11779 replies to this topic

[A Girl is No one]

Indeed, big broken display windows go for as high as $2500.00 a pop including installation (depending on size and/or availability).
Graffiti "patrol" services can cost upwards of $400.00 per month if you're heavily tagged on a regular basis.
Security guards for staff protection pre-COVID cost an arm and a leg, and we anticipate only needing more of them post-COVID.
Replacing front door carpets a few times a year, ones that are impregnated with urine and feces (and no longer "cleanable") run up over $1000.00 including installation (per occurrence).

Calling the police, calling City Engineering, calling Traffic for any and all of the issues a downtown business has to deal with daily is hardly worth the time. Most downtown businesses are forced to simply suck it up if they want to continue to do business in the downtown core.
Many (not most obviously) are closing up shop and leaving, retiring, or moving to the Westshore.

There's no support from the City of Victoria ... to imply otherwise is disingenuous.
The above comments don't imply that any individual City of Victoria employees are anything but fine people ... but do imply that the City of Victoria, as an institution - is broken.

I’m very sorry SpyBlack. You shouldn’t have to put up with that.
I walked downtown yesterday and noticed so many empty stores, including long established ones who indicate they moved -usually out of Victoria. Not sure what will happen to our beautiful city,.

[Spy Black]

One definitely needs a thick skin and a deep bank account to operate a business in the downtown core, and to commit to parking, walking, working, eating, and shopping there every work day.

 

For those who have been around long enough, the real difficulty is coming to terms  with how things are today compared with how they were 25-35 years ago.

There is simply no question that the current Mayor and Council have led the COV in a direction that, quite frankly, boggles the mind.

 

For a smallish municipal government to have led the City away from previous City Councils pro-business, pro-law and order, and pro-taxpayer model to some sort of City wide social experiment is confusing, and in the minds of many residents, criminal.

 

But, when ones options are to make a personal decision to either leave, or to stay ... you do have to live with the decision you make.

I choose to stay, and don't regret it ... although I also have no hesitation in pointing out the (and I'm being as polite as I can be here) "flaws" in the current governance of the City of Victoria.

Edited by Spy Black, 28 September 2021 - 06:21 AM.

[Mike K.]

Yup, very good, Spy.

I feel for you. I really do.

[Nparker]

...There is simply no question that the current Mayor and Council have led the COV in a direction that, quite frankly, boggles the mind....

Unfortunately, too many CoV voters seem to enjoy having their minds boggled.

[Awaiting Juno]

Unfortunately, too many CoV voters seem to enjoy having their minds boggled.

 

Or rather those with boggled minds can't be bothered to get out and vote. Can't be bothered to talk about who is a good candidate and support those good candidates to help them take a seat at the table. We're all busy - however, our neglect of civic duty at the municipal level is resulting in what we see: amateurs making decisions that feel good and result in bad outcomes. What we're doing isn't working for anyone - and we need to start taking steps in a different direction. We need to raise the bar on basic expectations of those who are spending time in this city - potentially seeking to call it home and we need to do a better job all around on how our resources are used.

[Nparker]

...We need to raise the bar on basic expectations of those who are spending time in this city - potentially seeking to call it home and we need to do a better job all around on how our resources are used.

There really needs to be some basic qualifications for being elected to public office. The bar needs to be raised significantly higher than "feel good" slogans during the campaign period. The level of discourse and acumen at the CoV council table is often appalling.

[Awaiting Juno]

There really needs to be some basic qualifications for being elected to public office. The bar needs to be raised significantly higher than "feel good" slogans during the campaign period. The level of discourse and acumen at the CoV council table is often appalling.

 

And apparent when such meetings are watched. There is a lot of talking for the sake of talking, rather than to advance the conversation or improve the policy. It winds up being a series of mini stump speeches rather than a clear example of a group working together to govern as best as possible.

[Victoria Watcher]

Hallelujah. The mini speeches at meetings are ridiculous.

[Stephen James]

Indeed, big broken display windows go for as high as $2500.00 a pop including installation (depending on size and/or availability).

Graffiti "patrol" services can cost upwards of $400.00 per month if you're heavily tagged on a regular basis.

Security guards for staff protection pre-COVID cost an arm and a leg, and we anticipate only needing more of them post-COVID.

Replacing front door carpets a few times a year, ones that are impregnated with urine and feces (and no longer "cleanable") run up over $1000.00 including installation (per occurrence).

 

Calling the police, calling City Engineering, calling Traffic for any and all of the issues a downtown business has to deal with daily is hardly worth the time. Most downtown businesses are forced to simply suck it up if they want to continue to do business in the downtown core. 

Many (not most obviously) are closing up shop and leaving, retiring, or moving to the Westshore.

 

There's no support from the City of Victoria ... to imply otherwise is disingenuous.

The above comments don't imply that any individual City of Victoria employees are anything but fine people ... but do imply that the City of Victoria, as an institution - is broken.

I'm comfortable with this.

 

I agree that the city employees are not to be held accountable for the decisions of council, and that they should be treated wit respect and professionalism, and that going through channels, as they've been designed, is preferred. I agree that there are many, and I've met many, terrific people working for the city.  

 

It's also true that I've not had someone call me back, ever, on the first contact with any service. I've had to follow up. This is not to suggest they are bad people, but maybe as overwhelmed. Maybe they, too, are struggling with bad decisions made by this council, just like the rest of us. 

