Editor:
The final decision has been made to allow dogs on the promenade. Everyone against this is now expected to smile and put aside their differences. Unfortunately, this upbeat attitude will not settle some festering issues that remain unresolved.
The public health implication of turning family picnic areas into filthy dog toilets has still not been addressed. It was falsely assumed that all residents are more or less oblivious and agreeable to this public health risk.
The cost of maintaining and enforcing dogs on the promenade did not receive a comprehensive and accurate accounting.
Who knows what the final cost will be. We may never find out.
No attempt has yet been made to seriously address the concerns of SFN, the provincial government, and many others who wish to keep off-leash dogs from harassing wildlife in the sensitive WMA. This problem can be solved, but the political will is simply not there.
The task force downplayed these important issues and chose instead to remain steadfastly focused on public opinions that would garner the greatest amount of public pressure in support of dogs on the promenade. This subjective, populist, and partisan approach was enthusiastically embraced by council.
As a result of these errors of judgment in decision making, residents now have a waterfront with elevated health risks, increasing environmental impacts, higher costs, greater need for bylaw enforcement, and a confused and frustrated public.
The matter will have to be settled at election time, when voters can finally discharge those responsible for this waterfront fiasco. White Rock needs politicians that are less willing to be satisfied with superficially attractive answers, and more skeptical about their intuition and firm beliefs.
Meanwhile, I will continue to give everyone on the promenade a friendly smile.
Ron Kistritz, White Rock