Editor:
Uptown White Rock is going through some growing pains.
Most citizens accept that. But what city hall doesn’t seem to acknowledge is that, daily, hundreds of people actually walk the sidewalks and streets.
In the meantime, would it hurt the City of White Rock to keep up on maintenance of the very simple things?
Below is a conversation with a city worker many weeks ago.
I nicely asked the city worker in charge of trash removal why he doesn’t scrub the cans. His reply, “Don’t have time.”
I nicely asked the City of White Rock worker if I could assist him with putting abandoned newspaper boxes, on a city boulevard, in the back of the city truck.
His replies, “Can’t. They don’t belong to us” and “I’d get written up for that.”
I nicely asked the same city worker if we could go around the corner to the empty field behind Central Plaza and throw the abandoned refuse by ignorant people into his truck.
His replies, “Not our problem, on private land” which is correct, and “You have to keep phoning bylaws.”
Guess it’s the public’s job to phone weekly?
I then asked him if he ever brought this type of concern up at staff meetings.
His reply, “Nope.”
Additionally, the residents of our street have waited well over half a year for a banner to be removed (see photo above).
Isn’t it a beauty? Guess we will continue with our city boulevard/park resident work-bee evenings, scrubbing and cleaning signs/benches and weeding. And we will possibly add this to our list.
We taxpayers have been beyond patient, and don’t want to hear the blame game of whether it is City of White Rock administration’s fault or the workers’ fault.
Honestly, we are so tired of all of it.
Meanwhile, nothing changes. And our uptown continues to look the same or worsen in the city that we love.
S. Wilson, White Rock