Daryl Eves

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Downtown parking enforcement frustrates poverty relief groups

GuelphToday

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I am very glad you posted this. You have identified, yourself, what the major issue is. Not parking, not traffic flow, but the clientele this operation serves.Those in line are absolutely respectful, orderly, non-violent, and courteous to others and passersby. The site is kept clean, liter-free, and all food is dispensed in a hygienic, orderly, organized fashion. There are very clear rules about behavior, no drugs (legal or otherwise) or alcohol allowed in the line, strictly enforced by the servers (all volunteers). And after it is over, the site is completely cleaned up, all refuse disposed of properly, no signs it was there just an hour ago. No loitering, either before or after the food is dispensed.The on-street patios that the City seems to be encouraging present more of a loitering, rowdiness, littering problem, I posit. If citizens are welcome to these open-air eating places, why not at The Bench?Wait, businesses make MONEY on these patio ventures.

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Ending Wastewater Surveillance Initiative a mistake, says local expert

GuelphToday

15

Oh, come ON, the message is clear.If the wastewater surveillance publicly indicates there is a problem, the Ford government has to deal with it. Dealing with it costs money.The best way to not have to spend this money is to not be aware of the problem.Hence, address the issue at source - eliminate the early warning system, so there is absolutely no indication of a problem in the first place.

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Downtown parking enforcement frustrates poverty relief groups

GuelphToday

15

Make no mistake, the complaint appears to be entirely directed at the operation of The Bench and the clientele it serves, nothing to do with parking or traffic flow. This has all of the makings of a deliberate attempt (Backed by policy) by City Hall to force the homeless and food insecure out of the downtown area by restricting their access to food and nutrition.It seems directly related to a recent discussion at a public meeting at the City Hall that had as its essence "Get these people out of the Downtown Core". Can it be a co-incidence that the signage was changed just after this meeting?

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OPINION: The daytime shelter debacle was always going to end like this

GuelphToday

15

The City tried to shut down the informal organization called The Bench from serving meals pop-up style at the corner of Woolwitch and Wyndham by posting a 'No Stopping' sign (possibly illegally, since there does not appear to be a bylaw that allows the sign to be posted) where the volunteers stopped to drop off the food, but to absolutely no avail. The Downtown Bench continues to operate at his location, distributing a meal to those in need. The catch is, absolutely NO City money goes into this operation, so the City can not play 'cut off the funding' or 'switch the shells around and guess where the money is' games with this organization.

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OPINION: The daytime shelter debacle was always going to end like this

GuelphToday

11

The problem has been ongoing for decades. The clients are coming from Guelph, long-term 'residents' who found themselves on disability, chronic health issues, lack of affordable housing, just plain 'getting old and can't work, with no pension', each one has a different life story that is summarized by the term 'falling through the cracks' and 'the wrong side of the system'.To directly address your implied accusation, no they are NOT for the most part recent immigrants. They are born Canadian citizens.

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Downtown parking enforcement frustrates poverty relief groups

GuelphToday

9

Or more likely a complaint by a business just across the street from it that objects to the clientele this operation serves from being anywhere near his business..

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OPINION: The daytime shelter debacle was always going to end like this

GuelphToday

10

In the meantime, the organization informally called The Bench and Rachel's Saturday Table continues on a completely voluntary basis to do their best, with limited resources and volunteers, to deliver meals at the corner of Wyndham and Woolwich pop-up style from 1:30 to 2:30 to provide much needed substance to the food insecure, and this will continue.Everything points to this being a planned, intentional ploy to create as much chaos and disruption in the service delivery model as possible.

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Downtown parking enforcement frustrates poverty relief groups

GuelphToday

10

To be clear, bylaw (2022)-20698, that regulates on-street parking, has a section that governs 'no stopping' zones and '15 minute loading zones'. This is readily available on line on the City of Guelph web site.In the section that regulates 'No Stopping', the entry for Wyndham states:"Wyndham Street North; West Side, Woolwich Street to 47 meters south thereof" which agrees with the original sign, and the 15 Minute Public Loading Zones states:"Wyndham Street North; West Side; 80 meters south of Woollwich Street to 6 meters south thereof"Providing for the gap that was previously used for parking.City Hall needs to provide a much clearer and more specific answer as to why stopping in this zone is legally restricted by a valid relevant section of the Parking Bylaw (2022)-20698, other than the generic statement "the signage was incorrect". The signage is governed by the Bylaw. and the Bylaw determines what is correct and not correct, not Doug Godfrey.

