Letter to the Editor - Vote yes to affordable housing

Posted by on 20 October 2009 | 0 Comments

The Daily Townsman - October 20, 2009

Friday's edition of the Daily Townsman and the articles regarding the East Hill expansion have me scratching my head. Don't get me wrong, I think the paper is one of the best. Page 1 leads off with an article saying the Citizens for a Livable Cranbrook will "decline" to take part in the pre-referendum forum due to the perception, on their part, of a "biased" moderator. CLC is given a golden opportunity to make a case against the East Hill expansion and they lack the courage (or maybe arguments) to proceed.

On Page 1, Gerry Warner, a CLC supporter, blasts the council, and Angus Davis in particular, for taking 57 minutes of Gerry's precious time to explain in detail why the city supports the East Hill expansion. The CLC has not presented one substantial argument against the proposal but constantly complain about "slights" from City staff, supposed "missing" reports, etc, etc. When offered the opportunity to debate their case, they decline. When anyone else tries to present arguments in favour of the project they are accused of wasting the CLC's time, squandering taxpayer money or the innuendo is cast "where is all the money coming from?" And this is the group that willingly forced the city into a $35,000 referendum.

As a realtor, now retired, I can say that Cranbrook desperately needs more land. The few acres remaining within the city boundaries have become outrageously expensive due to scarcity. Affordable land for apartment buildings or to replace the mobile home parks lost over the past five years no longer exists. A vote against expansion is a vote against accessible housing in Cranbrook.

Gerald Hudson

Cranbrook