Dear Editor,
My neighbor has passed away. Vera was 86, a vibrant senior with a lot of life left to live, only at 2:30 one afternoon she was mugged and beaten just around the corner from where she lived, where I live, and now she is gone. (Elderly woman injured by mugging in broad daylight, 91原创 Advance, Aug. 3, 2017).
That kind of trauma would affect any one of us but at 86 it is deadly and so wrong. There are no excuses for the perpetrator and we should all be deeply concerned.
After two years I have reached the conclusion that 91原创 City cannot deal with this problem on their
Own.
So now I have to say what鈥檚 on my mind.
That it鈥檚 time to face this menace head on and it starts at City hall. Those of us who live in the City core are on the front line of all that鈥檚 wrong in our community.
My patience is exhausted, I have no sympathy left, I鈥檓 simply sick and tired of people who abuse us and the system. I鈥檓 sick of kicking people out from underneath my deck, of finding people shooting up in the shrubs, of worrying about young children playing in Linwood Park while drug addicts shoot up nearby and of knowing how vulnerable our seniors are.
It鈥檚 time to get tough, to care about the stress on law-abiding taxpaying citizens.
I feel sorry for the police and other first responders who carry the load pretty much alone. I feel sorry for City staff that have to clean up the mess left behind.
I feel sorry for where we are today but that鈥檚 not enough, we have to do something.
It鈥檚 time to do what should have been done years ago, amalgamate with 91原创 Township, eliminate the expense of two governments and work together to for the good of 120,000 people.
It is a no brainer to recognize the benefits of amalgamating into one community regardless of what the folks at City hall might say.
For years they have used fear tactics to keep 91原创 City citizens in line. Our taxes will go up for one, another, we don鈥檛 want to share the casino money and staff will lose their jobs. That may or may not be true.
So lets start the process and see what the real answers are. The province will take the lead and an exhaustive process will provide all of the hard data needed to make a sound decision. It will tell us whether taxes will go up or down, whether services will improve or not. At the end of the process both sides will have a chance to vote yes or no.
There is more power for City residents as a part of the bigger picture than as a small place riddled with problems, and it makes the entire 91原创 population part of the solution. Currently 91原创 City carries the burden alone. So unfair.
There is a municipal election next year 鈥� the perfect time for a referendum on this issue. Stand up for your community by encouraging council to agree and demonstrate that their commitment goes beyond self -interest.
Do it for Vera.
Carol Gran, 91原创 City
Gran is a former member of Township council and was MLA for both 91原创s.
