Last week letter from a business person downtown.

[casey60]

Has anyone read the letter of complaint about the deterioration of the downtown area submitted to the Capital News last week by one of the business people from downtown? Friday I believe it was. If I could copy it or link it, I would. But I cant. Its rather interesting.
Thanks

https://www.kelownacapnews.com/opinion/ ... -downtown/

[voice of reason]

i feel like i have been hearing the same story for the last several years and i feel like i will keep on hearing it for many years to come. no one has the balls to actually do anything about it and it is going to keep on getting worse. basran has his head in the sand and the police are failing to respond.at this point i dont know what it is going to take to ever get the downtown area back in shape

[dle]

Has anyone read the letter of complaint about the deterioration of the downtown area submitted to the Capital News last week by one of the business people from downtown? Friday I believe it was. If I could copy it or link it, I would. But I cant. Its rather interesting.
Thanks

https://www.kelownacapnews.com/opinion/ ... -downtown/

It's a very familiar song unfortunately. I've worked downtown for many years and have witnessed the downfall first-hand myself. It is full of drug addicts and/or people who appear to be having some kind of psychotic break with reality. The streets are filthy in a lot of areas. They are aggressive and swearing and kicking at things and yell at you if you look at them. A lot of the downtown has literally been "given" to the addicts to park themselves and their carts blocking sidewalks and to leave in as much garbage strewn condition as they please. I am not kidding - it has been handed over to them. The Gospel Mission lets them lay around on the sidewalks in front of their building all day. They do drugs openly wherever they want, not just down at the Mission, and have zero fear of the cops because they know the cops don't do anything.

Don't park a car on Leon to go to the Royal or TD banks or you run the risk of having one of the poor dears ram your car with his skateboard or little bike just because. No reason, just because he feels like it.

There are more cops on patrol these days - I have been very happy to see them. Today there was a loony wandering down Lawrence yelling and hollering at people and his own reflection in the windows, and kicking at doors. I watched a cop on a bike come along and stop him - I thought good. The cop talked to him for a minute then fist-bumped with him. Saw him back yelling f'bombs at people by Chapman Parkade a little while later. Cop might as well have sang Kumbaya with him for all the good it did. Still, if he'd been actually physically attacking someone I'm sure the cop would have radioed for a car to pick the guy up so I'm still happy there are more cops - I just wish they would stop them shooting up wherever they want. Why do we need to spend our $$ on the RV and the harm reduction places?? They couldn't care less about going to them.

Ambulance today on the corner of Bernard and Pandosy at HSBC bank....bystanders holding umbrellas for shade as they worked on somebody prone on the sidewalk. Couple of concerned street people in the group trying to get closer - maybe another OD, maybe not but it did appear to be.

Downtown Kelowna - good times.

[Ken7]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. The RCMP look great on Parade Day.

Sadly, you can not put civilians, By-law or Auxiliary Police ( past usage ) to do the actual job of a sworn Police Officer.

As sated in the article

Having read the bylaws, I can say that it’s clearly not a bylaw enforcement officer’s job or mandate to deal with drug addicted petty crime and anti-social behaviour.

This City is a pass the buck no-one is held accountable it seems.

Sadly the "we are too busy" doesn't work. IF it is a shortage of members due to real or fake it is time someone takes them to task. IF there is supposed to be a minimum manpower on these street, they should be held to meet it. IF they need more police, then it is a necessary evil and taxes will have to be re-allocated and cut some of the Cultural spending waste out.

It is sad when you drive downtown. Most days you see red security members, then you see white shirted security officers, dorks on docks security. But, I've spent hours down town and see very few police.

Even in the middle of the drug addiction district there is little or no Policing. Something has to changes I agree before the downtown becomes a empty commercial district.

[60-YEARS-in-Ktown]

You cant ride a bicycle on the public dock in Kelowna, but most places you can.
If you shoot up on the street or in a park, they leave you alone..
But heaven forbid you ride on the dock..
Strange town this Kelowna..

[kkostek]

Perfectly written Steve. I am also a business owner of three companies with significant real estate investment in the downtown core. My wife and two young boys moved here in 2006 and brought our 3 employees from Toronto. We now employ 26 people and have invested in supporting the growing tech community and contributed significantly to the city.

I am also absolutely DISGUSTED by the passing of the buck our mayor continues to do on a daily basis while our city, our home, rots. So ironic how he made a big media fuss about how he was threatened by some guy online, going as far as to nearly break into tears, rolling out his family for a photo op and a big sympathy play whilst our ENTIRE CITY and all who work and live (and invest) here, are under threat every single day! As you rightly point out, it is getting worse by the day.

