GuelphToday received the following letter to the editor from reader Murray Taylor.
Mayor Guthrie
You are so right to create a by-law which will create a ban on downtown encampments.
The 99 per cent of your tax-paying constituents who would like to enjoy time in what is OUR downtown, too, will support you in this.
As you have already said, this is in no way a lack of support for the poor souls who choose to camp downtown. Of course they must have a place to go and we have to find it for them, so please double down your effort on that. It just shouldn’t be downtown, the one and only concentrated social and retail area which also belongs to all the rest of us who enable it with our tax dollars and shopping budgets.
WE also want to enjoy the downtown Guelph we support – without stepping over litter, barf and urine (and worse) and sidestepping panhandlers.
Very well-meaning constituents say: “The poor need a home, too.” Of course they do! These constituents are absolutely right.
They need a warm, safe place to lay their heads down at night with medical, counselling and social services at hand. And yes, I understand that due to mental challenges it’s often not accepted when offered. But, to use an old analogy, if we can put men on the moon, there must be a solution benefitting everyone here at home. If that costs more money, then add a bit to our 60,000 or so property tax bills to cover it. (Not a good year to be suggesting that, I know!)
These few downtown streets belong to us, too. Please keep them safe and secure for the shops and services we would love to support again. If passing a by-law will get some of your council and bureaucrats off their collective arses at city hall to get this done, please keep it a PRIORITY until you do get it done.
Your head and heart are in the right place.
Murray Taylor
