Editor:
Let me introduce you to Heather.
She is a 60-something woman living on Finlay Street in White Rock, close to the park at Finlay/Balsam/Cliff.
I saw her while I was driving by to get my morning coffee. She was cleaning out the weeds and overgrowth at the park.
There was a huge pile of weeds and cuttings accumulating as a result of her efforts. I decided to stop and congratulate her for taking on this task.
Her calm, even-toned response to my remark about the city staff not doing the work was “there just aren’t enough people to go around to do all the work.”
In addition, there are some branches that hide the line of sight to a stop sign at Balsam and Finlay. She intended to get a ladder and prune the tree herself. Wow!
What astounded me the most was that she had to do it at all! Where is the City of White Rock spending our money, if not on keeping our parks neat and clean for use by its residents? It certainly isn’t on garbage collection or safe water.
Here’s a partial breakdown:
• CAO salary: $212,000
• Memorial Park upgrade: unknown, estimate $3 million
• East Beach retaining wall and mall: $30 million
• Epcor purchase: unknown
• Hump replanting: $0 (there is talk of putting a parking lot there).
If the city can’t take care of existing parks and can’t/won’t provide safe drinking water, why are we even considering these other upgrades?
It makes me shake my head.
Erika Johanson, White Rock