I have had face to face meetings with Basran and other council members who tell me mental health is the provinces responsibility and drug use is the RCMPs' responsibility and they can do nothing about all the facilities setting up to cater to this bunch ("it's zoned for that use" I was told) while the city take ZERO responsibility to do anything for the tax paying and job creating business owners and the good contributing members of our society. They continue to allow the opening of facilities that cater to this drug lifestyle, even changing zoning laws to accommodate them not shut them down, whilst doing nothing to address the core issues of mental health and addiction. These “wet” facilities are merely a concentrated customer base for the dealers and every one of them should be shut down. Rather we continue to roll out the welcome mat. "Come to Kelowna, you have 23 facilities in the downtown core to take care of you, feed you daily (even awesome Wednesday BBQ's at the great new spot on St Paul!) , and they even let you shoot up in front of them with no problems man. Oh and there's a lake with great beaches and nice warm weather so you can pass out in the park after shooting up and not worry about getting rained on or even told to move on". That may as well be what our lovely new tourist facility on the waterfront says in their brochures. It is that obvious how easy we make it for them.

These "Poor souls" shoot up openly and toss their needles in the parks and on our beaches with no regard for the damage they could cause, and they terrorize our community daily (our windows were smashed two weeks ago and again last night, a brand new wonderful family run environmentally friendly grocery store was attacked) but you can bet your last dollar that I'd get a ticket if I strolled down Pandosy with a Corona in my hand! I am now seriously considering selling everything and moving my family and my jobs out of this city to greener pastures. At least Van has their problems mainly contained to Hastings Zombieland whilst we have them scattered from the downtown core and right out into the suburbs.

We recently returned from Australia and in three weeks in Sydney, Bondi Beach and other cities we saw one single person sleeping in a doorway. Why do they not have the same problem? Simple. They don’t tolerate it and the rule of law is enforced, and their tax dollars go to MANDATORY rehab and mental health counselling not free needles and “de-stigmatization”. Why normalize and approve of this behavior to the detriment of all those who follow the rules and live a proper life? I used to sympathize with the homeless but we’re in a much more dire situation than we used to be and I know for a fact that most are now fed up, angry, desperate and something serious is going to happen unless Basran puts on his big boy pants, grows a pair and takes control of our city! You can build all the condo towers you want but who the hell wants to live and work in Zombieland. I for one do not.

[WalterWhite]

^^^^^

[voice of reason]

Perfectly written Steve. I am also a business owner of three companies with significant real estate investment in the downtown core. My wife and two young boys moved here in 2006 and brought our 3 employees from Toronto. We now employ 26 people and have invested in supporting the growing tech community and contributed significantly to the city.

I am also absolutely DISGUSTED by the passing of the buck our mayor continues to do on a daily basis while our city, our home, rots. So ironic how he made a big media fuss about how he was threatened by some guy online, going as far as to nearly break into tears, rolling out his family for a photo op and a big sympathy play whilst our ENTIRE CITY and all who work and live (and invest) here, are under threat every single day! As you rightly point out, it is getting worse by the day.

I have had face to face meetings with Basran and other council members who tell me mental health is the provinces responsibility and drug use is the RCMPs' responsibility and they can do nothing about all the facilities setting up to cater to this bunch ("it's zoned for that use" I was told) while the city take ZERO responsibility to do anything for the tax paying and job creating business owners and the good contributing members of our society. They continue to allow the opening of facilities that cater to this drug lifestyle, even changing zoning laws to accommodate them not shut them down, whilst doing nothing to address the core issues of mental health and addiction. These “wet” facilities are merely a concentrated customer base for the dealers and every one of them should be shut down. Rather we continue to roll out the welcome mat. "Come to Kelowna, you have 23 facilities in the downtown core to take care of you, feed you daily (even awesome Wednesday BBQ's at the great new spot on St Paul!) , and they even let you shoot up in front of them with no problems man. Oh and there's a lake with great beaches and nice warm weather so you can pass out in the park after shooting up and not worry about getting rained on or even told to move on". That may as well be what our lovely new tourist facility on the waterfront says in their brochures. It is that obvious how easy we make it for them.

