As a citizen of Red Deer, I am shocked at the comments made by councillors Vesna Higham and Tanya Handley, and by the complete lack of leadership by our mayor.
The issue with the Cannery Row shelter seems to have snuck up on the mayor and city council, as if an egg timer went off when the one year lease expired. The initial knee jerk reaction by the city of evicting the charitable organization Safe Harbor from the site was not thought out at all.
The downtown businesses are irate about the city’s steadily increasing crime and addiction problem.
The city needs to work collaboratively with the RCMP to solve the crime problem.
Since the mayor and city council cannot find a new location for the temporary shelter, they have only themselves to blame. The city’s lack of performance on this issue, like the comments made by councillors Handley and Higham, are inexcusable.
I am actually thrilled that this is an election year, and we have the opportunity to buy the mayor and councillors Higham and Handley a ticket out of city hall.
David Stock, Red Deer