Social issue such as open illicit-drug use, homelessness and Victoria City Hall’s failure to respond were recurring elements at a town hall meeting Thursday evening.
“This is an unsafe city,” said Suzanne DeStaffany. “When do we see action?”
DeStaffany told councillors when she first moved into Victoria she planned to walk to work. That ended when it proved unsafe and too disturbing. Now, she is not even sure she can continue to reside in the city because mental illness, drug use and filth are out of control.
“I don’t see a solution here when our council and mayor can live with this,” she said. “I can’t.”
Victoria town hall meetings were a promise of Mayor Lisa Helps during the last election. They are meant to provide citizens with an open floor to bring up any issue of concern.
The city has committed itself to four per year. Two will be open ended with no pre-selected topics.
Mayor Lisa Helps opened Thursday’s meeting by calling the event “a bit of an experiment.” She then asked the audience not to clap, boo or react so the forum could remain “a safe space.”
Downtown resident Shelly Urquhart said the drug epidemic, homelessness and general lack of supervision on the streets have made Victoria an embarrassment. “I’ve been spat on as I conduct my business,” said Urquhart. “People poop wherever they want. “That’s what it’s like downtown.” Meanwhile, the city can’t even manage something as basic as traffic. Bicycle lanes have only made things worse.
“Traffic downtown is really, really bad,” said Urquhart. “It’s not because there are too many vehicles, it’s because it is not being managed well.”
Lorraine Stundon of James Bay listed a litany of issues which concern her: development, traffic, cruise ships whose passengers crowd her neighbourhood, bike lanes and the ongoing loss of grass spaces to concrete.
But Stundon reserved her biggest complaint for her mayor and city councillors. They are too wrapped up with speaking to big wide issues and ignoring roles at home. She said it was silly for Helps to fly in a jet plane to Calgary to check out the oil industry. “You are a local government,” she said. “When will you stop pursuing your own political agendas and start governing locally.”
That remark drew applause from the assembled citizens. They were subsequently rebuked by Helps for ignoring her earlier instructions.
