I cannot believe that the Qualicum Beach town staff allowed that person to reside in the caretaker’s cottage at the Heritage Forest free of charge without any written agreement or contract.
What kind of staff member (a representative of the town) would permit such an unprofessional arrangement which, in my opinion, left the town and its taxpayers open to liability? Did that staff member have the authority to let this person reside in a town facility free of charge?
I am sure the person was not a squatter. Accordingly, he received permission from someone of authority to take up residence and (according to the person living there) act as a caretaker and oversee the day to day happenings in The Heritage Forest on behalf of the town. Unbelievable.
I demand that council undergo a full investigation on how this arrangement came to be six years ago. Who authorized it? What is the caretaker’s relationship with any staff member? Was town council of that day made aware of the situation?
It boggles my mind that any staff member has the authority to allow someone to stay in town-owned property free of charge or, did they have the right to make a deal on their own? Scary that a such a thing could happen.
I have no sympathy for the caretaker’s present situation — he was given six years of rent-free accommodation. What a wonderful opportunity to save money and he should be grateful that we, as a town, are not asking for back rent at this time.
However, I do think that any staff member who authorized this should be asked to reimburse the town for six years of rent as repayment for a bad deal. At $500 a month, this would total $36,000.
Really? No rent? No contract? Incredible.
Denyse Widdifield
Qualicum Beach