These "Poor souls" shoot up openly and toss their needles in the parks and on our beaches with no regard for the damage they could cause, and they terrorize our community daily (our windows were smashed two weeks ago and again last night, a brand new wonderful family run environmentally friendly grocery store was attacked) but you can bet your last dollar that I'd get a ticket if I strolled down Pandosy with a Corona in my hand! I am now seriously considering selling everything and moving my family and my jobs out of this city to greener pastures. At least Van has their problems mainly contained to Hastings Zombieland whilst we have them scattered from the downtown core and right out into the suburbs.

We recently returned from Australia and in three weeks in Sydney, Bondi Beach and other cities we saw one single person sleeping in a doorway. Why do they not have the same problem? Simple. They don’t tolerate it and the rule of law is enforced, and their tax dollars go to MANDATORY rehab and mental health counselling not free needles and “de-stigmatization”. Why normalize and approve of this behavior to the detriment of all those who follow the rules and live a proper life? I used to sympathize with the homeless but we’re in a much more dire situation than we used to be and I know for a fact that most are now fed up, angry, desperate and something serious is going to happen unless Basran puts on his big boy pants, grows a pair and takes control of our city! You can build all the condo towers you want but who the hell wants to live and work in Zombieland. I for one do not.

great post

[Anonymous123]

Perfectly written Steve. I am also a business owner of three companies with significant real estate investment in the downtown core. My wife and two young boys moved here in 2006 and brought our 3 employees from Toronto. We now employ 26 people and have invested in supporting the growing tech community and contributed significantly to the city.

I am also absolutely DISGUSTED by the passing of the buck our mayor continues to do on a daily basis while our city, our home, rots. So ironic how he made a big media fuss about how he was threatened by some guy online, going as far as to nearly break into tears, rolling out his family for a photo op and a big sympathy play whilst our ENTIRE CITY and all who work and live (and invest) here, are under threat every single day! As you rightly point out, it is getting worse by the day.

I have had face to face meetings with Basran and other council members who tell me mental health is the provinces responsibility and drug use is the RCMPs' responsibility and they can do nothing about all the facilities setting up to cater to this bunch ("it's zoned for that use" I was told) while the city take ZERO responsibility to do anything for the tax paying and job creating business owners and the good contributing members of our society. They continue to allow the opening of facilities that cater to this drug lifestyle, even changing zoning laws to accommodate them not shut them down, whilst doing nothing to address the core issues of mental health and addiction. These “wet” facilities are merely a concentrated customer base for the dealers and every one of them should be shut down. Rather we continue to roll out the welcome mat. "Come to Kelowna, you have 23 facilities in the downtown core to take care of you, feed you daily (even awesome Wednesday BBQ's at the great new spot on St Paul!) , and they even let you shoot up in front of them with no problems man. Oh and there's a lake with great beaches and nice warm weather so you can pass out in the park after shooting up and not worry about getting rained on or even told to move on". That may as well be what our lovely new tourist facility on the waterfront says in their brochures. It is that obvious how easy we make it for them.

These "Poor souls" shoot up openly and toss their needles in the parks and on our beaches with no regard for the damage they could cause, and they terrorize our community daily (our windows were smashed two weeks ago and again last night, a brand new wonderful family run environmentally friendly grocery store was attacked) but you can bet your last dollar that I'd get a ticket if I strolled down Pandosy with a Corona in my hand! I am now seriously considering selling everything and moving my family and my jobs out of this city to greener pastures. At least Van has their problems mainly contained to Hastings Zombieland whilst we have them scattered from the downtown core and right out into the suburbs.

We recently returned from Australia and in three weeks in Sydney, Bondi Beach and other cities we saw one single person sleeping in a doorway. Why do they not have the same problem? Simple. They don’t tolerate it and the rule of law is enforced, and their tax dollars go to MANDATORY rehab and mental health counselling not free needles and “de-stigmatization”. Why normalize and approve of this behavior to the detriment of all those who follow the rules and live a proper life? I used to sympathize with the homeless but we’re in a much more dire situation than we used to be and I know for a fact that most are now fed up, angry, desperate and something serious is going to happen unless Basran puts on his big boy pants, grows a pair and takes control of our city! You can build all the condo towers you want but who the hell wants to live and work in Zombieland. I for one do not.

Good post Keith.

[gman313]

Perfectly written Steve. I am also a business owner of three companies with significant real estate investment in the downtown core. My wife and two young boys moved here in 2006 and brought our 3 employees from Toronto. We now employ 26 people and have invested in supporting the growing tech community and contributed significantly to the city.

I am also absolutely DISGUSTED by the passing of the buck our mayor continues to do on a daily basis while our city, our home, rots. So ironic how he made a big media fuss about how he was threatened by some guy online, going as far as to nearly break into tears, rolling out his family for a photo op and a big sympathy play whilst our ENTIRE CITY and all who work and live (and invest) here, are under threat every single day! As you rightly point out, it is getting worse by the day.

