TCHC reps, the TCHC board, his MPP, and the mayor’s office, with little to show for it


331 Bartlett

 - Last year, TCH made four improvements to 331 Bartlett - they removed the asbestos from the coach house, expanded the paved parking area, planted some trees and laid wood chips in the back, and installed a small bike rack.

 - The bike rack is totally unused, while ten bikes are locked up on the railing in front and dozens of bikes sit idle in a storage room adjacent to the studio.

 - If TCH wants to invest in 331 Bartlett, it has not shared its plan with the residents, despite its stated mandate to be tenant-centric and responsive. TCHC was communicative when it renovated the parking area, so if their policy is to communicate all changes, there are no planned changes to the basement.

 - If TCH wants to invest in 331 Bartlett, it has a great ally in Bryant, a well-connected knowledgeable man with the drive to convert underused storage to a music studio


Neighbours

interview with neighbour Frank Perna available through 416. 588.3668 //  perna_frank@yahoo.ca

 - Ten of Bryant’s neighbours signed a petition supporting #LetHimStay

 - Those neighbours including Frank Perna state that there is no noise in the hallway from the studio.

 - Some of those neighbours have written to TCHC themselves expressing their support for the independent music studio in their basement

 - Bryant’s neighbour and long-time friend is an artist in Local 873 who works on sets for films like Suicide Squad. “Of course they should let him stay. There’s no noise that I hear, I live above the studio, he put up extra drywall in there himself years ago” he says.

 - “Looks to me like a negative impact on the Bartlett community” - resident at 331 Bartlett who wishes to remain anonymous

Noise as a non-issue

The studio no longer has a rock drum kit. Most of Bryant’s work involves synthesized instruments and vocals which don’t create much noise.
Bryant himself claims to have installed double drywall in the walls and ceiling to reduce noise.
 - The one neighbour who complained about Bryant is an elderly retired lady who writes complaint letters about many issues


Solutions

 - Behind 331 Bartlett is a separate building that has been unused for over ten years. Last year TCH cleared it of asbestos. Bryant would be overjoyed to move his studio into this coach house building and pay more in rent.

 - Bryant has collected a capital fund that he is willing to use to pre-pay rent for the space or to make improvements. Alternately, the fund would be used to hire legal counsel to argue his human rights complaint in front of a tribunal

 - If there are further plans to renovate 331 Bartlett, TCH hasn’t told the residents.

 - The simple solution is to #LetHimStay



Last item: TCH Issues + Mission Statement


Quotes from Toronto Star recent articles on HR investigation within TCH

“Our goal is to make TCHC a more tenant-centric, responsive and accountable social housing provider, and an organization the entire city can be proud of,” said Milsom

“Policies are doormats that people walk on there. It’s all on who you know,” said another former employee.


Our mission
Our core mission is to provide clean, safe, well-maintained, affordable homes for residents. Through collaboration and with residents' needs at the forefront, we connect residents to services and opportunities, and help foster great neighbourhoods where people can thrive. ​
Our values

Respect
We respect people as individuals and create environments where fairness, trust and equitable treatment are the hallmarks of how we work.
Accountability
We are accountable for our actions, accept responsibility for our performance and share the results of our work in an open, honest and transparent manner.

Community collaboration
We recognize we can do more together than alone. We seek out partnerships with residents, the City of Toronto, stakeholders and government to combine efforts and resources in pursuit of common goals.




****THANK YOU FOR READING THIS MEDIA KIT****

Please direct inquiries to Mr. Bryant Didier
via: Josephine Grey, (416) 827-7119
jogreylift@gmail.com
B. Musique Productions / Studio
331 Bartlett Ave., Suite B3,
T.O. M6H 3G8



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