I am writing in response to Mr. Roosevelt’s attack on Annette Sharkey, Social Planning Council and Councillor Juliette Cunningham dated April 25 and again May 11, 2018.
It irks me to no end the lack of education this man has in regards to the good these two (plus many, many others) bring to the City of Vernon.
Sadly Mr. Roosevelt is being played as a megaphone and a puppet on a string by his handler, Mr. Scott Anderson. Mr. Roosevelt should step out of the Bully/Complain Bubble for a while and engage with others — he will see a different picture if he seeks out non-like minded people.
I am directly and indirectly involved in several initiatives throughout Vernon, to help make it a better city. Neither Mr. Roosevelt nor Mr. Anderson are at any of these meetings. Why one may ask? These meetings are where the business community, Vernon citizens and social service staff work together to figure out the best possible strategies to solve the city’s social issues. It is not a meeting where we whine and complain about the homeless and blame them for everything that goes wrong in the city. It is where problem-solving happens — which seems to be a very foreign concept for Mr. Roosevelt and Mr. Anderson.
I challenge both Mr. Roosevelt and Mr. Anderson to get involved in some social initiatives — help out at the food bank or Upper Room Mission, ask questions and listen to the people, hear what they are saying.
Attend the monthly clean-ups alongside the homeless (who, yes, help out every month to clean up the streets). We as a city come together and help each other — this is proven time and time again, it is an amazing community of good people — why use Trump tactics to attack those who work so passionately to help everyone in our community?
Mae Smithers
