I agree it's an awful problem. And the transients do feel a sense of entitlement. The downtown park was disgusting with drinking, smoking, etc right under the noses of bylaw and police. Garbage left on the grass and locals uncomfortable about entering their own park. Before some blog readers get all worked up and say these people are employed here and there's no staff accommodation......I'm talking about a large group of TRANSIENTS who travel around, work a bit and camp free so they save money to go onto the next town. The major hotels provide accommodation and buy houses to put employees in. That leaves the small business owners the burden of finding staff a home. Total different problem than the freeloaders. I understand they give warnings for camping? Why? They ticketed me downtown for parking in wrong zone..why wasn't I given a warning? And then there's the beach areas like Chestermans. Can't drive down the road without weaving between open car doors, surfboards on the roadway, and cars parked with half the car on the lane I'm trying to drive on! And the majority are getting warnings I hear? Again why would locals put up with being ticketed and our visitors get warnings. What's going on here? Last but not least the hours....bylaw work day shift? Why? The majority of problems are nights on the beach with illegal camping and we are told the bylaw cannot go out alone? Why can't the police accompany them? They are a large waste of $ as they operate now.
Listen to the staff in this discussion. Anything but enforcement. More money, more understanding, education. More money more talk... NO ENFORCEMENT
Years ago there was more enforcement with less money, less staff. Now the problem is snowballing. The reality is, the transient group know you can camp in the bushes, on the beach, wherever you want and all you get is a "talking to". They leave and come back later in the day. They tell their friends, "Tofino is such a cool place" and next year there are even more, then more, then more, then.........
Hero Mayor Osbourne and Council know how to eradicate a noxious plant when one is discovered. Who wants to bet they accomplish nothing with "this" problem. They are ineffective and superficial with the tough issues..
Same deal with the Vacation Rental deal. No enforcement. To eager to be liked. Why don't we just do away with the bylaws and fight it out on an individual to individual basis. Oh ya, that is what we do now.
I gave up calling bylaw as it was rarely followed up on and very rarely dealt with. Next year, instead of hiring untrained people who are afraid to actually write a ticket, why not hire two fully trained RCMP officers? Make them only responsible for bylaw enforcement and you would see a big change in how these transients see our town. On more than one occasion, I heard the phrase "I love how no one in this town questions what we are doing." It is time to change that.
.....meanwhile, at all points in the village, the drunks still drink in front of the Co-Op, the dogs continue to run at large, and the sidewalks and pathways are still covered in dogshit. You can write to council about it. They'll politely tell you to go fuck yourself, that there's really nothing they're willing to do about it, and Bylaw will instruct you how you can take time off from work and do the enforcement of the law on your own. Talking to bylaw or council about ANYTHING that might possibly hurt someone's "feelings" is a total waste of time and energy. Give up, you're beating a dead horse.
Why not just sit and talk about it and find excuses to not do anything? Isn't that the function of municipal council and staff?
ReplyDeleteI agree it's an awful problem. And the transients do feel a sense of entitlement.
ReplyDeleteThe downtown park was disgusting with drinking, smoking, etc right under the noses of bylaw and police. Garbage left on the grass and locals uncomfortable about entering their own park.
Before some blog readers get all worked up and say these people are employed here and there's no staff accommodation......I'm talking about a large group of TRANSIENTS who travel around, work a bit and camp free so they save money to go onto the next town.
The major hotels provide accommodation and buy houses to put employees in. That leaves the small business owners the burden of finding staff a home. Total different problem than the freeloaders.
I understand they give warnings for camping? Why? They ticketed me downtown for parking in wrong zone..why wasn't I given a warning? And then there's the beach areas like Chestermans. Can't drive down the road without weaving between open car doors, surfboards on the roadway, and cars parked with half the car on the lane I'm trying to drive on! And the majority are getting warnings I hear? Again why would locals put up with being ticketed and our visitors get warnings. What's going on here?
Last but not least the hours....bylaw work day shift? Why? The majority of problems are nights on the beach with illegal camping and we are told the bylaw cannot go out alone? Why can't the police accompany them? They are a large waste of $ as they operate now.
Listen to the staff in this discussion. Anything but enforcement. More money, more understanding, education. More money more talk... NO ENFORCEMENT
ReplyDeleteYears ago there was more enforcement with less money, less staff. Now the problem is snowballing. The reality is, the transient group know you can camp in the bushes, on the beach, wherever you want and all you get is a "talking to". They leave and come back later in the day. They tell their friends, "Tofino is such a cool place" and next year there are even more, then more, then more, then.........
Hero Mayor Osbourne and Council know how to eradicate a noxious plant when one is discovered. Who wants to bet they accomplish nothing with "this" problem. They are ineffective and superficial with the tough issues..
Same deal with the Vacation Rental deal. No enforcement. To eager to be liked. Why don't we just do away with the bylaws and fight it out on an individual to individual basis. Oh ya, that is what we do now.
I gave up calling bylaw as it was rarely followed up on and very rarely dealt with. Next year, instead of hiring untrained people who are afraid to actually write a ticket, why not hire two fully trained RCMP officers? Make them only responsible for bylaw enforcement and you would see a big change in how these transients see our town. On more than one occasion, I heard the phrase "I love how no one in this town questions what we are doing." It is time to change that.
ReplyDelete.....meanwhile, at all points in the village, the drunks still drink in front of the Co-Op, the dogs continue to run at large, and the sidewalks and pathways are still covered in dogshit. You can write to council about it. They'll politely tell you to go fuck yourself, that there's really nothing they're willing to do about it, and Bylaw will instruct you how you can take time off from work and do the enforcement of the law on your own. Talking to bylaw or council about ANYTHING that might possibly hurt someone's "feelings" is a total waste of time and energy. Give up, you're beating a dead horse.
ReplyDelete