[Stephen James]

Indeed, big broken display windows go for as high as $2500.00 a pop including installation (depending on size and/or availability).

Graffiti "patrol" services can cost upwards of $400.00 per month if you're heavily tagged on a regular basis.

Security guards for staff protection pre-COVID cost an arm and a leg, and we anticipate only needing more of them post-COVID.

Replacing front door carpets a few times a year, ones that are impregnated with urine and feces (and no longer "cleanable") run up over $1000.00 including installation (per occurrence).

 

Calling the police, calling City Engineering, calling Traffic for any and all of the issues a downtown business has to deal with daily is hardly worth the time. Most downtown businesses are forced to simply suck it up if they want to continue to do business in the downtown core. 

Many (not most obviously) are closing up shop and leaving, retiring, or moving to the Westshore.

 

There's no support from the City of Victoria ... to imply otherwise is disingenuous.

The above comments don't imply that any individual City of Victoria employees are anything but fine people ... but do imply that the City of Victoria, as an institution - is broken.

Mike, I think SpyBlack's anger, given what I've seen downtown the last 2 years, is quite restrained. 

 

I abandoned the idea of building a business in Victoria years ago because of the reception. I can't imagine how it must feel to have lots of personal resources invested in THIS downtown today: paying a multiple of residents' taxes, not having had a vote, and suffering the (almost malicious) disinterest from council, when this council deliberately created the circumstances we see today.

Our council's immature binary thinking (business people vs. poor people/homeowners vs. renters/bicycles vs. cars/city family vs. the rest of us/homeless vs. housed... and so on), driven by Isitt (and ilk) populism is the saddest abuse of Victoria... we'll pay for it for the rest of our lives.

[Nparker]

...Maybe they, too, are struggling with bad decisions made by this council, just like the rest of us. 

I am sure CoV staff are struggling. I can't imagine what a nightmare it must be to have to follow through with many of this council's edicts.

[Nparker]

...Our council's immature binary thinking (business people vs. poor people/ homeowners vs. renters/ bicycles vs. cars/ city family vs. the rest of us/ homeless vs. housed... and so on), driven by Isitt (and ilk) populism is the saddest abuse of Victoria... we'll pay for it for the rest of our lives.

Well said.

[Stephen James]

And apparent when such meetings are watched. There is a lot of talking for the sake of talking, rather than to advance the conversation or improve the policy. It winds up being a series of mini stump speeches rather than a clear example of a group working together to govern as best as possible.

I suggest they put a (huge) jar in the middle of council floor, labelled "Grandstanding Jar", like the ubiquitous "swear jar."

Every time a councillor feels the need to "stand with", "call on", "sign a letter", or make any narcissistic, pointless speech about something unrelated to the management of our small city, they can put $10 into the jar.

 

We could solve a lot of expensive problems...

[Nparker]

Of course then Council members would demand a raise to cover their out of pocket costs. They work so hard don't you know.

[Stephen James]

Of course then Council members would demand a raise to cover their out of pocket costs. They work so hard don't you know.

I suspect CRA will deny the $10 personal tax deduction given the speeches have nothing to do with their job description.

[A Girl is No one]

Hallelujah. The mini speeches at meetings are ridiculous.

Yes, I’ve suffered through too many… then they complain that the meetings extend to midnight!

[rmpeers]

Mike, I think SpyBlack's anger, given what I've seen downtown the last 2 years, is quite restrained.

I abandoned the idea of building a business in Victoria years ago because of the reception. I can't imagine how it must feel to have lots of personal resources invested in THIS downtown today: paying a multiple of residents' taxes, not having had a vote, and suffering the (almost malicious) disinterest from council, when this council deliberately created the circumstances we see today.

Our council's immature binary thinking (business people vs. poor people/homeowners vs. renters/bicycles vs. cars/city family vs. the rest of us/homeless vs. housed... and so on), driven by Isitt (and ilk) populism is the saddest abuse of Victoria... we'll pay for it for the rest of our lives.

And I worry not only that Helps will decide to wreak vengeance on the city for another four years but that TV will return (possibly in another form) to foist more like-minded councillors on us.

[Spy Black]

And I worry not only that Helps will decide to wreak vengeance on the city for another four years but that TV will return (possibly in another form) to foist more like-minded councillors on us.

That's a very valid (and serious) concern. 

The simple truth is that the current state of the City of Victoria isn't at all sustainable.

 

Escalating (and extreme) violence against the VicPD, ongoing violence and crime perpetrated against the citizens of the COV, endless violence and crime targeting businesses in the downtown core ... these are solidly established indicators of a city on the brink of an irreversible demise, with the COV is already well on our way down that road.

 

It's actually a very serious situation, something that folks who are working downtown every day have been saying for a while now ... but that warning (unfortunately) falls on deaf ears. Those deaf ears BTW, belong to both Mayor and Council, and the electorate that put them in their Council chairs.

[spanky123]

It's actually a very serious situation, something that folks who are working downtown every day have been saying for a while now ... but that warning (unfortunately) falls on deaf ears. Those deaf ears BTW, belong to both Mayor and Council, and the electorate that put them in their Council chairs.

 

If you can't defund the police then maybe you can force them to quit and work elsewhere. Don't think for a second that this isn't part of the master plan. 

[JimV]

We’re governed by fools elected by ignoramuses. Perfect storm.