I have had face to face meetings with Basran and other council members who tell me mental health is the provinces responsibility and drug use is the RCMPs' responsibility and they can do nothing about all the facilities setting up to cater to this bunch ("it's zoned for that use" I was told) while the city take ZERO responsibility to do anything for the tax paying and job creating business owners and the good contributing members of our society. They continue to allow the opening of facilities that cater to this drug lifestyle, even changing zoning laws to accommodate them not shut them down, whilst doing nothing to address the core issues of mental health and addiction. These “wet” facilities are merely a concentrated customer base for the dealers and every one of them should be shut down. Rather we continue to roll out the welcome mat. "Come to Kelowna, you have 23 facilities in the downtown core to take care of you, feed you daily (even awesome Wednesday BBQ's at the great new spot on St Paul!) , and they even let you shoot up in front of them with no problems man. Oh and there's a lake with great beaches and nice warm weather so you can pass out in the park after shooting up and not worry about getting rained on or even told to move on". That may as well be what our lovely new tourist facility on the waterfront says in their brochures. It is that obvious how easy we make it for them.

These "Poor souls" shoot up openly and toss their needles in the parks and on our beaches with no regard for the damage they could cause, and they terrorize our community daily (our windows were smashed two weeks ago and again last night, a brand new wonderful family run environmentally friendly grocery store was attacked) but you can bet your last dollar that I'd get a ticket if I strolled down Pandosy with a Corona in my hand! I am now seriously considering selling everything and moving my family and my jobs out of this city to greener pastures. At least Van has their problems mainly contained to Hastings Zombieland whilst we have them scattered from the downtown core and right out into the suburbs.

We recently returned from Australia and in three weeks in Sydney, Bondi Beach and other cities we saw one single person sleeping in a doorway. Why do they not have the same problem? Simple. They don’t tolerate it and the rule of law is enforced, and their tax dollars go to MANDATORY rehab and mental health counselling not free needles and “de-stigmatization”. Why normalize and approve of this behavior to the detriment of all those who follow the rules and live a proper life? I used to sympathize with the homeless but we’re in a much more dire situation than we used to be and I know for a fact that most are now fed up, angry, desperate and something serious is going to happen unless Basran puts on his big boy pants, grows a pair and takes control of our city! You can build all the condo towers you want but who the hell wants to live and work in Zombieland. I for one do not.

I fully support this too. Great post. Perhaps us downtown folk try and get the chamber to push council harder. A unified voice goes a long way

[soupy]

As I am not a business owner downtown so I have very little say. But from what I have seen personally seen and read I have an idea that I'd like to see happen, but understand completely why it wont.

Picture this:

Summer day, tourists a plenty. ALL downtown businesses lock up their doors for 2-3 hours and have a peaceful protest over at City Hall. There would likely be more consequences of closing up your Bernard business during than the day than those selling death on the same streets.

All the thousands of tourists and City Hall staffers wanting coffee / lunch left with nothing.

[dudemeiser]

Perfectly written Steve. I am also a business owner of three companies with significant real estate investment in the downtown core. My wife and two young boys moved here in 2006 and brought our 3 employees from Toronto. We now employ 26 people and have invested in supporting the growing tech community and contributed significantly to the city.

I am also absolutely DISGUSTED by the passing of the buck our mayor continues to do on a daily basis while our city, our home, rots. So ironic how he made a big media fuss about how he was threatened by some guy online, going as far as to nearly break into tears, rolling out his family for a photo op and a big sympathy play whilst our ENTIRE CITY and all who work and live (and invest) here, are under threat every single day! As you rightly point out, it is getting worse by the day.

I have had face to face meetings with Basran and other council members who tell me mental health is the provinces responsibility and drug use is the RCMPs' responsibility and they can do nothing about all the facilities setting up to cater to this bunch ("it's zoned for that use" I was told) while the city take ZERO responsibility to do anything for the tax paying and job creating business owners and the good contributing members of our society. They continue to allow the opening of facilities that cater to this drug lifestyle, even changing zoning laws to accommodate them not shut them down, whilst doing nothing to address the core issues of mental health and addiction. These “wet” facilities are merely a concentrated customer base for the dealers and every one of them should be shut down. Rather we continue to roll out the welcome mat. "Come to Kelowna, you have 23 facilities in the downtown core to take care of you, feed you daily (even awesome Wednesday BBQ's at the great new spot on St Paul!) , and they even let you shoot up in front of them with no problems man. Oh and there's a lake with great beaches and nice warm weather so you can pass out in the park after shooting up and not worry about getting rained on or even told to move on". That may as well be what our lovely new tourist facility on the waterfront says in their brochures. It is that obvious how easy we make it for them.

