Re: "Laneway letter puts reader in Cheeky mood," Letters, Jan. 25.
I agree with Jenny and her concern with rising city taxes and a decline in services. I live on the West Side and while I do not mind the new house construction sites, it is appalling there is no enforcement to clean up the mud trails from the trucks that go on for blocks. Having lived in Europe for many years, this would not be tolerated.
Brian Jones sounds more like a city hall supporter than a concerned Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»resident and I disagree with his statement of "personal sacrifices" to be made for reaching the city's goal of greenest city by 2020. (Besides demolishing old houses, filling landfills and building from new materials hardly contributes to greener environment. It just moves the CO2 footprint out of the city). Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»is a great city, with or without the Olympics, and I doubt that because of it, residents should be compelled to feel any better about ourselves, with cost overruns, increased taxes and reduction of services.
As the City is planning to raise property taxes again, I must question where those monies are being spent. Surely, the West Side is not getting its fair share, as streets are full of potholes, November leaves are not collected and rot in laneways continues even after residents sweep the sidewalks, streets and purchase bags to remove the mess.
The city has informed residents that garbage collection is going to be cut in half to every second week, while food scraps pick up will be every week. I have to ask myself, do we waste so much food to fill a 240-litre container?
Many old streets still have no sidewalks, making it a challenge for many old residents with walkers or wheelchairs. Streets like Blenheim have finally been repaved with no concrete curbs and only gravel on its sides. At first rainstorm, the gravel gets washed away requiring maintenance, and November leaves cannot be swept by street cleaning equipment. So, Jenny has a point when she says city taxes are rising while services decline. I am positive many Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»residents feel the same.
George Vytasek,
Vancouver
