Mayor, council: listen to the community
Although I do not condone attacks of a personal nature against anyone, especially using the anonymity of social media, I can’t help but think some of the vitriol against Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps might come from a sense of frustration that people feel they do not have a voice with this mayor and council.
And in turn, the mayor and council must stop being condescending toward those taxpayers of Victoria who express an opinion not in agreement to theirs.
Didn’t Coun. Ben Isitt accuse the residents of Fairfield of suffering from “affluenza” for raising concerns to a proposed development in Cook Street Village?
Didn’t Helps tell 20,000 people that there were more productive things to do with their time than signing a petition or emailing regarding camping in Beacon Hill Park? That Rabbi Meir Kaplan was being “extremely cynical” for his comments on the Topaz Park tent city?
On the other hand, one call from a tent resident at Beacon Hill Park will elicit a public request from Helps to stop photographing the tents.
Vitriol and personal attacks directed at Helps, or anybody for that matter, is inexcusable, but neither is the dismissive attitude of this council to those taxpayers who dare express a different opinion to theirs.
If this council and mayor aren’t willing to listen with equal concern to all the residents of Victoria, then they certainly deserve some shade thrown their way.
Bill Flanagan
Victoria
Please let everyone enjoy Beacon Hill Park
This is not working.
Beacon Hill Park is not a residence. It is not the preserve of the few. It’s for everyone to enjoy — appropriately.
Victoria council, please act now to return our priceless asset to the entire community — keep it clean, safe, peaceful, beautiful, available and accessible to everybody.
We all need this spot, more now than ever before.
Please let us have it back.
Karen Nelson
Victoria
Our licence plates are fading too fast
The state of affairs at ICBC is written plainly on our licence plates. I’m noticing more and more, their colour and finish wearing off to the point of being unable to read.
It seems to me this presents a problem to public safety, and makes me wonder, why has ICBC chosen to make plates of such low quality?
Could it be the $18 fee to obtain another? Or the $230 fine for displaying an illegible plate?
Steve Ireland
Denman Island
Mask concerns are not based in fact
A recent letter gave misleading information about mask wearing. That is very dangerous and may cause people to think twice about wearing a mask.
The letter stated “excess mask-wearing time can lead to dangerous CO2 buildup causing headaches, dizziness and decreased mental functioning, along with rebreathing of exhaled particulates and bacteria.”
This is not true except in extreme cases, which has nothing to do with the normal mask wearing procedures we are asked to follow.
People may be misled into believing this information was from a medical practitioner, when in fact, many people can put “Dr.” in front of their names.
Angela Davies
Chemainus
Council deserves praise for Richardson work
The initial plan for Richardson Street called for an advisory bike lane that would have had opposing car drivers “playing chicken” to see who gets the only car lane.
Following numerous public engagement opportunities over several months in late 2019 and an additional two months of design refinement with agency partners this year, city planners responded to these and many other concerns in their June 20 Bicycle Master Plan Update which was endorsed by council.
The initial Richardson design was replaced with an All Ages All Abilities model which limits car volume to under 1,000 a day and speed to 30 km/h.
As a year-round commuter cyclist who often uses Richardson, and someone who takes the time to get informed before submitting a letter, I don’t think the five so called “zealots on city council” should resign. Nor do I think that “city planners” are stuck in an ideal world of theory.
Instead, they should be applauded for providing such an extensive opportunity for public input, hearing people’s concerns and modifying the Richardson design accordingly.
John Farquharson
Victoria
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