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| The topic of unsightly downtown buildings once again was raised at Prince Rupert City Council |
This time around Mr. Cunningham read out a letter he had received from a newly arrived and concerned resident.
The new arrival to town having written to him to express disappointment in the state of the downtown area and asking for Council to take some action.
"Dear Councillor Cunningham: I was wondering why nothing is being done to fix this town up, I just moved here in December and I was shocked at the amount of abandoned, derelict, burned out buildings not to mention the could be beautiful heritage homes that have been allowed to fall in dis-repair by owners who obviously don't care. Well I do care and I want to know what the city's plan is for action " -- the opening lines of a letter to City Councillor Barry Cunningham relaying concerns over the state of the city's downtown area.
Following his introduction of the concerns of the resident, the Councillor observed that it was not the only letter or email that he has received, as well as to note that residents frequently stop him on the street as well to discuss the issue.
He again reiterated how Council has spoken towards addressing the issue in the past, including recommending actions that they said they would move forward on.
"We've talked about and talked about it, Pandemic came along and put it on the back burner to a certain degree. But we are talking about 2030 and rejuvenation downtown and that, and then some of the buildings just need a steam cleaned to look better than they are ... We can send letters to a lot of different people and tell them, Look if you don't do it, the city is going to be hiring a contractor to do it. Because you drive up Third avenue right now there's people who just don't give a damn what their building looks like" -- Councillor Cunningham on the state of the downtown area
None of the councillors, or the Mayor chose to speak to the topic at Monday's session, leaving Mr. Cunningham's soliloquy to stand for now as the reminder for unfinished work ahead that has yet to be done.
As we have noted frequently in the past, the call for some kind of attention to the issue has been an ongoing concern for the Councillor.
Though so far, his voice may get quite hoarse it seems, before the City shows anything in the way of dedication towards action on it.
You can take in the Councillors Reading corner for City Council from the City's video archive starting at the 44 minute mark.
For more notes on Monday's City Council session see our Council Timeline Feature here.
A look back at some past City Council themes can be explored here.
Councillor Cunningham has a valid concern no doubt, but if he read the property maintenance bylaw more closely he'd see that it's the bylaw enforcement officer in consultation with senior management who has authority to issue notices of non-compliance for unsightly premises. There's no provision for letters from the council. A better next step would be for him to ask why city officials are not applying the bylaw enforcement procedures on this issue. That's where there's inaction.
ReplyDeleteeverytime he complains, barry looks less like a rupert booster and more like angry old man shouts at cloud
ReplyDeleteagain we are reminded how ineffective barry's griping at the end of council meetings is not effective
ReplyDeleteGonna go out on a limb and suggest the two last comments above come from the same keyboard and everyone is entitled to an opinion. However, whether you agree or disagree with Councillor Cunningham, he is one of the few members who actually speaks at Council sessions and raises concerns from the community, which is kind of the essence of democracy.
DeleteNCR
It is too bad the mayor like Trump does not like criticism. He and his loyal band of followers is like watching a US cabinet meeting. Two people I have respect for are Evelyn Basso and Art Murray. They spoke out when things were wrong in the city and the city was a better place for it. Such a shame the city does not listen.
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