Letters for December 4, 1998

City playing us for fools

Are we all supposed to be stupid? The City of Ottawa wants to dump the prime location of the Centretown public library property by selling it to Cadillac Fairview Corp. and then lease it back?

According to Mayor Jim Watson, the city would then be off the hook for further building maintenance and renovation and only have to buy books and computers. The library is looking for $10 million to renovate and add more shelf and meeting space. Are we to believe that Cadillac Fairview Corp. will shell out $10 million to renovate the library building and upgrade it in future? I don’t think so, as it is not in the business of providing library services or any other public services.

Any commercial lease I have ever seen always assigns renovation costs to the renter. A lease buys space and some base building services, period. Everything else is extra.

Cadillac Fairview Corp. may do maintenance and renovations as part of a purchase agreement but the city will have to pay for those services, so where will there be savings?

I very much fear the real agenda here is simply to get rid of the costs of operating a downtown library in order to acquire new and expensive systems and build libraries in suburbs like South Keys.

Mr. Watson admits moving the library would be a consideration. So would he sell one public library building in Centretown and spend money to build another one in Centretown? That does not make sense.
People read a lot in this town. Centretown library services are not schools with dwindling enrolments. The Centretown library is very well used by area residents of all ages, young people, university students, centretown workers and senior citizens.

It would be a genuine hardship for Centretown citizens to be deprived of the very real benefits and enjoyment that are provided by this facility.

Finding creative solutions to local issues should involve more than selling off publicly owned real estate. And, it is not acceptable to negotiate such agreements on the quiet and present them to taxpayers as done deals. If Mr. Watson’s interest is in saving money, he should spend his energies on selling or leasing parts of City Hall.

Monique Lortie
Cooper Street

Hoodlums winning the war

Last week, the bars went up on the windows of the basement apartment next door. This week, two houses across the street fortified themselves with alarm systems and deadbolt locks. These days, residents in Centretown are given to turning on their car alarms and parking their locked cars inside locked garages.
You might think this is overkill but in the past month on a block with fewer than 20 houses, located by Gladstone Ave., there have been five break and entries and several car break-ins. What used to be a safe, secure neighbourhood has turned into a state of siege.

And why? So that malcontents and miscreants can steal used electronic equipment, bits of jewelry and spare change from the tops of dressers in order to provide another swig or fix for their habits.
And look at the cost. Their wretched lifestyles are perpetuated while law abiding- citizens.

Many break-ins occur during the day, meaning that their homes have been “cased” by the perpetrators. This leaves feelings of insecurity and may not go away until the person finally relocates. The neighbourhood is then left poorer for their absence.

A final word. What of the pawn shops that have mushroomed around the Ottawa area in the past couple years?

Can there be so many people in danger of defaulting on their mortgages that they are forced to pawn the BBQ they bought earlier in the summer? Or their cutlery or graduation ring or the computer they use every day or their VCR? Do a little sleuthing for yourselves. Stand outside a pawn shop and watch the cabs pull up with scruffy characters who disembark and unload the trunk of booty. Would anyone have three microwave ovens to pawn if at least two of them weren’t stolen?

It’s time for the police to have more of a presence in our communities.
Shannon Lee Mannion,
Centretown

Speed humps for Kent St.?

Thanks for the traffic-calming humps.
Now my 3½-year-old daughter and I may cross Lyon Street a lot more safely.

When I’m riding my bike on Lyon Street, I am no longer afraid of getting hit or cut off by inconsiderate drivers who are speeding and jockeying for position only to arrive at the next red traffic light.

Whether I’m driving my car or riding my bike or walking with my daughter, I can now cross Lyon Street more safely.

We don’t need or want and we cannot afford traffic lights at every downtown intersection. I live between Lyon and Kent streets. I must say I would not be against having humps on Kent Street, too. We residents care about the crazy driving around our homes and children.

Inconsiderate drivers have brought these traffic-calming measure onto themselves and I know for a fact that many of those who speed through the city core go home to their suburbs that have posted speed limits of 40 km/h.

Welcome to the neighbourhood. My little girl and I thank you in advance for driving safely.
Mark and Willow Fillion
Gilmour Street