Editor's Note: Ms. Peters writes in response to the BayToday article Zufelt calls out owner of Villa apartments.
-----
To the editor:
I understand why there has been such a large response to Ms. Zufelt's original letter about the ongoing problems with the motel on Main Street East.
Not only is Ms. Zufelt stressed and angry, but I would guess that every citizen, who remembers our Main Street from 15-20 years ago, is also angry. The "street people" have gradually taken over the downtown, because they were able to rent cheap rooms in the large Victorian homes in the area.
As the new residents moved in, the restaurants and stores moved out. It wasn't too long before Main St. started turning into a place where the vast majority of City residents no longer wanted to live or go.
At night, scarcely populated areas attract crime. With their clients in the downtown area, the social service agencies rented the empty stores to be closer to their clients. Now ask yourself, who is paying the rent for the addicts and homeless? More than likely, they are collecting government (provincial, regional municipal) money once they have an address.
So, the agencies look for and secure rooms that their clients can afford and then receive government money, your money. Did you know that ODSP only pays about $650 per month for rent?
So where else can the agencies find accommodations other than rooming houses and cheap motels? At present, almost every motel along Main St and Lakeshore is fully occupied by "street people" whose rents are being paid by government sources, but handled by the agencies.
Forget about the absent motel owners, the ineffectual City Council that is "dressing up" Main St instead of tackling the really important issues, or the Police; and start looking at the social service agencies that have perpetuated the problem.
It's time the City put better zoning bylaws into place to protect area residents from rooming houses, and to start working with the agencies to devise a plan that will move them and their clients away from the downtown. I would suggest looking at what other cities, like Detroit, have done to turn things around and bring their downtowns back from the slums they had become.
Carolyn Peters
North Bay