These "Poor souls" shoot up openly and toss their needles in the parks and on our beaches with no regard for the damage they could cause, and they terrorize our community daily (our windows were smashed two weeks ago and again last night, a brand new wonderful family run environmentally friendly grocery store was attacked) but you can bet your last dollar that I'd get a ticket if I strolled down Pandosy with a Corona in my hand! I am now seriously considering selling everything and moving my family and my jobs out of this city to greener pastures. At least Van has their problems mainly contained to Hastings Zombieland whilst we have them scattered from the downtown core and right out into the suburbs.

We recently returned from Australia and in three weeks in Sydney, Bondi Beach and other cities we saw one single person sleeping in a doorway. Why do they not have the same problem? Simple. They don’t tolerate it and the rule of law is enforced, and their tax dollars go to MANDATORY rehab and mental health counselling not free needles and “de-stigmatization”. Why normalize and approve of this behavior to the detriment of all those who follow the rules and live a proper life? I used to sympathize with the homeless but we’re in a much more dire situation than we used to be and I know for a fact that most are now fed up, angry, desperate and something serious is going to happen unless Basran puts on his big boy pants, grows a pair and takes control of our city! You can build all the condo towers you want but who the hell wants to live and work in Zombieland. I for one do not.

This

[SENNA]

My husband and I had a restaurant on Bernard at the start of the street drug invasion down town. We attended town hall meetings, wrote letters, did everything we could to bring attention to this issue. The number of times we were broken into, or my husband was threatened were so numerous we lost track. When bikes were thrown across our doorway to access the "head shop" next door, or they loitered outside, our customers were afraid to leave their cars and a thriving business went down the toilet. My husband had to use a fire extinguisher one time to protect himself but was told by police that if he had used it, he would have been charged. We had them doing drugs in the back alley beside his car, which they also used as a restroom. I panicked if he was late getting home because I didn't know if he was safe. We sold in 2007! Heartbreaking for the business owners who had hopes and dreams of creating something special. The city has had many years to figure out something. I believe you invest in what you value. What do we value?

[dle]

https://www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna/2 ... d-downtown

.....more b.s. downtown Thursday BUT the perps were caught because there were actually beat cops downtown - yay! They witnessed the bear spraying incident themselves....


...more cops, more enforcement = less anger from residents who feel we are being sent down the creek without a paddle, and a message sent to these bozos who are just doing whatever the hell they want and destroying our downtown....

It's time. It's way, way, way past time.

Apparently Charlie Hodge and Mohini Singh are starting to see the light as well on whether we were going down the right path on how to handle this drug/crime/vandalism crap and don't feel we were.....again, it's time.

With any luck and more cops maybe we will see a positive, sensible change of direction.

[dle]

My husband and I had a restaurant on Bernard at the start of the street drug invasion down town. We attended town hall meetings, wrote letters, did everything we could to bring attention to this issue. The number of times we were broken into, or my husband was threatened were so numerous we lost track. When bikes were thrown across our doorway to access the "head shop" next door, or they loitered outside, our customers were afraid to leave their cars and a thriving business went down the toilet. My husband had to use a fire extinguisher one time to protect himself but was told by police that if he had used it, he would have been charged. We had them doing drugs in the back alley beside his car, which they also used as a restroom. I panicked if he was late getting home because I didn't know if he was safe. We sold in 2007! Heartbreaking for the business owners who had hopes and dreams of creating something special. The city has had many years to figure out something. I believe you invest in what you value. What do we value?

Sorry you had to go through this! You, and many other business people who have/and are trying to make our City a better place, are thwarted at every turn and disrespected by our City council and the authorities who COULD do something but WON'T. They have dug in their mule heels and refuse to listen to reason, opting to "protect and serve" the criminals and the druggies. Now, it has festered into something that is really unbelievable.

That your husband would have been charged if he had used the fire extinguisher to protect himself and his property shows how stupid, crazy and mixed up the laws and the perspectives of those in power have become. We have been left totally to fend for ourselves, can't even call upon the laws in place to protect us anymore, yet we are told we can't fight back or be charged ourselves. It has to stop - the craziness is being allowed to take over and it's just not right!