Dear editor,
I wish to take this opportunity to bring certain matters to the attention of Mayor Greg Phelps, which I believe will be important to all of the voters in the upcoming municipal election.
Firstly, with regards to Maple Pool Campsite. On his website, when asked about the Maple Pool issue, he stated, it would be inappropriate (if not illegal) to comment further.
That is an interesting statement given that it is the City, not Maple Pool, who initiated the legal action.
The whole process was shielded from public view by being held in camera, which effectively muzzled Courtenay councillors and yet on Sept. 23 a letter from Phelps' office was published in the media giving his side of the story.
It appeared that Mayor Phelps had no problem making public statements to the occupy Comox Valley squatters when he condoned their inappropriate behavior and breaking of city bylaws as I witnessed on You Tube, “Mayor Greg Phelps visits Occupy Comox Valley.”
Why would he condone those actions when at the same time he was pursuing this legal action which would have 54 people sent onto the street to face the hard realities of being homeless? They have very few, if any, other options.
The 2008 Mayors task force on homelessness did not recommend the building of a $2.9-million dollar homeless shelter. In fact, housing first was recommended.
Mayor Phelps is also aware that homeless shelters do not house homeless people but rather provide a temporary refuge. Yet he advocated having the taxpayers shell out that amount of money for a shelter that will give us a net gain of 10 beds and will cost a further $900,000 per year to run.
Why wouldn’t Mayor Phelps work with the Maple Pool operators to prevent homelessness instead of creating more of it?
Dick Clancy,
Courtenay