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U of G approves next year’s budget, anticipates further deficits

GuelphToday

10

Someone should tell Guelph Today that forcing people to disable add blockers is counter-productive. Readers who use add blockers are the LEAST likely to pay any attention to adds in the first place. Advertisers only want to reach an audience willing to buy or use their product in the first place.

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Planned south end high school gets new provincial funding

GuelphToday

7

Because every site and location are different. Different footprint, different service locations, different access, different elevations, different soil conditions.

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Three strikes at city hall this week

GuelphToday

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The graphic does not match the tone of the content o the article. In bowling, three strikes in a row is a GOO thing. It is baseball that you do not want three strikes.

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Three strikes at city hall this week

GuelphToday

5

I have never wondered that.

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OPINION: What's the point of delegating when council doesn't listen?

GuelphToday

6

The downtown area a thriving hive of commerce'? Not as long as the consumer can drive to a mall or big box store on the periphery and never have to worry about getting a parking spot.The consumer shops where it is convenient to shop, and downtown Guelph is the least convenient place to shop in Guelph. Chasing the vulnerable population out of the downtown core solves nothing. They are not, and never were, the reason Guelph shoppers never go downtown. The same population can be seen in any shopping mall, and they certainly do not discourage shoppers from going to the malls.People do not do business downtown because people just do not like going downtown. It is just not convenient. Better to just tear down all the businesses and replace them with condos. Don't throw good money after bad.

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Staff tells city council it should sell former drill hall

GuelphToday

3

All of the land in this area was owned by the First Peoples, so yes ''take it back' is an appropriate term.

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Staff tells city council it should sell former drill hall

GuelphToday

2

"City Staff" is not a generic person, there is a real name attached. Change the person, change the report. Yet this person is not politically accountable for his/her decisions and conclusions. It's about time the names of the principle authors of these reports was also published along with the report, so there is accountability for these decisions.

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City looks to cut court out of parking ticket disputes, maybe more

GuelphToday

3

And 'higher' is the same scenario. City provided staff. Who wants to be 'manager of the day' today? "Hey, Sam, I think it is your turn."

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Downtown parking enforcement frustrates poverty relief groups

GuelphToday

5

The stated reason by a supervisor for the City of Guelph (quoted in Guelph Today by the reporter) was that the previous signs were 'in error'. Really. How many other signs in Guelph were put up 'in error'? Why was this error never noticed before? It goes right to the issue of the competence of senior administrative supervisors to do their jobs properly - to ensure that all signs are correctly placed and have the legal bylaws to justify them.If there is one sign posted 'in error', there can be no assurances other than a complete review of ALL signs to make sure no other sign has been posted 'in error'. How many tickets were issued that were issued incorrectly because Bylaw Officers were 'enforcing' improperly placed signs?How can you assure the citizens of Guelph, and the Court, that EVERY sign that Bylaw Officers use to justify their tickets, are indeed validly placed, based on your admission of incompetence that you allowed an 'error' in posting signs?

Downtown parking enforcement frustrates poverty relief groups

GuelphToday

4

The signs specifically say 'No Stopping'. The thing is, this lane ends just past the pedestrian crossing lights anyway. Cars can not use this lane to travel in. They HAVE to move into the left lane just past the lights at Woolwich. The is no reason why any vehicle should be traveling in this right lane.

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City looks to cut court out of parking ticket disputes, maybe more

GuelphToday

2

The crux of the matter begins and ends with the qualifications of the 'screening officer'. If the requirements are no more than a simple patronage appointment, with no supervisory judicial oversite, what could possibly go wrong?

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Downtown parking enforcement frustrates poverty relief groups

GuelphToday

3

Make no mistake, it is one Councillor in particular that is behind the administrative/supervisory staff in support of their efforts to push the vulnerable out of downtown. Let him know your thoughts on the matter, he is an elected [email protected] idea of a viable commercial presence in downtown Guelph is an anachronism, and this Councillor is the Prince of Anachronists. The model of downtown Guelph worked when Guelph was a town, but does not work with the current size of the city Guelph and the modern shopping style. It is easier to order on line than it is to go downtown. This Councillor is blaming the vulnerable for the ills of downtown, when it is the business owners who are the problem. They are trying to make an obsolete model work, and it just isn't going to happen, even if there were absolutely no marginalized presence in the downtown area. It is a failed model, championed by failed businessmen looking for a scapegoat for their incompetence.

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