I am trying to understand the rationale behind the removal of the spirit square covering and changes to the area.
It has been reported that this change is to deal with street people using the area due to its provided shelter and downtown location. I am not sure how many people use the area for that purpose but I am sure it is a fractional proportion of the 35,000 people who live here. If it’s a hundred people that cause the concern then that’s .28 per cent according to my math. If that looks like a lot the other side of the coin is that 99.72 per cent of the other citizens are deprived of the resource.
The rest of us used this area for entertainment and as a gathering spot for events that provided many enjoyable times. So because of the city’s inability to make decisions and enforce order we are all to be deprived of this site’s amenities? I do not discount the difficulties of dealing with the current takeover of some street areas by the homeless and drug, alcohol, and criminal fueled misery that some are living in, but really, tear down a community structure that has value to control a problem that requires a far more reaching solution?
If I could give a few parallel situations, speeding is a problem on Rockland Road, so the city has decided to remove the road to prevent further infractions? Teenagers in the community have spraypainted graffiti on some walls, so they are to be torn down to prevent further such events. The fire department has a problem with beach fires so…
I do agree that Mayor and Council face some difficult and frustrating issues with the street persons under current legislation and the political and social climate, but this solution sounds more like an act of desperation than a rational approach to the issues.
Ray Reynolds
